The name “Olympics” has come to mean a gathering of athletes representing countries all over the world, who come to compete in a tournament that includes a wide variety of sports competitions.
The historical origins of the Olympic Games are not entirely known. Apparently they started in Ancient Greece in the year 776 B.C.
During that era, competitors vied not only in athletic sports, but also in a variety of thinking games.
The Olympic Games were closely linked to the religious festivals of the cult of Zeus, but were not an integral part of a rite. Indeed, they had a secular character and aimed to show the physical qualities and evolution of the performances accomplished by young people, as well as encouraging good relations between the cities of Greece. According to specialists, the Olympic Games owed their purity and importance to religion.
Coming from every corner of Greece, people streamed to the Games site, set up their tents and slept out in the open, hoping to have the opportunity to compete. Those who won the tournaments became national heroes: poets wrote songs praising their fame, sculptors carved their likenesses in marble, and they were crowned with wreaths of laurel leaves or olive branches – the medals of those times.
The ancient games were held at Olympia, the site of a sanctuary holy to the Greek gods. Most important was the Temple of Zeus, king of the gods. The temple’s roof beams rested on a giant statue of the seated Zeus. This is where swearing-in ceremony of the athletes was conducted. Legend had it that, should any of them make a false vow, Zeus himself would rise from his seat and bring the temple crashing down on all the athletes and spectators present.
The Olympic victor received his first awards immediately after the competition. Following the announcement of the winner's name by the herald, a Hellanodikis (Greek judge) would place a palm branch in his hands, while the spectators cheered and threw flowers to him. 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. In a loud voice, the herald would announce the name of the Olympic winner, his father's name, and his homeland. Then, the Hellanodikis placed the sacred olive tree wreath, or kotinos, on the winner's head.
The athletic events in the ancient Olympic Games included wrestling, boxing, long jump, throwing the discus and javelin, chariot racing, and more. Crowned with olive-branch wreaths, the winners received the crowd’s adulation and were commemorated in song and sculpture.
Legend had it that, centuries later, an archaeological dig at Olympia unearthed a huge stone engraved with five linked rings. This later was adopted as the symbol on the flag of the modern Olympic Games, founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
The ancient Olympic Games were stopped in the fourth century A.D. by the ruling Romans, who objected to the elements of pagan worship involved.
Only at the end of the nineteenth century – in 1896, just over a hundred years ago – the Olympic Games were revived. They are now held every four years, each time in a different country.
.The Illustration in this article was created by Mr. Philip Martin
The Ancient Olympic Games
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