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Significance of the ancient olympic games
Ancient Olympic games in simple words
Short essay on history of olympics
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The Greek Olympic Games was very important to Greek mythology. Lots of people know about these games, but most people have no idea what made it popular, why they came up with it, and what events there were. What made the games so popular? Well for one, the men competed so they could get fit for military purposes. It was a very religous festival, and people came to worship Zeus and other gods. Almost 50,000 people came each year and some stayed outside the stadium even, when there was a shortage of water and food, but people still came and watched. People went for not only religous purposes, nut just for entertainment. The games were one of the if not most popular event at that time. The athletes competed in a small number of events. The first
thirteen olympic games only had one event, the stade, a short sprint of 200 meters. Wrestling was added in the 18th Olympiad. It was a type of militarty highly valued but there was no weapons. It ended when the other gave up and admitted defeat. Discus was at first made of heavy metals. The technique is very similar to the technique we use today. One event the is very unknown was Pankration. It was a very challenging sport to participate in, and the Greeks believed that it was created by Theseus after he deafeating the Minotaur. It’s a combination of wrestling and boxing. There was also a form of jumping, pretty much long jump. They would use stone weights to help them jump farther. They would run up and jump and throw the weight behind them to increase the distance they jump. Then there were Equestrian events. These races included all the horse and chariot races. They took place in the Hippodrome, which is a flat, open area.
Dr. Donald Kyle, in his book Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient world, makes the argument that ancient Greek athletic participation was technically open to all male Greek citizens, but not all male Greeks could or did participate. Dr. Kyle asserts that because all male Greeks had access to athletics from youth that sport in ancient Greece was democratic. But, when it comes to spectacle or what would more modernly be seen as professional sport, it was often aristocratic athletes performing in front of a crowd of lower-class people. The way lower-class people would have perceived sport is much different than how an aristocratic athlete would have viewed sport. Sport in ancient Greece was not democratic; every male Greek citizen had the opportunity
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.
and with the birth of the Gods and Goddesses that reigned on Mount Olympus . The
The spectators came from all over the Roman Empire and various other regions, like Africa. The games became a way of entertaining the wealthy, as well as the common people.
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
Politicians began sponsoring the games, making these politicians more prestigious and stronger leaders. The sponsorship of the games started to become expected of rising politicians as the games grew to be larger and a bigger part of the Roman culture. The upper class began to question the morality of the games and it’s excessive brutality and began to stop attending the games. The games became less and less popular as more people realized it was spiritually harmful to participate in such activities. Many Romans began to realize that these games could be thought of as a form of human sacrifice that was not condones in the evolving society.
The tales of Greek heroes and the gods are older than all of us. Most of these tales are thought to be myths, but every interpretation of Greek mythology and the stories that it contains correlates with something in the real world today. The story of the creation of the world, and the stories of the heroes Hercules, Perseus and Theseus, are only but a few of the compelling stories Greek mythology has to offer.
The time has come again for Olympics games to begin. Organizers of the Olympics must choose the finest statues from a certain time period; they chose to decorate with the Classical period. They believed that the Classical period would best decorate the course of the marathon because they believe that the Classical statues characterize both modern and ancient values the best. The three Classical statutes that would best signify both ancient and modern values would be: The Charioteer from Delphi, The Discus Thrower, and Zeus/Poseidon. These three Classical statutes would best depict both modern and western values because of their characteristics of determination, freedom of expression/language, as well as their perfection of form.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece explains a variety of ways in which the Greeks were influenced by their religion. The Greeks expressed their respect for their gods through sacred acts, primarily festivals and rituals. The festivals were held to honor certain deities such as the Olympic Games, an event held for athletes meant to honor
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.
The Olympic Games are the leading worldwide sport event that held every 4 years, featuring thousands of international athletes from more than 200 nations participating in a variety of sports competitions. Although the Games are about winning the sports competitions, they also provide a platform for the nations throughout the world to learn different cultures and share uniqueness. The Games are important, and have to be held because they transmit a message of friendship and peaceful between nations.
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,
Ancient Olympics The ancient Olympics had some differences from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes from any country. Women where not allowed to even watch the games on penalty of death let alone play in them.. Also, the games were always held at Olympia in Greece instead of being moved around to different sites every time. But also they had some similarities to our modern Olympics, winning athletes were heroes who put their home towns on the map, and became financially sound for life. The conflict between the Olympic's ideals of sportsmanship and unity and the commercialism and political acts which accompany the Games where also present in ancient times. "Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans."
The Olympic Games were a vital part of Greek culture which was heavily influenced by athletics. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest presentation of athletic skill and competitive spirit. Thousands of athletes and spectators participate in this universal event. Revived in 1896, the Olympic Games had their beginnings in ancient Greece, and since then the event is very much comparable to modern Olympic events.