How much has the modern day Olympics been influenced by the Ancient Greek Olympics?
How much has the modern day Olympics been influenced by the Ancient Greek Olympics?
Intro and Aims
Throughout this project I will explore the truth about the ancient Olympics and how they have affected modern athletics and the traditions that are still kept at the Olympics. I will look at the training regimes of old athletes and compare them to the new modern day athletes. I will also look at the events and how modern day events have been affected by them as well as looking at the equipment used and seeing if it is similar to what is used in modern athletics. In the modern day Olympics there is a lot of advertising involved and political debate for example who gets the Olympics in 2012. Therefore I will look at the religion and politics that was involved in the ancient Olympics.
Olympics Where and why?
Before we dive straight in to my aims for the project here is a little bit of history about the Olympics. The Olympics took place every four years for a thousand years from 776 BC to 395AD. The Olympics attracted citizens from all over the Greek world and people would come in their hoards to watch the games. At the start of the Olympics people would come from nearby towns and districts and as its popularity grew would travel across seas to watch or take part. The games was different to what they were used to. The games offered the highest standard of athletics with people from different countries competing against each other, as well as celebratory banquets and many more celebrations.
The Olympics was special to the people on a religious front as well id was in honour of Zeus and Olympia was his most sacred place it was known to the masses as the 'Altis'. This to us is like having Westminster Abbey and Wembley Stadium in the same complex. Olympia was situated in a fertile grassy plain on the north bank of the river Alpheiosis just to the east of its confluence with the Kladeos.
Training and Diet:
There is some background about the Olympics now it is time to start on the aims of the project. The first topic we will look at is the training regimes of ancient Greek athletes. Diets were used by the athletes at the start of the Olympics dry figs were used as well as moist cheese and wheat. This diet was used by most athletes until the trainer Pythagoras recommended the meat diet. However meat was expensive and its consumption became mainly by athletes. As times moved on athletes were eating white bread and fish these were thought of as fancy foods and athletes were thought of as having bottomless stomachs. The athletes would not prepare for the games the same as a athlete would in to days society they would probably not have a regime they would most probably to the same training as they did every other day but make it a bit more intense. To train the athletes would perform vigorous dancing this supposable distribute the weight evenly amongst your body. Long distance running was common for most runners boxing was recommended for those whose sport was upper body strength. The Greeks believed that ball games were also good for an athlete as well as natural exercise like digging or rowing.
As you can see from above in ancient Greece it was very much different to how modern day athletes stay in shape and prepare there bodies for a major event. To days athletes will have strict training regimes and a strict menu where it will be a lot of protein and healthy carbohydrates. When training they have technical equipment and have to do a certain amount of time on each exercise. This is completely different to old athletes who would do something until they got tired.
The next Topic on the engender is the events that took ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
As you can see from above in ancient Greece it was very much different to how modern day athletes stay in shape and prepare there bodies for a major event. To days athletes will have strict training regimes and a strict menu where it will be a lot of protein and healthy carbohydrates. When training they have technical equipment and have to do a certain amount of time on each exercise. This is completely different to old athletes who would do something until they got tired.
The next Topic on the engender is the events that took part at Olympia. The events that still are used to day are :
Boxing:
Those who boxed wore a sort of glove made of straps of soft ox-hide. They didn't fight people of similar weight; opponents were chosen at random. Boxing matches had no time limit and ended only when one boxer held up his hand or fell to the ground. Some of these boxers were worshipped as heroes or even Gods because of showing such bravery and unbelievable strength.
Discus:
The throwers of the discus originally threw a circular stone and then later a circular shape made of iron, lead, or bronze. The movements and techniques of ancient discus throwers were very similar to those of today's athletes. Little is known about the lengths that were achieved by the throwers but the records that are available are somewhat of a surprise. To the Greeks rhythm and grace were key in athletics, it was reported that athletes would often train in the rhythm of the music. An athlete would try and make his discus motion like a dance. The way in which this powerful force has been used by modern day athletes has enabled them to increase their throwing potential.
Equestrian Events:
Horse racing took place in a hippodrome, a large stadium that contained a racetrack very much like today's track and field ovals. The athletes would ride in war chariots that were fitted to either two or four horses. (Even with four horses, only one man rode in the chariot.) The races numbered three, eight, or 12 times around, depending on the age of the horse.
Javelin:
Javelin was the most war like event in the ancient Olympics. Mycenaean's and the Romans relied on the javelin as a weapon. The javelin was different to a spear because it was made for throwing rather than thrusting and enabled a man to kill the enemy without hand to hand fighting. An athlete used a lighter javelin than a real warfare javelin, because they were going for distance rather than trying to get it through somebody's skull. The athletes javelin was equal to their height and made out of elderwood for extra distance. Difference's in javelin throwing back in this period was that the ancient Olympians would use a leather thong which was wrapped half way up the javelin. Reasons for this was to give the javelin a steadier flight and to ensure that the javelin span in the air, it is much like the method of the spiral grooves in a rifle. The thong method used by Greek athletes has been tried by modern day athletes and makes the javelin more likely to stick in the ground. However no extra distance is gained. There was never any records kept however, this was probably because they gave the victory to the athlete whose javelin went the furthest distance, but writers imply that distances of 91 metres were possible. Other than the thong method javelin throwing was exactly the same in the throw technique, the run up and the area were the javelin was thrown from.
Running:
The state race was what determined the length of the stadium at Olympia and this was always the main event. Winners of this race had the Olympiad named after them and also they were put onto the list of victors. Gradually other running races were designed The dialous was two lengths of the stadium and the dolichos was 24 lengths of the stadium. The starting positions were much different to days athletes they would stand with one leg behind the other and have there arms out stretched. If they were caught jumping the gun they would be flogged by policemen. The running races today have came from these races with the 100m, 200m,400, etc... They are just a lot more accurately measured nowadays.
Wrestling:
There were two different types of wrestling there was upright wrestling and ground wrestling the difference was how a victor was decided. This, too, was similar to wrestling today. The object was to get an opponent to fall to the ground. The first man to fall three times lost. Hitting, as in boxing, was not allowed, nor was biting or gouging out one's eyes. Tripping was allowed, however. Also, no weight classes were involved, meaning that the smallest man could take on the largest man if the luck of the draw made it so. Hitting the ground with the back, shoulders or hip constituted as a fall. I ground wrestling falls id not count and it would go on until someone acknowledged defeat.
Politics, Religion and Propaganda:
The celebration of the Olympic Games in general was an occasion for citizens of scattered Greek city-states to assemble. At the Games they discussed important political issues, celebrated common military victories and even formed political and military alliances.
But the Games were not only a forum in which to discuss political events; they were also the cause of political conflict.
Control of the Sanctuary and the Games brought with it prestige, economic advantages and, most importantly, political influence. As early as the 7th century BC there were disputes over the control of the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia between the city of Elis and the small neighboring town of Pisa.
In 668 BC, according to Pausanias (a 2nd century AD Greek traveler), the powerful tyrant of Argos was asked by the town of Pisa to capture the Sanctuary of Zeus from the city-state of Elis. Argos, with his army of well-trained armed soldiers, marched across the Peloponnesos, secured the Sanctuary for the town of Pisa, and personally presided over the conduct of the games. But Pisa's control of the Sanctuary was brief: by the next year Elis had regained control.
The Olympic Truce was instituted by the city-state of Elis to protect against military incursions which interrupted the Games. Every four years, special heralds from Elis were sent out to all corners of the Greek world to announce the approaching Olympic festival and games. Along with this news, they would announce the Olympic Truce, which protected athletes, visitors, spectators and official embassies who came to the festival from becoming involved in local conflicts.
Athletes often were used as political weapons and much like many athletes today got involved with the Olympic politics. A good example of this is Theagenes who after a brilliant career at the top of boxing and wrestling for 20 years got involved with the current affairs.
The equestrian events have the most propaganda and opportunities for chariot riders to receive sponsorship. Chariot entries were sometimes financed not by the individual but by states e.g. a public chariot. The entry would be good publicity for the town or state. Sicily would try to gain popularity and influence over the crowd at major events. They would often enter three or four competitors into a racing event.
Religion was a dominant force in the ancient Olympics. Zeus was thought to look down on the competitors, favouring some and denying victory to others. 'You could spur on a man with natural talent to strive towards great glory with the help of the gods', says Pindar in a victory-code. If an athlete was fined for cheating or bribery the money was used to make a cult statue of Zeus.A grand sacrifice of 100 oxen was made to Zeus during the Games, and Zeus the apomuios, or 'averter of flies', was use to keep the sacrificial meat fly-free. Olympia was home to one of Greece's great oracles, an oracle to Zeus, with an altar to him consisting of the bonfire-heap created by burnt sacrificial offerings. As the offerings were burnt, they were examined by a priest, who pronounced an oracle - an enigmatic and often ambiguous prediction of the future - according to his interpretation of what he saw. Athletes consulted the oracle to learn what their chances in the Games were.
The Greeks tried to keep some aspects of politics out of the Olympics, but their efforts met then, as such efforts do now, with limited success. The Olympic truce was meant to lead to a cessation of hostilities throughout Greece, to allow competitors to travel and participate safely, but it was not always observed.
I feel that I have executed my aims throughout this project and hopefully have given you some interesting information about the Ancient Olympics. Obliviously I would have liked to got more into records set but I simply did not have the resources that I needed. I now feel that I have a much greater knowledge about Greek culture and tradition affected the Olympics and I know why some traditions are still used at the Olympics.
