Section C: Olympic Games: a global perspective 2. Ancient Olympic Games

Syllabus As a blue print for the modern era Sporting events as a common feature of life in ancient Greece Use of Olympia as a site Held every four years from 776BC for 1,000 years, abolished in 393AD Format of ancient games ‘wreath or death’ mentality The place of women in these games

History According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such "pagan cults" be banned.

Olympia Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games, is in the western part of the Peloponnese which, according to Greek mythology, is the island of "Pelops", the founder of the Olympic Games. Olympia functioned as a meeting place for worship and other religious and political practices as early as the 10th century B.C.

Victory Ceremonies The Olympic victor received his first awards immediately after the competition. Red ribbons were tied on his head and hands as a mark of victory. The official award ceremony would take place on the last day of the Games, at the elevated vestibule of the temple of Zeus. Placed the sacred olive tree wreath, or kotinos, on the winner's head.

Participants All free male Greek citizens were entitled to participate in the ancient Olympic Games, regardless of their social status.  Married women were not allowed to participate in, or to watch, the ancient Olympic Games. However, unmarried women could attend the competition.

The Sporting Events Running/Jumping/Discuss throw – Pentathlon Wrestling Boxing Pankration Equestrian events

Timeline TOTAL COMPETITORS WOMEN NATIONS REPRESENTED EVENTS 1896 GREECE 245 14 43 1916 NOT HELD DUE TO WAR 1940 NOT HELD DUE TO WAR 1944 NOT HELD DUE TO WAR 2004 GREECE 10,560 4305 201 301

Pierre de Coubertin Many attempts to revive the Olympics had been rejected including his own in 1892. In 1894 he called a conference of his own proposing to hold the games in Paris in 1900. The Greeks were so enthusiastic that they moved the date earlier to 1896! Olympia was remote and undeveloped, so Athens held the Games. He created the form of the Games and the Olympic Charter.

Greece (Athens) Lacking any financial support from the government, the Greek Organising Committee, raised money by selling souvenir stamps and medals. A donation of one million drachma facilitated the reconstruction of Athens’ Pananthenaic Stadium, which had been originally built in 330BC.

A blueprint for the modern era The modern day Olympics were meant to mimic the ancient Greek belief that art, culture, and sports could be celebrated harmoniously, and that this would, according to the Olympic Museum, strike a healthy balance between exercising the body and mind.

The blueprint was lost… The Olympic Games have arguably moved away from their essence. Corruption, ecological degradation, cultural appropriation, and politics have polarized the games, rather than uniting different people, as is (or was) their intention. 

Highlights from the past… The Olympic Museum articulates that when “the Games are used for political ends, the Olympic idea is placed under threat.” They list seven well-known examples: the 1936, the Nazis controlled the Games; in 1976 in Montreal, 22 countries boycotted the games due to New Zealand’s rugby team touring South Africa which still had a legal apartheid; lastly in 1984 in LA, the Soviets boycotted the games due to the commercialization of sport.