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Essay on ancient olympic games
Olympic Games in ancient Greece and now
Essay on ancient olympic games
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Imagine that you are a competitor in the Ancient Olympic Games and you have been dreaming about winning them for many years to come. You are stretching and jumping to warm up and then the sacred stone is dropped. Your event starts, and you start sprinting as fast as you can. You are getting ready for your long jump, gaining speed you are approaching the jump line. You approach and jump 10 feet, 20 feet, 25 feet, and you land dropping at 29 feet, 6 inches. A rumble of applause roars over the stadium as all the attention is on you. The winner's crown is placed on your head. The mythical gods especially Zeus were the reasons that the games were held, wide varieties of people including rich, poor, and average wealth visited, and many events were held such as the pentathlon. …show more content…
The Olympic Games were held in celebration of the Greek gods.
The Ancient Olympic Games were always in honor of the Greek god Zeus, who is the god of the sky and thunder. Zeus and Kronos, who was his father, fought in a struggle for the throne of the gods and rule over the world. Zeus defeated Kronos, and a temple was built for him as well as a statue made by Phidias a well known sculptor and painter in 435 BC inside of his temple in Olympia. Zeus also then assembled The Ancient Olympic Games in honor of himself after he had died. The Ancient Greeks believed that there were many gods, each of whom had an influence over a particular aspect of
life. There are many different types of people who visited the games. The games were normally once every four years that the games were held 50,000 people attended. There were more wealthy people than other people. Individuals with the average amount of money also came, and even the homeless. Most of the visitors slept in tents. The more affluent people sleep in fancier tents that took up much more space than the average tents and had much more room. There were often very honorable people spotted in the crowd, including Zeus, in their imagination. There was a series of events that men could choose to play at the Ancient Olympic Games. An athletic event comprising five different events for each competitor, in particular, men's event involving fencing, shooting, swimming, riding, and cross-country running, this was called The Pentathlon. Unquestionably, the most popular event in the games was wrestling because people in Ancient Greece that were athletes liked to harm or hurt other people to show off their strength. Zeus is the most prominent figure in the Ancient Olympic Games. Zeus was said to have created the games and is the father of all gods and goddesses. He wanted everyone to know that he was vigorous and robust and also wanted to pass on his strength to other people besides himself. The Olympians always had Zeus in their mind while competing in their events and preparing for their events.
Athletic events at this time were also closely related to the religious beliefs and practices of the Greek citizens. Each competition was devoted to a specific pagan god. For example, the patron of the Olympics was Zeus. The Greeks believed that the physical strength and ability of athletes was a direct gift from the gods (http://www.meiaconcerto.com/olympic/olympia/ideal_o.php, September 27, 2004). Therefore, each athlete competed not only in honor of his city-state, but also in honor of the gods.
Since 776 BCE, the Olympics have been a way for people of different cultures to come together and compete in friendly competition. In 1892 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, although it had been over a thousand years since the last game it still had brought together an assortment of different religions and ethnic groups together. Many factors shaping the Olympic Games reflect the changes that have taken place in our world since the last game in 393 CE in Greece such changes include woman’s suffrage, global economy, world wars, and proving competency.
People idolized these beings and built stunning life-like sculptures of them. Zeus was the most important of all the Greek gods and also king of Mount Olympus. He became a king after overthrowing his father, who was a titan and feared that his children would become more powerful than him. He is very well known for being deceiving, and a trickster.
In Ancient Greece they formed the Greek Olympics in the year 776 B.C in which participants participate to honor the gods and demonstrate their physical abilities. What was amazing was that those who participated were only participating in honor and not prizes. Something that they would win was the olive wreath which was basically winning the honor and recognition of the people and the gods. Comparing to the ancient time and now is that there are now commercialized, endorsements, and sponsorships for athletes to represent companies in the Olympics. However, the Olympics still hold true to the idea that it is still a place for participants compete with the best in the world for the honor (gold,silver, and bronze medal). Also, if we look at the sculpture of the Diskobolos made by Myron of Eleutherae it represented the general athlete in motion and would symbolize the ancient times athlete. But something that is different about now and the Greek ...
Professor Chris Pelling of UCL wrote The Ancient Olympics. In addition, the author is a member of the UCL Department of Greek and Latin. In this article, the author describe and explain how sports were more than a competition in the ancient Greece. His hypothesis was that sports were a way to get honor and power instead of just competing. It represents more than a simple crown of leaves and olive-branch at the Olympics. It gave power, fame and honor to the athlete and their home city. In addition, they were awarded with many material rewards such as money, and women. For instance, the primary method employed in this research consisted
In honor of the ancient Olympic Games, Phidias built the statue of Zeus. Zeus, king of the Greek gods, was shown in larger-than-life form in the Temple at Olympia in ancient Greece. The monument was carved by Phidias, considered
time to time the Greeks held ceremonies of Games in honor of their god Zeus.
The Ancient Greek Olympics were not only sporting events, it was a celebration to honor the great and powerful Zeus. The Ancient Olympics were held every four years at the famous Olympia, a district of Elis, here all free Greek men were allowed to compete. The first record of the Olympic Games was held in 776 B.C. The main sports were the Pentathlon, the Equestrian Events, Pankration, and Boxing.
As I said before, Zeus is the father of all gods and humans. He represents the idea of an independent moral code that all humans and immortals must obey. If any god or mortal did not follow this moral code, Zeus would enforce justice and watch over the punishment of the wrongdoers (Cunningham and Reich 33). Although Zeus is known for representing a moral code, Zeus’ behavior was far from moral. “Zeus was subject to pleasure, pain, grief, and anger, but he was most susceptible to the power of Eros – love, which often got the objects of his desire in a lot of trouble with his wife, Hera. Zeus wa...
In honor of the ancient Olympic games, Phidias built the statue of Zeus. The statue rested on a pedestal 3 feet high and 22 feet wide and nearly 40 feet high in the Temple of Zeus. It barely fit into the temple when it was completed and his head was very close to the roof. The sculptor gives us the idea that when Zeus stands up, he is capable of unroofing the temple. The statue was made of ivory and plates of gold (chryselephantine) that was secured to a framework of wood. Zeus is shown seated on a huge golden throne that was set in ebony, ivory, and precious stones. Zeus’ head was decorated with an olive wreath that symbolized peace. In his right hand he held Nike, symbolizing the importance of winning. In his left hand, a golden scepter representing royalty, topped with a golden eagle. His feet rested on a golden footstool that reached the eye- level of the worshippers. A layer of gold flowed across his ivory shoulders. His face was calm, commanding, and bearded that was without doubt, the face of a powerful god.
Modern Day Olympics are a huge tradition that sweeps the screens of televisions across the world. Competitors take the arena with uniforms that dawn their countries colors and designs that are meant to resemble their designated flag. For months the news is centered around the games; the preparation, the athletes, and of course the competition. Countries aren 't obsessed, they are inspired and full of pride seeing athletes from their country compete and show their incredible skill. This tradition dates back to ancient Greece where the games began. Tony Perrottet writes about the traditions of the ancient game in his book The Naked Olympics.
The Olympic Games were started by the Greeks a long time ago. It was in the honor of Zeus, the kings of the gods and were part of a religious festivals. They started in 776 B.C. The games were held every four years in Olympia, which is located in southeast Greece. People came from all around Greece to take part or just watch the games. Events in the Ancient Olympic Games were boxing, chariot racing, riding, pentathlon, discus, javelin, jump, running, and wrestling. Events in modern Olympic Games are swimming, diving,
Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was depicted as a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance; he was regale and was almost always shown ready to throw a lightning bolt (pantheon/zeus).
A story that is widely known about how the Olympics came to be is one in which Heracles was the creator and he was the one who made the stadium as an honor to his father Zeus after completing his twelve labors. The winner would be crowned victorious with the same olive wreath that the future Olympic participants would wear if victorious. Though now an olive wreath may sound insignificant this award was sacred to them. It was also considered to be a symbol of wisdom, peace, glory, and prosperity. In the 2004 the summer Olympics came back to Athens, Greece where they had their own interpretation of the traditional games. Such things as awarding the winner with the olive wreath were repeated in honor of the old ways and the fact that that was where it all started made it obviously more
Introduction Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest pageant of athletic skill and competitive spirit. They are also displays of nationalism, commerce and politics. Well-known throughout the world the games have been used to promote understanding and friendship among nations, but have also been a hotbed of political disputes and boycotts. The Olympic games started thousands of years ago and lasted over a millennium.. The symbolic power of the Games lived on after their demise, and came to life again as the modern Olympic Games being revived in the last century. Both the modern and Ancient Olympics have close similarities in there purpose and in there problems.