The
Ancient Olympic Games
were a series of
athletic
competitions
held between the
city-states
of
Ancient Greece
. They used to be called the
Olympic Games
(
Greek
:
Ολυμπιακο? Αγ?νε?
;
Olympiakoi Agones
) until the modern day
Olympic Games
started. The Ancient Olympic Games began in 776
BC
in
Olympia
,
Greece
.
[1]
Prizes at the games were
olive
wreaths,
palm
branches and
woollen
ribbons. The ancient Olympics were played in the honour of the God
Zeus
.
There is no agreement on when the Games officially ended, but many
historians
think it is 393
AD
, when the
Christian
Roman emperor
Theodosius I
declared that all
Pagan
religious practices should end.
[2]
Another date might be 426 AD, when the next emperor
Theodosius II
ordered the destruction of all Greek temples.
[3]
The stadium in Olympia got buried by
landslides
and other
natural disasters
. After the Olympics stopped, they were not held again until the modern Olympic Games were started in 1896 in
Athens
.
Women were not allowed to compete, or even watch most events. According to
Pausanias
, any woman found on the site had to be thrown off the rock of Typhaion.
[4]
This only applied to married women (
gunaikes
), the only exception was the priestess of Demeter.
[5]
Unmarried women were allowed as spectators. It seems that only one woman was ever found, Kallipateira, a widow, who disguised as the person training her son. She was found when she jumped into the air when her son won.
[6]
She was spared the fate, but to avoid this happening again, all people competing, and the people training them had to be naked. Nevertheless, unmarried women attending as spectators was improbable.
An exception to this were the
equestrian
events. Women were allowed to enter horses. Those contorolling the horses or chariots still had to be male. The chariot races also saw the first woman to win an Olympic event. The winner was deemed to be the wealthy benefactor or trainer that funded the team rather than those controlling the chariot (who could only be male). This allowed for horse trainer and
Spartan
princess
Cynisca
to be the first female Olympic victor.
[7]
Because the winner was the benefactor, it was also possible for a particularly wealthy person to improve their odds by bringing multiple teams to the races. According to
Plutarch
, the record belongs to
Alcibiades
, who brought seven chariots to a single competition, winning the first, second, and either the third or fourth place at once.
[8]
In 67, the Roman Emperor
Nero
competed in the chariot race at
Olympia
. He was thrown from his chariot and was thus unable to finish the race. Nevertheless, he was declared the winner on the basis that he would have won if he had finished the race.
[9]
Here are athletes that competed at the Games:
- from
Athens
:
- from Sparta:
- from
Rhodes
:
- from
Croton
:
- from other cities:
- non-Greek:
- Tiberius
(steerer of a four-horse chariot)
[10]
- Nero
(steerer of a ten-horse chariot)
- Varastades
, Prince and future King of
Armenia
, (last known Ancient Olympic victor (boxing) during the 291st Olympic Games in the fourth century.
[11]
- ↑
"Ancient Olympic Games"
.
Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006
. Microsoft Corporation. June 20, 1997. Archived from
the original
on May 4, 2006
. Retrieved
December 27,
2006
.
- ↑
However, Theodosius'
decree
contains no specific reference to Olympia (Crowther (2007), p. 54).
- ↑
Crowther (2007), p. 54
- ↑
Pausanias, V, 6, 7 and V, 13, 10
- ↑
Pausanias, VI, 20, 9.
- ↑
Pausanias, VI, 7, 2
- ↑
Millender, Ellen G., "Spartan Women" p. 500-525. In
A Companion to Sparta
, edited by Anton Powell, Vol. 1 of
A Companion to Sparta.
Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell, 2018.
- ↑
Plutarch
,
The Life of Alcibiades
- ↑
"Olympic Games We No Longer Play"
. 4 August 2016. Archived from
the original
on 5 August 2016
. Retrieved
4 August
2016
.
- ↑
Tiberius, AD 1 or earlier - cf. Ehrenberg & Jones, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius [Oxford 1955] p. 73 (n.78)
- ↑
369 according to
Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece
by Nigel Wilson, 2006, Routledge (UK) or 385 according to
Classical Weekly
by Classical Association of the Atlantic States