What would a modern athlete find strange about the organisation of the ancient Olympics?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

James Mayes

4 Alpha

Classical Civilisation Coursework

Q. What would a modern athlete find strange about the organisation of the ancient Olympics?

A modern day athlete would find many things strange about the ancient Olympics and I will try and highlight theses during this piece of coursework.

The preparation of the ancient Olympics varies in many ways to that of the modern Olympics. What we have to understand is that nowadays-modern athletes are considered professional and this is their job. Whereas during the ancient era athletes would use athletics as a chance to gain respect and to be fit for war which was ongoing in all of ancient Greece. A modern athlete would find strange that the ancient games where held for Greeks only and that no person outside of Greece was allowed to compete.

Athletics were a key part of education in ancient Greece. Many Greeks believed that developing the body was equally important as improving the mind for overall health. Also, regular exercise was important in a society where men were always needed for military service.

This picture shows the athletes training for the javelin event in the ancient Olympics. Javelins would be used in warfare as well, so for many men the use of the javelin would provide experience for use when it comes to war. The modern athletes would see that when using the javelin they would use a leather thong that they would tie around their hand, to what they believed to propel the javelin even further.

Ancient athletes were required to arrive at Olympia at least a month before the games were due to start in order to train in front of the hellanodikai who were local judges and they would judge the competitors fitness during that month. During this month athletes would compete in heats, against other competitors from Greece. We know that athletes would compete in heats from the accounts of Diagoras from Rhodes who competed in the boxing event. This is similar to the modern Olympics where athletes would stay at an Olympic village before the start of the games to acclimatise themselves to the conditions of that particular country where the games are being held. Heats would be frequent in view to find the greatest athlete in the world.

Olympia was a vast site and all athletes would stay on site in Olympia would could be described as becoming a small village for five days every four years. Athletes would stay in the Leonidaion that would be described as a hotel for the athletes. This is the equivalent to the Olympic village in the modern Olympics.

The religious aspect of the games can be seen by the fact that oaths were taken. These were taken in front of the temple of Zeus, as if to say that Zeus will know if you cheat and this will place fear in the competitors. All competitors and judges will take this oath, as the ancient Olympic games were a religious event in honour of the gods and more importantly Zeus. Modern athletes would find this strange as the modern Olympics are now for personal and country’s glory, and no religious elements are now involved so athletes would find it strange about the religious element. I suppose that you could compare the oath taken by athletes in the ancient Olympics could be compared to the honesty that is needed by modern day athletes in the modern Olympics to which no performance enhancing drugs are allowed. We can see that the oaths were taken seriously by the fact that Pausanias who recorded some of the aspects and I gather the quote from his works “The statue of Zeus strikes terror into the hearts of all who see it. It is the custom of the athletes, as well as their fathers, brothers and trainers, to swear an oath beside the statue.’ What this shows is that the religious element of the games and the oaths that were taken by the athletes struck fear into them that Zeus would know, it emphasises that even though it was just a statue competitors would still find it daunting and would be less likely to break the rules with Zeus’s wrath their punishment.

The Olympic truce that was enforced by the hellanodikai was to grant all citizens who intended on travelling to Olympia a safe passage through the country. Greece was a country that was often at war, not as a country but with its many city-states would be at war at any given moment. The truce stated that, as most competitors were warriors from their own city-state, all wars that were going at that time, would have to be suspended for the duration of the Olympic games, thus providing competitors and spectators alike a safe passage to Olympia. No armies would be allowed to enter the precinct of Olympia, as it was a religious site in honour of Zeus. Greeks who face the death penalty would face a lucky chance to cheat death as the truce stated that during the month of truce no death penalties would take place. Modern athletes would find this strange, as even though wars are less infrequent, and would see the truce as being strange because it was all because of the fact that the Olympic games was purely a religious event.

The ancient games were purely a religious event in honour of the god Zeus, and what a modern athlete would find strange about the organisation is that unlike the modern Olympics where competitors compete for their own personal glory or that of their country. We can see that this was a religious event as out of the five days; two and a half were devoted to religious activities. The religious aspect of the games could be seen by the fact that the altar of Zeus was the focus of the altis and was purely religious and very visible. We can ...

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The ancient games were purely a religious event in honour of the god Zeus, and what a modern athlete would find strange about the organisation is that unlike the modern Olympics where competitors compete for their own personal glory or that of their country. We can see that this was a religious event as out of the five days; two and a half were devoted to religious activities. The religious aspect of the games could be seen by the fact that the altar of Zeus was the focus of the altis and was purely religious and very visible. We can see by the works of the great Pheidias that Zeus was a god to fear as well as respect. Pheidias’ workshop situated in Olympia itself commanded a great presence as in the workshop was where the one of the seven ancient wonders of the world: the statue of Zeus was built.

Women were not allowed in the ancient Games, and modern athletes would find this strange as nowadays women and men both compete. The priestess of the goddess Demeter was the only woman with access to the Sacred Altis and would watch the Games from her seat in the temple of the goddess, on the eastern side of the stadium. This is a religious act towards Demeter the god of crops and the harvest. By granting her a seat at the games I believ it resmebles the hope that all the spectators would have in the forthcoming crop seasons. The priestess would sit in Demeter’s altar which would be situated on the nothern slop e of the stadium. Modern athletes would find this strange as people now do not believe in different gods for their their different needs.

The religious element was no more felt than in the way in which the sacrifices would take place. On the middle day of the games a great sacrifice would take place of one hundred oxen. What this would show was great dedication to Zeus, as one hundred oxen would provide a huge expense to those who were paying. This ceremony was aimed towards Zeus alone. This sacrifice signified the halfway point of the games, and the meat that was sacrificed during it would be presented at the great banquet and would be consumed there. Modern athletes would find this act starnge because after seeing that the ancient olympic games were in honour of the gods, and now after sacrificing one hundred oxen to Zeus. The Olympic truce gave visitors to the games a chance to get to the games safely and without problems.The fact that during the month when visitors were expected to travel, there was to be no war or death penalties, and I can see the religious aspect of this by the fact that during this month that no blood was to be spilt in honour of the god Zeus. I suppose that a modern athlete would find this strange because all the time during the modern Olympic games there are wars going on with people dying all over the world.

The site and layout of the ancient olympic games was one in which we seem to find that there are many temples that seem to overshadow the actual buildings that existed for the games. The site where the games had two rivers ruuning alongside it, the Alphaos and the Kladeos Rivers. The Alphaos river runs adjacent to where the hippodrome would have been where the horse events would have been held. In the distance Mount Kronos named after Zeus father could be seen. Modern athletes would find the site where the olympics where held rather low key and not really up to their modern expectations. They would see it as being like a local games as I believ seeing the rivers so close and the mountains, I beileve they would see it as being somewhat derelict. The layout of Olympia is somewhat religious as you will expect to see many temples and not so many athletical associated buildings. The Leonidaion was a guest house where important foreign guest and officials stayed during their visits. A modern athlete would find this strange, as it would seem as though the important people who had come to watch the games were more important than the athletes themselves.

During modern games all athletes and officials would stay in whats called an olympic village, which is their base for the whole of the games. As we know each state in Greece would have built a treasury which they dedicated to the gods and was a chance to show of their wealth, to the other city states, we can guess that Athens which was a city of culture and fine arts would have had a treasury that would have far exceeded that of the Spartans know of their lack of arts and culture. As a modern athlete would see the treasuries as being strange because even though now in modern olympics athletes compete for the countries of their birth, yet no country will give a treasury as an offering to the gods. The Palaestra was used for the training for all the heavy events, for example: wrestling, boxing and jumping would all be practised in the palaestra in the month leading up to the games where athletes were required to spend time training in front of the hellanodikai. This would be no different for modern athletes who would require practice areas before their event would start. Yet the palaestra also had rooms in which athletes could see a physiotherapist or to have a massage, which would be no different to today’s Olympics.

This picture shows the palaestra as it is now and you can clearly see the colonnades that mark the outside of the building.

The gymnasium was a large courtyard where athletes would practice events such as the discus and the javelin. Comes from the Greek word gymnos that means naked. All competitors would compete naked, and a modern athlete would find this strange, as competitors these days will be clothed when competing in the games.

The most amazing building on site at Olympia was the temple of Zeus that was inside the altis. On the temple included the twelve metopes of the temple depicted the labours of Hercules. Inside the temple was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world that was the twelve metre high statue of the god Zeus. Made from gold and ivory, the statue was one of the great works of Pheidias whose workshop was situated on site at Olympia. A modern athlete would find strange the fact that at what was meant to be a sporting event there was temples dedicated to gods, as nowadays the competitors compete for personal glory and of that of their country. Yet in ancient Greece the games were a religious event in honour of Zeus.

The workshop of Pheidias is a strange building to be situated at Olympia as it was mostly used by Pheidias in the building of objects to honour the great god Zeus, such as the great statue that was once one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. Many things since have been found in the workshop to do with the honouring of the Gods that would have been built by Pheidias himself.

The Philippeion was a circular peripheral building, which was begun by Philip II after the battle of Chaeroneia (338 B.C.) and was completed by Alexander the Great. It was used for the hero-worship of the Macedonian dynasty. A modern athlete would see this as being strange building something that was in honour of a battle, as I believe that the modern athlete would see it as being un- athletic like because of the fact that you wouldn’t usually see these days a commemoration by the victors of a battle, especially at an athletic venue.

The Stadium was where all the running events were held. Athletes would enter the stadium through a stone archway and come out at the start of the track. There would be a long piece of stone in the soil to mark the start. The track has a length of two hundred metres and a width of thirty metres. On the stadium's southern slope there was a stone platform that was for the Hellanodikes and opposite was the altar to Demeter .The stadium held roughly 45,000 spectators.

The temple of Hera who was Zeus’ wife is a Doric temple dating back to the 7th century. The building was made of wood originally and it was a richly ornamented large building, which included statues of Zeus and Hera, ironically the temple used to belong to Zeus before he was built an even grander temple. A modern athlete would find this strange because seeing a temple in honour of someone that is not real would be very strange as nowadays no one tends to devote temples to their gods and certainly not at an athletics venue.
The picture shows the temple of Hera yet all that you can see is the colonnades around the side, as the actual main building was made out of wood.

The bouleuterion was a building that consisted of two apsidal halls with a court in between. This was where the officials would hold their council meetings before and during the games. Near the building was the statue of Zeus Horkeios in the court and this was where the athletes would take their oaths.

The events of the games were not that different to the games that we now see in modern Olympics. Yet we can easily see how the ancient games formed the basis of the modern day Olympics. Boxing which is still in the modern Olympic games today, was held in the ancient games on the afternoon of the fourth day. Boxing was one of the three heavy events, and the main aim was to punch your opponent to defeat. Boxers would tie thongs around their hands that would give extra protection when punching your opponents. A modern athlete would find strange that competitors would raise their index finger to surrender. Unlike what modern athletes would be used to there would be no weight division, which would give an advantage to those boxers who were heavier.

The picture is of two competitors boxing. You can clearly see the leather thongs wrapped around the competitor’s hands. On the right you can see the hellanodikai who would be officiating the bout.

Chariot racing was probably the most spectacular of the ancient events. It would be held in the hippodrome and it would be twelve laps of the straight course, with their being a dangerous turning post at each end. There would be an elaborate starting gate for fairness; the event would be the most dangerous of them all at Olympia. The chariot races were the first events on the day of events. There would be different races that involved different amounts of horses, and the owners of the horses would not race them it would the owners hire the charioteers. Modern day athletes would find this strange because it would be so dangerous as nowadays no sports are this dangerous, and they would not really see many horse events.

The pankration was one of the events that the crowds enjoyed the most. It was another heavy event and was basically a mixture of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was allowed as was punching yet neither biting nor no gouging. The word pankration means complete strength and as with boxing there were no weight categories. The pankration was an event, which required great skill and technical ability. Modern athletes would in my view would deem this event brutal, and definitely not for them. They would find it strange about the submitting of their competitors to gain a result, instead of the usual points.

The Pentathlon involved five events: the discus, javelin, and long jump, running and wrestling.

The discus was a large flat circular disc of stone; it would weigh between six and nine kilos. A modern athlete would find the material of the stone strange because nowadays the discuses are made of a different material, and the weight are much different with the modern ones are often lighter. The javelin in the ancient Olympics had an extra aid for the competitors to throw it with. Wound round the javelin was a leather thong that was supposed to increase distance. It was believed that the thong would make the javelin spin around. A modern athlete would not find the organisation of this event strange other than the use of the thong to increase the distance.

A strange feature of the long jump was that athletes used weights one in each hand to drive them further. These weights were called halteres and basically looked like flat irons. One main idea was that they were swung from a standing start. The hellanodikai would mark the line where the athlete landed. Yet in modern day there are no weights that athletes would have to jump with, so in this way in would make it easier. Also modern day athletes would get a chance to have a run up in to the pit that was not common during the ancient Olympics.

The running events that were held in the stadium during the ancient Olympics were very similar in distance to those that are run now at the modern Olympics. There were four races that were run, and the person who won the stade race was deemed the fastest man alive. The diaulos was two lengths of the track so were similar to the four hundred metres that athletes run no at the modern Olympics. The picture shows the athlete running in the diaulos.

There was a race called the dolichos which was a long distance race consisting of the twenty four lengths,, there was also a race in armour which consisted of competitors wearing and carrying their shield, greaves and helmet and completing a length of the track. What the race in armour signifies is the importance of warfare and the need for warriors to be constantly fit for war. The Hoplitodromos gets it s name form the word hoplite, which was the Greek, word for a soldier.

The picture shows four athletes competing in the armour race, looking on are the hellanodikai, who will record the results. Modern day athletes would not find this all that strange considering the fact that many races are run at the modern Olympics. Yet there is nothing like the race in armour at the modern day Olympics.

Wrestling was the most popular of the big three heavy events to be held at the Olympic games. The Greeks would wrestle as a hobby as it was deemed a social thing and it would help keep the Greeks fit. The wrestling was the best of three falls. Wrestlers were covered in olive oil, and there was to be no punching nor biting or gouging. The picture shows two wrestlers competing with the

Judge overhead with a long cane in his hand.

Wrestling is still competed in today at the modern Olympics and they rules are very much the same.

The prizes that were presented to winners were very simple compared to what are presented now in the modern Olympics. A simple olive wreath was presented to each victor of each competition. The wreath would have to be picked by a boy whose parents were both still living and the wreath were picked from the sacred olive tree in the altar of Zeus. According to Herodotus upon hearing the prizes Tritantaechmes exclaimed ‘Hearing the men say that the prize was not money but a wreath of olive, he could not forbear from exclaiming before them all, ‘Good heavens, Mardonius, what manner of men are these against whom you have brought us to fight--men who contend with one another, not for money, but for honor.’ This shows up the high esteem that the Greeks were held in during the Persian wars.

This picture shows an athlete probably a charioteer as he is also receiving a red ribbon. He is being presented it by the hellanodikai. This ceremony is no different to that of the modern day yet the prizes differ a lot. With medals being awarded for first second and third. Yet another prize that ancient athletes would expect to receive would be that of respect from their home state. Most of the time victors at Olympia would be awarded free meals for the rest of their or statues erected.

Overall this piece of coursework has taught how modern athletes would struggle with the ways of the ancient Olympics as it was very religious and the point of it would be to honor Zeus.

Bibliography

I found that most of my pictures and quotes came from the following site:

Yet I used the book Olympia written by Manolis Andronicos to great effect.

The site http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ was a useful site to gather information about the separate events, which I used in this piece of coursework.