“The Olympic Games in Antiquity reflect ancient Greek culture” (FHW, 2008). The legend that shrouds it holds a little reference to its foundation date, which remains to be elusive. However, it is presumed that the Olympics began somewhere around 776 B.C. It was “a major religious festival honoring Zeus, the chief Greek god” (Gregory R. Chrane, 2008). This essay is an attempt to relate the wonder that was the ancient Greek Olympics. In the process, it also tries to relocate the coming together of classical civilization around this singular event.
Ancient Greeks held strict moral and ethical codes while conducting the Olympics because it was not just a competition for them; it was a glorification of the true ideals, valor, and gallantry of an athlete. As Herodotus showed in his Histories, “it is not for money they contend but for glory of achievement!” (Gregory R. Chrane, 2008). “…the Olympic Games…aimed from the beginning at friendship, harmony, and peace among the Greeks.” (Raschke, 1988). The athletes participated in the ancient Olympics as an individual but later this idea of individualism waned away and acquired nationalist character. Modern Olympics in consonance with ancient strictures glorify valor and excellence in performance; they also hero-worship the winners and try to foster brethren-hood amongst all who participate in the event. Olympics was the temple of the sculptors and other cultural men. They wrote poems, dramas, and sculpted the athletes who came to participate in the event. This gave much impetus to the realism of the Hellenic art form. This celebration of culture is one such feature that is lacking in modern-day Olympics.
The ethics and codes of the Olympics have undergone several changes over the years. The changes brought into it were spontaneous and have to be contextualized. They can in no sense be stigmatized because they were done in the best interest of the nations and the international order. They are a negative phenomenon only to the extent that it has brought into play several narrow nationalist coteries taking recourse to unfair means. For instance “In 1996, Wilson Kipketer, world champion in the 800 meters, did not want to run for his native Kenya, but the IOC would not permit him to participate as an individual. Bart Veldkamp, a speed skater who had objected to the Dutch qualification system, became a Belgian citizen and won third place in the 5,000-meter race in Nagano. In short, citizenship is the first factor in an athlete’s hopes of finding a place in the Olympic Games.” (Senn, 1999) Regarding recourse to unfair means, it was reported during the 2000 Sydney Olympics “Since the 1990s drugs have constituted the major problem for the IOC, as was professionalism during the first decades of the 20th century” (FHW, 2008).Otherwise, it is a singularly positive phenomenon because it has become the arena where several undeveloped and developing countries like Kenya, Sudan, have been able to showcase their abilities. As reported about the 2000 Sydney Olympics “A new record in the participation of countries and athletes…” (FHW, 2008).
For the Greeks, an athlete was a person “One who competes for prizes” (Wikianswers, 2008). In ancient Greece athletes were not just sportsmen, they were heroes, who were often worshipped and transformed into mythical figures. For them, an athlete was a hero, yet he did not indulge in sports professionally. “Ancient writers tell the stories of athletes who worked at other jobs and did not spend all their time in training” (Gregory R. Chrane, 2008). “Victorious athletes were professionals in the sense that they lived off the glory of their achievement ever afterwards.” (Gregory R. Chrane, 2008).
Ancient Olympics had a podium for showcasing the sports talents of the women too. “Every four years the Sixteen Women and other married women organized The Heraea Games for maiden competitors. Pausanias indicates these games consisted of footraces, and the maidens competed against other maidens of the same age.” (FJKLUTH, 2008). “The Heraea Games did not have the prestige of the men’s Olympic competition, but the Greeks still regarded them as a serious athletic event. The victors were well honored.” (FJKLUTH, 2008). The ancient Greeks “liked to thinks that men and women had different roles in life and that they were not meant to compete.” (FJKLUTH, 2008). “The time of Classical Greece was a time of radical change in society but it was not a time when women gained any rights. What they got was a system of law in which they received some protection, but only in reference to the rights of their husbands or other male relatives.” (FJKLUTH, 2008).
In the vocabulary of the Ancient Greek Olympics, competition for money was considered to be a base act. Herodotus in his Histories has shown when the Persian military officer Tigranes “heard that the prize was not money but a crown [of olive], he could not hold his peace, but cried… It is not for money they contend but for glory of achievement!” (Gregory R. Chrane, 2008). They liked to think of themselves as heroes, who sported for the glory of a very immaterial kind.
Nudity was encouraged in men’s Olympics. “They wore in the Olympics very little. The Olympics were held in the heat of the summer. For safety men performed in the nude… Nudity of men was a tradition that was maintained because the Greeks thought it made the sports safer. It also obviously reduced certain kinds of cheating. In the event of a conflict naked participants are easier to control because they had no weapons hidden in their clothes.” (FJKLUTH, 2008).
The victory of the athletes was dedicated to the goddess of victory-Nike. “Nike was the Greek personification of victory… She’s frequently seen flying above a victor in a competition.” (Wordinfo, 2008). Thus, this shows that sports were considered by the Greeks as a medium of communion between the mortal and God. Nike was “…seen as a mediator of success between man and the gods.” (Wordinfo, 2008).
Therefore, we can conclude that the ancient Greek Olympics was not just a sports event of the international gathering, rather it was the making and coming together of an entire civilization, in terms of art and culture, and sports.
Bibliography
FHW. (2008). Tales of the Olympic Games. The Foundation of the Hellenic World. Web.
FJKLUTH. (2008). Ancient Greek Olympic Games and Women. Web.
Gregory R. Chrane. (2008). The Context of the Games and the Olympic Spirit. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts College): Web.
Raschke, W. J. (1988). The Archaeology of the Olympics: The Olympics and Other Festivals in Antiquity. Wisconsin: Univ of Wisconsin Press.
Senn, A. E. ( 1999). Power, Politics, and the Olympic Games: A history of the power brokers, events, and controversies that shaped the Games. New Jersey: Human Kinetics.
Swaddling, J. ( 1999). The Ancient Olympic Games. Texas: University of Texas Press.
Wikianswers. (2008). What is the meaning of athlete in Greek word? Web.
Wordinfo. (2008). Nike. Web.