'How do the Ancient Olympic Games differ from the Modern Olympic Games? Which do you think is more impressive?'
'How do the Ancient Olympic Games differ from the Modern Olympic Games? Which do you think is more impressive?'
The main difference between the Ancient and Modern Olympics is that the former were religious and the latter were secular. This difference underlies almost every facet of the games. For the Greeks the Olympics, as everything else, were religious. "Almost every activity in the Greek world had its spiritual dimension" 1. There is in fact no ancient Greek word for religion.
The Ancient Olympic Games were first and foremost a festival for Zeus. The games at Olympia were a small part of a larger religious festival, much like the dramatic competitions at the Great Dionsyia. An individual athlete might well compete on only one day of the five. The whole festival was steeped in religious ritual and myth. These included the procession along the sacred way, the funeral rites of the hero Pelops and the sacrifices to Zeus. The site of Olypmia was Zeus' sacred citadel, and Herakles had decided the length of the stadium.
Just as religion expresses the ideals of a society, so the religious games express these ideals. Only men were allowed to compete (the games of Hera, with only one event perhaps show the inferiority of women in Greek society). They also expressed ideals of physical beauty and perhaps mathematical and rational thought.
The main difference between the Ancient and Modern Olympics is that the former were religious and the latter were secular. This difference underlies almost every facet of the games. For the Greeks the Olympics, as everything else, were religious. "Almost every activity in the Greek world had its spiritual dimension" 1. There is in fact no ancient Greek word for religion.
The Ancient Olympic Games were first and foremost a festival for Zeus. The games at Olympia were a small part of a larger religious festival, much like the dramatic competitions at the Great Dionsyia. An individual athlete might well compete on only one day of the five. The whole festival was steeped in religious ritual and myth. These included the procession along the sacred way, the funeral rites of the hero Pelops and the sacrifices to Zeus. The site of Olypmia was Zeus' sacred citadel, and Herakles had decided the length of the stadium.
Just as religion expresses the ideals of a society, so the religious games express these ideals. Only men were allowed to compete (the games of Hera, with only one event perhaps show the inferiority of women in Greek society). They also expressed ideals of physical beauty and perhaps mathematical and rational thought.
