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Ancient
Olympic Games
Everyone
knows the Olympic Games but few are quite sure when the early
Games began. What is the origin of the modern Games? What
were some of the early sports events? How were the early Games
linked to Greek religious life? What is the significance of
the early Games to the modern Games? Read the following for
the answers.
Amateur athletes from all over the world take
part in the modern Olympic Games. Any nation may enter a team
in the games if it agrees to follow the rules of the International
Olympic Committee. The games are held during the first year
of each Olympiad. (An Olympiad is a period of 4 years that
begins in a leap year － 1960, 1964, 1968, and so on.)
Olympic Games were held in ancient Greece
at least as long ago as 776 B.C.The custom lasted for more
than 1 000 years but then died out under the rulers of Rome.
In the late 1800's a Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin
(1862-1937), decided to try to start the games again. He wished
to renew those ideals of excellence of body, mind and spirit
shown in the ancient Greek Olympics. He succeeded, and the
modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece, in 1896.
Through ,
the beginning of the Olympic Games can be found in religious
celebrations that were held to show respect to the gods of
the Greeks. These gods were like humans in some ways, but
they could not die, that is to say, they were immortal. They
were said to have bodies of great size, strength, and beauty.
They had the power to change from one form to another. Pretending
to be ordinary people, they sometimes entered the lives of
men and women, married them, and had children. The first Olympic
winners were said to be children of the Greek gods.
Three thousand years ago
Olympia was an importnt
religious center in southwestern Greece. Here was the Temple
of Zeus, father of the gods and ruler of both gods and men.
Here men came to worship and to approach as nearly as possible
the skills and strength of the gods. Speed and skill in hand-to-hand
fighting were necessary for survival. They were even more
important for leadership among men. Physical excellence was
very important, too, but it was not all. Next to family line
from the gods, the Greeks valued fame through poetry and song.
Poets and people were eager to sing the praises not only of
victors in battle but also of victors in contests of skill
and strength. So, the seeds of achievement in arts, in moral
conduct, and in affairs of the mind were planted on the plains
of Olympia at the feet of the good and kind Zeus. Here the
Olympic Games began. They survived for centuries, inspiring the music and poetry and the
and sculpture that were to become the magnificence of the
Golden Age of Greece.
The great poet Pindar wrote poems of praise
in memory of the winners of the
or wild olive wreath. This prize looked like the crown of
Zeus. It was for the wreath that Coroebus raced about 200
yards to victory in the first recorded Olympic Games. This
marked the beginning of the first Olympiad. By our calendar
the year was 776 B.C.
It was a cook, Coroebus, not a
Greek nobleman,
who was the first known winner of an Olympic award. A crowd
of 45 000 people rose from their seats on the grass in the
stadium to cheer.
Although the Greeks were said to be democratic,
slaves and women had few rights. Only freeborn male citizens
could take part in the Olympic Games. Women were forbidden,
with death as the punishment, even to see the games. One woman
did successfully get away from the punishment. The mother
of Pisidorus continued the training of her son after his father
died. Pretending to be a man, she attended the games. She
was not recognized until she shouted with joy over her son's
victory. She was pardoned, and in time women were allowed
in the games.
Athletic competition became so important to
the Greeks that the Olympic celebrations were a peaceful influence
on the warlike city-states. Sparta, famous
for its strict
 training
of youth and its many Olympic honors, would wait until the
games were over before sending fighters into battle. Other
cities followed this example. The "sacred month" of the games
became a time for peace and friendship.
Milo, a
of the 6th century B.C., may be considered the greatest athlete
of ancient times. He won the wrestling crown six times. Thus,
he was champion for a quarter of a century. He was said to
be so powerful that he could carry a young cow or even a full-grown
bull on his shoulders.
New sports continually added variety to the
Olympics. The
was a footrace run in armor. An event called the
was a combination of boxing and wrestling. A winner was named
only when one man raised his hand in defeat or lay unconscious
－ or dead.
One of the greatest honors was to be crowned
to winner of the pentathlon (meaning "five
contests"). The
athletes had to compete in the broad jump, javelin throw,
a footrace, discus throw, and wrestling. These events called
for the use of a variety of muscles and created the beautiful
bodies admired so much by the Greeks.
The Golden Age of Greece came in the 5th century
B.C., when the ancient Greeks reached the peak of their power
and influence. It was a time that produced some of the greatest
thought and art that the world has ever known. The Olympic
Games shared this greatness by setting standards of physical
and moral excellence that are still used in our time.
In the setting of a religious celebration
the Greeks were the first to develop game rules and standards
of good sportsmanship. Every athlete was required to take
an
that he would follow the rules of the game and of fair play.
In a direct way, too, the Olympic Games inspired
the Greek poets and artists. The Olympic buildings were examples
of the beauty of Greek architecture. Remains of the huge statue
of Zeus at Olympia bear the signature of Phidias, the famous
Athenian sculptor and architect. The spirit of the times may
have inspired Plato's Republic, a book that provided
a pattern for building an ideal nation through the careful
education of its children. The poet Pindar read his victory
poems at the Olympics, and Herodotus his history. By
awarding honors to artists and scholars, the Olympic Games
helped to further the growth of Greek culture.
Interest in the Olympic Games spread with
the colonial and trade growth of Greece. Foreign athletes
came to compete. But after Rome defeated Greece (in the 2nd
century B.C.), Olympic standards began to decline. The emperor
Nero brought his own cheering section, built his own house
at Olympia, and demanded first prizes for all his entries.
They were willing to use any way to win. After more than 1
000 years the Olympic Games had become an influence for bad
rather than good. In A.D. 394 the Roman emperor Theodosius I ordered them stopped.
Fifteen centuries after the end of the ancient
Olympic Games, the Olympic city lay buried on the plains of
Olympia. Savage soldiers had long ago robbed the temples.
Earthquakes had changed the course of the Alpheus River, covering
the remains. Then in the 1880's some German
uncovered something that showed the existence of a great civilization.
Close upon this discovery came the inspiration
of the Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin. He felt that the
youth of his day were becoming soft and a planned program
of athletics might strengthen their bodies, minds, and morals.
He firmly believed that athletic competition built qualities
of courage and a sense of fair play.
At first De Coubertin was interested mainly
in the youth of France. Then his dream grew to a hope that
athletes of all countries would take part. In 1892, at a meeting
of the Athletic Sports Union, De Coubertin first put forth
the idea of starting the Olympic Games again. Few members
were then ready to accept his idea. But two years later a
group was formed to make plans for the first modern Olympiad.
The Olympic Games were held in 1896. They
took place at Athens, Greece － a very fitting place to rebuild
the spirit of the early Greek games. The continuing efforts
of a single man had begun the modern Olympics. It was fitting
that Baron de Coubertin should remain director of the International
Olympic Committee until 1925. In this office he directed the
course that the games were to take. He wrote the Olympic ,
and athlete's oath. He planned the ceremonies.
"Peace," De Coubertin stated,
"would be furthered
by the Olympic Games... but peace could be the product only
of a better world; a better world could be brought about only
by better individuals; and better individuals could be developed
only by the , the buffeting and battering, the stress
and strain of fierce competition."
(1 474 words)
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