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EARLY HISTORY | |
Greece.Of all the games held throughout Greece, those staged at Olympia in honour of Zeus are the most famous. Held every four years between August 6 and September 19, they occupied such an important place in Greek life that time was measured by the interval between them--an Olympiad. Although the first Olympic champion listed in the records was one Coroebus of Elis, a cook, who won the sprint race in 776 BC, it is generally accepted that the Games were probably at least 500 years old at that time. According to one legend they were founded by Heracles, son of Alcmene. The Games, like all Greek games, were an intrinsic part of a religious festival. They were held at Olympia in the city-state of Elis, on a track about 32 metres (35 yards) wide. The racing length was one stade, a distance of about 192 metres (210 yards). In the early Olympics a race, called a stade, covered one length of the track. Horse racing, which became part of the ancient games, was held in the hippodrome, south of the stadium.At the meeting in 776 BC, there was apparently only one event, the stade, but other events were added over the ensuing decades. In 724 BC a two-length race, diaulos, roughly similar to the 400-metre race, was included, and four years later the dolichos, a long-distance race possibly to be compared to the modern 1,500- or even 5,000-metre event, was added. Wrestling and the pentathlon were introduced in 708 BC. The latter was an all-around competition consisting of five events--the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, foot race, and wrestling. Boxing was introduced in 688 BC, and in 680 a chariot race. In 648 the pancratium (Greek pankration), a kind of all-strength, or no-holds-barred, wrestling, was included. Kicking and hitting were allowed; only biting and gouging (thrusting a finger or thumb into an opponent's eye) were forbidden. Between 632 and 616 BC events for boys were introduced. And from time to time further events were added, including contests for fully armed soldiers, for heralds, and for trumpeters. The program must have been as varied as that of the modern Olympics, although the athletics (track and field) events were limited; there was no high jumping in any form and no individual field event, except in the pentathlon. Until the 77th Olympiad (472 BC) all of the contests took place on one day; later they were spread, with, perhaps, some fluctuation, over four days, with a fifth devoted to the closing-ceremony presentation of prizes and a banquet for the champions. Sources generally agree that women were not allowed as competitors or, except for the priestess of Demeter, as spectators. In most events, the athletes participated in the nude. The Olympic Games were originally restricted to freeborn Greeks. The competitors, including those who came from the Greek colonies, were amateur in the sense that the only prize was a wreath or garland. The athletes underwent a most rigorous period of supervised training, however, and eventually the contestants were true professionals. Not only were there substantial prizes for winning, but the Olympic champion also received adulation and unlimited benefits from his city. Athletes became full-time specialists--a trend that in the modern games has caused a long and bitter controversy over amateurism. Rome.Greece lost its independence to Rome in the middle of the 2nd century BC, and the support for the competitions at Olympia and other places fell off considerably in the next century. The Romans looked on athletics with contempt--to strip naked and to contend in public was degrading in the eyes of the Roman citizen. The Romans realized the value of the Greek festivals, however, and Augustus, who had a genuine love for athletics, staged athletic games in a temporary wooden stadium erected near the Circus Maximus. Nero was also a keen patron of the festivals in Greece. By the 4th century AD, Rome, with its population of more than 1,000,000, had well over 150 holidays for games. There was chariot racing in the hippodrome and horse racing in the Circus Maximus, with room for more than 250,000 spectators. In an amphitheatre with accommodation for 50,000, animals and human beings were maimed and slaughtered in the name of sport.Indeed, public games were held in abundance, but for the Romans athletic events occupied a secondary position. The only ones that really interested them were the fighting events--wrestling, boxing, and the pancratium. The main difference between the Greek and Roman attitude was that the Roman festivals were described as ludi (games), the Greek as agones (contests). The Greeks originally organized their games for the competitors, the Romans for the public. One was primarily competition, the other entertainment; and it is not unreasonable to suggest that the Greeks took an "amateur" view of sport, the Romans a professional one. | |
Introduction * Revival of the Olympics * Organization of the Modern Olympics | |
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