THE OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympics in Ancient Greece

Olympia was the home of the ancient Olympic Games which, according to tradition, were established by Hercules himself with the Olympian gods as the first competitors.

We do indeed know that games were held at Olympia (which lies in the northwestern Peloponnese and was named after the highest mountain in Greece, Mt. Olympus), from the 9th century B.C. Later it was decided that the games should be repeated every four years from June until September. According to historical records, the first Olympic Games were held in 776 B.C. In 676 B.C. the games took on a panhellenic significance, and by 576 B.C. the prestige surrounding the institution had reached its peak.

Special messengers would set off in every direction to announce the beginning of the sacred truce and the suspension of all disputes and warfare among the city-states. The largest cities were represented by official ambassadors to Olympia, the "theoroi". The contests lasted five days, from the 12th to the 16th of each month, and included a great variety of events. Competitions testing endurance and strength had almost exclusively formed the earliest Olympic program. The list was soon expanded to include contests typical of the whole Hellenic world. As early as the 25th Olympiad, the four-horse chariot race was added. This was a recognition of the element of popular spectacle as distinct from individual athletic competition. Horse races were added later.

These events took place in the hippodrome, while the athletic contests were held in the stadium. Wrestling and boxing were combined in the pankration; jumping, discus-throwing, javelin-throwing, running and wrestling in the pentathlon.

The victors of the games were honored among all Greeks. Memorials were erected in their honor and they were praised in poems and songs. The victorious competitors received no trophies or medals. The symbol of supreme honor was the olive wreath placed on their heads. According to legend, some cities tore down sections of their walls to let their victorious athletes pass through, to signify that with such men they needed no fortifications.

The statues of the most illustrious victors stood in the sacred area of the Altis, as the entire sanctuary of Olympia with its temples and other buildings was known.

However, the importance of the Olympics and of the other great festivals was greater than the individual honors paid to the athletes who competed. In addition to inspiring succeeding generations to pursue competitive sports, they also contributed to a sense of unity between the Greek city-states of that time a contribution best measured by the fact that no wars were ever waged in during the games.

For a thousand years the games were held at regular intervals of four years. Tradition and imagination made it possible for the games to continue well after Olympia lost its glory. When the Romans conquered Greece in the second century B.C., the decline of the sanctuary had already begun, although the Caesars Hadrian and Herodus Atticus did succeed later in restoring some of its prestige.

The advent of Christianity inspired radical social and religious reforms, and soon the old monuments of Olympia were being used to build a castle. Still, the games continued until A.D. 393, when the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I banned them by decree.

In A.D. 426, Theodosius II ordered the total destruction of the sanctuary's temples. The Goths delivered the final blow by destroying everything that could not be carried away.
In the following centuries, the river Kladeos covered the sacred land with sand and pebbles. It was not until 1875, that archaeologists brought it back to light and re-discovered ancient Olympia.

The Modern Olympics
The modern revival of the Olympic Games is owed to the Barron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) who, on January 1894, in a letter to the athletic organizations of every country, pointed out the educational value of sports to modern man, if practiced in accordance with the ideals of ancient Greece.
Since the Olympic revival, the Greek athletes always lead the parade that marks the opening of the games preceded by the lighting of the Olympic torch.

The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.

The flame that is used to light the torch comes from the sacred site of Olympia, where it is lit from the sun's rays and then carried by a relay of runners to the city where the games are being held.

The first modern games took place in Athens, in 1896. Many of the original Olympic contests were retained, with new events added.

One of the original events still contested is the Marathon race, commemorating the feat of the unknown Athenian warrior who, in 490 B.C., ran in full armor from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens, to bring the news that the invading Persians had been defeated. He could only utter the words "Rejoice, we are victorious" before falling dead from exhaustion. This event is now regarded as the pinnacle of the Olympic Games. The present distance of the race is 26 miles, 385 yards or 42.2kms, the distance between Marathon and Athens. The first Olympic Marathon in 1896 was won by a Greek runner, Spyros Louis, in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

Since their revival in Athens in 1896, the Olympic Games have been celebrated every fourth year, except for interruptions caused by World Wars. Athens will organize the Olympic Games of 2004.