S.M.S. “CARDARELLI”

2003/2004 The Olympics

in Ancient Greece

Comenius Project“Olympism and Education

in the field of sport”

EXIT

The Olympics in Ancient GreeceThe Olympics in Ancient Greece

The Greeks and The Olympic spirit

The origins of the Olympic Games

The rules of the Games

The programme of the Games

The Greeks: different but similar

Even if the Greeks were divided into groups: the Dorians, the Ionians, the Aeolians and splitted in a lot of poleis (city-states) they had a strong sense of

unity in religion, customs and language.

And wherever they lived the Greeks claimed the

right to take part in the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games were the greatest national festival for the Athenians. Held every

four years athletes came from all regions of Greece to compete in the great Stadium of

Olympia and honour their god, Zeus.

O l y m p i a In the closed and sacred rectangular complex there was plenty of space for

practising sports- the Gymnasium and the Stadium -as well as rooms for religious

ceremonies and for keeping the sacred fire of the Olympics.

The Gymnasium, a closed rectangular building with a large yard ,where the athletes practised events such as the

javelin, the discus etc.

.

The Stadium

Dates from the early 5th century B.C. The track has a length of 212,54m

and a width of 28,50m. The stadium held 45000 spectators. The

spectators, sitting on the stands or steps of the stadium, shouted and

cheered the athletes

The Olympic spirit

Ancient athletes competed as individuals and glory achieved in sport was not different from

the one achieved in battles.

The athletes were not interested in breaking records but only to win the game and

honour their city.

776 B.C. The year 776 B.C. was the year of the

first Olympic games and, at the same time, the beginnig year of the Greek calendar. Time was divided into Olympiads,

years, months and days. An Olympiad was a period of four

hellenic years.

Omero The first sports reporter.

In the epic poem, the Iliad,

Homer describes the funeral Games held by Achilles in Honour of his late friend Patroclus.

In the Odyssey Homer

tells about the games held

by Feaci in honour of Ulisse.

Among the sports: discus throwing,, wrestling, the foot race

The Rules of the Games Only males of greek origin

could participate in the Olympics. According to the

Olympic rules, women, slaves, no-greeks, were

excluded. In addition, any man who had committed a

crime or stolen from a temple was banned from

participation. Married women could not enter the olympic

stadium or attend the games.

The Ancient Games

The ancient Games were held every four years (an Olympiad) for almost 1200 years until 393

A.D. when Roman Emperor Theodosius banned all pagan festivals (the Olympics

celebrated the Greek God Zeus).

The Athletes

One month before the official opening of the games, the judges

checked the character and the sporting capabilities of the

athletes who wished to participate, selecting only those

who really deserved to compete.

The duration of the Games

The games lasted five days: the first day was devoted to make sacrifices to gods.

On the second day the boys games were held, while on the third and the fourth day the adults games took place. The fifth day

was the day of the proclamation of the winners.

The PrizeAt the conclusion of the Games, the winners were crowned with simple olive wreaths (crown of wild olive).

Naked AthletesThe athletes performed naked during the competitions. The Greeks were not ashamed to show their bodies, the beauty of the naked body was considered to reflect internal beauty and the harmonius balance between body and mind. Their bodies were used as models by sculptors and painters who drew inspiration for their works directly from the athletes and their

movements.

FOOT RACES There were different types of races:

-The “Stade” which consisted of one lenght of the stadium

-The “Diaulos”, two lenghts or double stadium

-The “Dolichos”, a long distance race (from 7 to 24 lenghts)

The competitors ran in a straight line and not around the stadium as they do today.

LONG JUMP

The Athletes used weights made of stone or metal, in order to

jump further.

THROWING EVENTS

The discus and the javelin throwing events were very similar to today’s ones. The discus was made of stone

or bronze. The javelin was a wooden stick with a pointed end, it

was one meter and a half long.

BOXINGIt was one of the most violent

competitions in which two boxers, wearing wrapped strips of leather on their arms, faced each other until one of them was knocked

out.

WRESTLING

A kind of fighting sport in which two people fought by holding each other , trying to make

each other fall to the ground.

Chariot races were spectacular and very popular with the public. Only the wealthy could practise it

as the horse-breeding was very expensive. The drivers , called charioteers, rode the lenght of the

hippodrome for seven or eight times.

CHARIOT RACING

PENTATHLON

It was the most important of the competitions where an athlete competed in five different events: Running - Wrestling - Jumping -Discus throwing - Javelin throwing

From 776 b.C. to 2004

Thanks to the French educator: Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the games were revived in 1896 in Athens. Now the games are returning to the

country of their birth and the city of their revival.

The 2004 Olympic Games will be held

in Athens from 13 to 29 August.