Origins of the Olympic Games. The mysterious and unpredictable history of the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games, Olympic Games are the largest international complex sports competitions of our time, which are held every four years. The tradition that existed in ancient Greece was revived by a French public figure at the end of the 19th century Pierre de Coubertin. The Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every four years since 1896, with the exception of years following the World Wars. In 1924, the Winter Olympic Games were established and were originally held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. However, since 1994, the timing of the Winter Olympic Games has been shifted by two years relative to the timing of the Summer Games.
Ancient Olympic Games
The Olympic Games of Ancient Greece were a religious and sports festival held in Olympia. Information about the origin of the games has been lost, but several legends describing this event have survived. The first documented celebration dates back to 776 BC. e., although it is known that games were held earlier. During the games, a sacred truce was declared; during this time it was forbidden to wage war, although this was repeatedly violated.
The Olympic Games significantly lost their importance with the arrival of the Romans. After Christianity became the official religion, games began to be seen as a manifestation of paganism and in 394 AD. e. they were banned by the emperor Theodosius I.
Revival of the Olympic Idea
Even after the ban on ancient competitions, the Olympic idea did not disappear forever. For example, in England during the 17th century, “Olympic” competitions and competitions were repeatedly held. Later, similar competitions were organized in France and Greece. However, these were small events that were, at best, regional in nature. The first true predecessors to the modern Olympic Games are the Olympias, which were held regularly between 1859 and 1888. The idea of reviving the Olympic Games in Greece belonged to the poet Panagiotis Soutsos, brought it to life by a public figure Evangelis Zappas.
In 1766, as a result of archaeological excavations in Olympia, sports and temple buildings were discovered. In 1875, archaeological research and excavations continued under German leadership. At that time, romantic-idealistic ideas about antiquity were in vogue in Europe. The desire to revive Olympic thinking and culture spread quite quickly throughout Europe. French Baron Pierre de Coubertin (French: Pierre de Coubertin) said then: “Germany has excavated what remains of ancient Olympia. Why can't France restore its old greatness?
Baron Pierre de Coubertin
According to Coubertin, it was the weak physical condition of the French soldiers that became one of the reasons for the defeat of the French in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. He seeks to change this by improving the physical culture of the French. At the same time, he wanted to overcome national egoism and contribute to the struggle for peace and international understanding. The “youth of the world” were supposed to measure their strength in sports competitions, and not on the battlefields. Reviving the Olympic Games seemed in his eyes the best solution to achieve both goals.
At a congress held from June 16-23, 1894 at the Sorbonne (University of Paris), he presented his thoughts and ideas to an international audience. On the last day of the congress (June 23), it was decided that the first Olympic Games of our time should be held in 1896 in Athens, in the ancestral country of the Games - Greece. To organize the Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded. The first president of the Committee was a Greek Demetrius Vikelas, who was president until the end of the First Olympic Games in 1896. Baron became General Secretary Pierre de Coubertin.
The first Games of our time were truly a great success. Despite the fact that only 241 athletes (14 countries) took part in the Games, the Games became the largest sporting event ever held since Ancient Greece. Greek officials were so pleased that they put forward a proposal to hold the Olympic Games “forever” in their homeland, Greece. But the IOC introduced rotation between different states so that every 4 years the Games change their location.
After the first success, the Olympic movement experienced the first crisis in its history. The 1900 Games in Paris (France) and the 1904 Games in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) were combined with the World Exhibitions. Sports competitions dragged on for months and attracted almost no interest from spectators. Almost only American athletes participated in the Games in St. Louis, since getting from Europe across the ocean in those years was very difficult for technical reasons.
At the 1906 Olympic Games in Athens (Greece), sports competitions and results again came first. Although the IOC initially recognized and supported the holding of these "interim Games" (just two years after the previous ones), these Games are now not recognized as Olympic Games. Some sports historians consider the 1906 Games to be the salvation of the Olympic idea, as they prevented the games from becoming “meaningless and unnecessary.”
Modern Olympic Games
The principles, rules and regulations of the Olympic Games are determined by the Olympic Charter, the foundations of which were approved by the International Sports Congress in Paris in 1894, which, at the suggestion of the French educator and public figure Pierre de Coubertin, decided to organize the Games on the model of the ancient ones and to create the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
According to the charter of the Games, the Olympics “... unite amateur athletes from all countries in fair and equal competitions. There shall be no discrimination against countries or individuals on racial, religious or political grounds...” The games are held in the first year of the Olympiad (4-year period between games). The Olympiads have been counted since 1896, when the first Olympic Games took place (I Olympiad - 1896-99). The Olympiad also receives its number in cases where the games are not held (for example, VI - in 1916-19, XII - 1940-43, XIII - 1944-47). The symbol of the Olympic Games is five fastened rings, symbolizing the unification of the five parts of the world in the Olympic movement, the so-called. Olympic rings. The color of the rings in the top row is blue for Europe, black for Africa, red for America, in the bottom row - yellow for Asia, green for Australia. In addition to Olympic sports, the organizing committee has the right to choose to include in the program exhibition competitions in 1-2 sports that are not recognized by the IOC. In the same year as the Olympics, the Winter Olympic Games have been held since 1924, which have their own numbering. Since 1994, the dates of the Winter Olympic Games have been shifted by 2 years relative to the summer ones. The location of the Olympics is chosen by the IOC; the right to organize them is granted to the city, not the country. Duration no more than 15 days (winter games - no more than 10).
The Olympic movement has its own emblem and flag, approved by the IOC at the suggestion of Coubertin in 1913. The emblem is the Olympic rings. The motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger). The flag is a white cloth with the Olympic rings, and has been flown at all Games since 1920.
Among the traditional rituals of the Games:
* lighting of the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony (the flame is lit from the sun's rays in Olympia and delivered by a torch relay of athletes to the host city of the Games);
* pronouncement of the Olympic oath by one of the outstanding athletes of the country in which the Olympics are taking place on behalf of all participants in the games;
* taking an oath of impartial judging on behalf of the judges;
* presentation of medals to winners and prize-winners of competitions;
* raising the national flag and singing the national anthem in honor of the winners.
Since 1932, the host city has been building an “Olympic village” - a complex of residential premises for the participants of the games. According to the charter, the Games are a competition between individual athletes and not between national teams. However, since 1908 the so-called unofficial team standings - determining the place occupied by teams based on the number of medals received and points scored in competitions (points are awarded for the first 6 places according to the system: 1st place - 7 points, 2nd - 5, 3rd - 4, 4 -e - 3, 5th - 2, 6th - 1). The title of Olympic champion is the most honorable and coveted title in the career of an athlete in those sports in which Olympic tournaments are held. The exception is football, since the title of world champion in this sport is much more prestigious.
In Hellas (Ancient Greece) they were one of the most revered holidays, and later not only of Hellas, but of the entire ancient world. Well, today you can hardly meet a person who has not heard at least something about these games. In this article we will look at the history of the Olympic Games briefly but to the point. According to Greek mythology, the founder of the game was the equally famous hero Hercules. The first reliable sources about the games include records of the names of the winners of the games that took place in 776 BC. The games were held in the Altis district, which was sacred to the ancient Greeks, also called Olympia. The games were held every four years, and they lasted five days. According to tradition, they began with a pompous procession, as well as a sacrifice for the god Zeus. And finally, on a measured field (“stadium” in Greek), which could accommodate 40,000 spectators, sports competitions began.
The competition program included: fist fights, running, running with weapons, javelin throwing, discus throwing and competitions in chariots drawn by four horses. Later, from the 4th century BC, not only athletes, but also speakers, historians, poets, musicians, playwrights and actors began to participate in the games. Not everyone could attend the games, much less participate in them. Slaves, women, and persons on trial for certain crimes could not take part in the games, even as spectators. Once it turned out that the famous fist fighter was trained by his mother, wearing men's clothing, and since then athletes and coaches were required to appear completely naked at competitions.
Those who won the Olympic Games received great respect and honor. Monuments were erected to the winners, poets composed laudatory odes in their honor, they were pompously greeted in their homeland and awarded with wreaths made from olive branches. But the privileges did not end there; they were provided with food for life at state expense, exempted from taxes and given large financial sums. During the games, any hostilities between the warring Greek powers ceased. These were considered a real holiday of peace and served to strengthen cultural ties among the Greek states.
The Olympic Games continued until 394 AD, and were banned as a pagan holiday by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, at the insistence of the Christian clergy.
However, in 1894, the rebirth of the Olympic Games took place, it was then that the International Sports Congress took place in Paris. 34 countries were represented at the congress (including Russia). At the congress it was decided to resume the Olympic Games. As a result, the new Olympic Games opened in Athens on April 5, 1896, which have since been held every 4 years. However, due to wars, some of them did not take place: in 1916, 1940, 1944.
The modern Olympic Games are the largest complex event these days. There is no permanent program of games, as it changes regularly. As a rule, the program contains more than 20 summer sports. For example, the program of the XVI Games for men included: gymnastics, athletics, freestyle and classic wrestling, diving, weightlifting, swimming, boxing, rowing, modern pentathlon, kayaking and canoeing, skeet and bullet shooting, equestrian sports, water polo, cycling, fencing, sailing, basketball, football, grass hockey. And the women competed in fencing, kayaking, swimming, diving, gymnastics, and athletics.
This is the history of the Olympic Games briefly outlined in this article. It should also be noted that in these games there is no official team championship, but only competitions. The winner in any sport becomes the owner of a gold medal, the one who takes second place receives a silver medal, and for third place a bronze medal is given.
Five rings and the slogan “Faster. Higher. Stronger" are some of the most recognizable symbols in the world. The Olympic Games are criticized for being politicized, pompous, expensive, and doping scandals, but they are always eagerly awaited. The modern Olympic Games turn 120 this year, but of course their history goes back much, much further.
According to one of the myths, King Oenomaus, the ruler of the city of Pisa, organized sports competitions for those who wanted to marry his daughter Hippodamia. Moreover, the conditions of these competitions were obviously losing - all because Oenomaus was predicted that his son-in-law would be the cause of his death. The young people lost their lives one after another, and only the cunning Pelops managed to overtake his future father-in-law in chariot races, so successfully that Oenomaus broke his neck. The prediction nevertheless came true, and the new king, to celebrate, ordered a sports festival to be held in Olympia every four years.
The well-known word “gymnastics,” according to one version, comes from the ancient Greek “gymnos,” which means “naked.” It was in this form that ancient athletes participated in competitions, so in those days the organizers of the games significantly saved on sportswear. Some, such as wrestlers, also rubbed themselves with oil to make it easier to slip out of the opponent’s grip.
According to another version, the Olympic Games were founded by none other than the main ancient Greek superman, Hercules. Having cleared the Augean stables, the hero not only did not receive the promised reward, but also received a royal kick in the ass. Naturally, the demigod was offended and after a while returned with a large army. Having destroyed the offender morally and physically, Hercules, in gratitude for his help, made a sacrifice to the gods and personally planted an entire olive grove around the sacred plain in honor of the goddess Athena. And on the plain itself he ordered regular sports competitions to be held.
According to ancient historians, the first Olympic Games took place during the reign of King Iphitus (approximately 884–828 BC). Iphit, the king of Elis, on whose territory Olympia was located, was very concerned about what was happening in the state and beyond. At that time, Greece was a seething cauldron, where many small, disparate kingdoms were constantly at war with each other. Iphit went to Lycurgus, the king of Sparta, and said that he no longer wanted to fight, but wanted to organize sports competitions. Lycurgus liked the idea, and the other warring rulers also agreed. As a result, Elis received neutral status and immunity in exchange for the fact that nationwide sports tournaments would be held at Olympia every four years. During the games, all wars stopped. The Olympic Games united Greece, tormented by civil strife, which, however, did not stop the states from fighting with each other the rest of the time before and after the games.
However, even ancient Greek historians were not sure of the exact date, so they considered the first Olympics to be competitions about which they had more or less accurate information. These games took place in 776 BC. BC, and Korebus of Elis won the race.
The only type of ancient Olympic competition for the first thirteen games was running. Then - the pentathlon, which includes running, long jump, javelin throw, discus throw and wrestling itself. Later, fist fighting and chariot racing were added. The program of the modern Olympic Games includes 28 summer and 7 winter sports, respectively 41 and 15 disciplines, depending on the season.
With the arrival of the Romans, a lot changed. If previously only Hellenic athletes could take part in the games, then after Greece was annexed to the Empire, the national composition of participants expanded. In addition, gladiator fights were added to the program. The Hellenes gritted their teeth, but had to endure it. True, not for long - after Christianity became the official religion of the empire, the event, as pagan, was banned by Emperor Theodosius I. In 394 AD. e. the games were cancelled, and a year later many Olympic buildings were destroyed during the war with the barbarians. Olympia, like Atlantis, disappeared from the face of the earth.
Olympia today
However, the Olympic Games did not sink into oblivion forever, although they had to remain in oblivion for fifteen long centuries. Ironically, the first step towards the revival of the Olympic Games was made by a church leader - the Benedictine monk Bernard de Montfaucon, who was very interested in the history of Ancient Greece and was convinced that it was necessary to conduct excavations at the site where the legendary Olympia had previously been located. Soon, many European scientists and public figures of the 18th century began talking about the need to find her.
In 1766, the English traveler Richard Chandler discovered the ruins of some ancient structures near Mount Kronos in Greece. It turned out that the find was part of the wall of a huge temple. In 1824, archaeologist Lord Stanhof began excavations on the banks of the Alpheus, then French archaeologists took up the baton in 1828–1829. In October 1875, German specialists under the leadership of Ernst Curtius continued the excavations of Olympia. Inspired by the results of archaeological research, public and sports figures gave entire lectures about the delights of the Olympic movement and the need for its revival. Government officials listened to them attentively and nodded in agreement, but for some reason they refused to allocate funds for the games.
And yet, finally, there was someone who managed to convince everyone: the Olympic Games are exactly what humanity needs. It was the French public figure Pierre de Coubertin. He was sincerely convinced that the ideas of the Olympic movement carried within them the spirit of freedom, peaceful competition, harmony and physical improvement. Coubertin found many supporters around the world. On November 25, 1892, he gave a lecture in Paris on “The Olympic Renaissance,” the main idea of which was that sport should be international. Coubertin called his contemporaries the heirs of the great Hellenic civilization, which elevated the harmonious development of man, intellectual and physical perfection into a cult.
At the end of the 19th century, the international sports movement gradually began to gain momentum. With the growth of cultural and economic ties between countries, international sports associations began to appear and international competitions were organized. This was the ideal moment to implement Coubertin's ideas. Together with friends and associates, he organized the Founding Congress, where supporters of the Olympic movement from all over the world were to gather. A meeting of two thousand delegates from twelve countries took place in June 1894 at the Sorbonne. It was there that a unanimous decision was made to revive the Olympic Games and establish the International Olympic Committee. At the same time, national Olympic committees were created. They decided to hold the first international competitions in 1896 in Athens. The Olympic Games were revived in the same place where they originated - in Greece.
The first resumed games became the largest sporting event of their time. The Greek authorities, inspired by the success, proposed to permanently hold the games on their territory, but this clearly contradicted the spirit of internationalism, and the IOC decided to choose a new location for the Olympics every four years. Gradually, attributes and rituals of the games appeared that have now become familiar: the emblem and flag, the Olympic oath and mascots, the parade, the opening and closing ceremonies, the Olympic torch relay. It’s hard to imagine these competitions without them.
Unlike the ancient games, during which armed conflicts ceased, the modern Olympic Games were not held three times due to world wars - in 1916, 1940 and 1944. And the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was overshadowed by a terrorist attack: Palestinian terrorists took Israeli team members hostage. The liberation operation completely failed due to poor organization - eleven athletes were killed.
Since 1924, the Winter Olympics have been added to the classic Olympic Games - Summer. At first the games were held in one year, but since 1994 the Winter and Summer Games began to alternate every two years.
In our country, the Olympic Games have been held twice. The first Olympics took place in 1980 in the USSR, the second, Winter, in 2014 in Sochi. Hosting the Games has always been very important for the prestige of any state, so there is always a tense struggle for the right to host athletes from all over the world. And, of course, there is a fight for medals - only the best representatives of their country go to the competition. And although the games are considered individual competitions between individual athletes, the result is invariably determined by the number of “precious metals” earned by the entire team. The funny thing is that, according to the original plan of Pierre de Coubertin, these were competitions exclusively for amateur athletes, but now the Olympics are a purely professional sport. And, of course, a spectacular show and big money - where would we be without it?
Sports competitions called the “Olympic Games” were held in Ancient Greece, in Olympia (a city in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese, which in the past was the most important religious and sports center of Greece).
The year of the beginning of the Olympic Games is considered to be 776 BC. e., this date is carved on a slab found by archaeologists along with the name of the Olympic winner in the race Corab. The date is also confirmed by the ancient authors Paraballon, Hippias, Aristotle and others. The Greek historian Timaeus (about 352-256 BC) and the mathematician Eratosthenes (about 276-196 BC) developed a chronology from the first Games , according to which until 394 AD. e., when competitions were banned by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, 293 Olympics took place.
The idea of reviving the Olympic Games was proposed at the end of the 19th century by the French public figure Pierre de Coubertin in connection with public interest in archaeological discoveries in Olympia. De Coubertin outlined the project for the revival of the Olympic Games in his report on November 25, 1892 at the Sorbonne.
The principles, rules and regulations of the games were determined by the Olympic Charter, approved in June 1894 by the International Sports Congress in Paris. According to the charter, the Olympic Games bring together amateur athletes from all countries in fair and equal competition; Countries and individuals are not discriminated against on racial, religious or political grounds. At the same congress, it was decided to hold the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. For this purpose, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was created.
At the first Games in Athens on April 6-15, 1896, 43 sets of medals were competed in 9 sports. 241 athletes from 14 countries took part in the competition. At these Games, traditions were established such as the performance of the Olympic anthem, participation in the opening ceremony of the head of state hosting the games, and the awarding of the winners on the last day of the competition. The Athens Olympics became the largest sporting event of its time. Since then, international competitions, known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every four years (with the exception of the First and Second World Wars). The location of the Games is chosen by the IOC, and the right to organize them is granted to the city, not the country.
Since 1900, women have participated in the Games.
In 1908, qualifying competitions were held in London for the first time in the history of the Olympics, and the tradition of a procession of participating teams under national flags was born. At the same time, the unofficial team classification became widespread - determining the place occupied by teams based on the number of medals received and points scored in competitions.
In 1912, a photo finish was used for the first time at the Stockholm Olympics.
In 1920, at the Olympics in Antwerp (Belgium), the Olympic flag was raised for the first time in the history of the games, and the participants took the Olympic oath.
The Winter Olympics have been held since 1924. Before this, some winter sports were included in the programs of the Summer Olympics. Thus, the figure skating championship at the Olympics was first played in London in 1908, and the first Olympic ice hockey tournament took place in 1920 in Antwerp. Initially, the Winter Olympics were held in the same year as the Summer Olympics; in 1992, their dates were shifted by two years. The Winter Olympics have their own numbering.
During the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, the tradition of lighting the flame was established.
At the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, for the first time, an “Olympic village” was built specifically for the participants.
Since 1936, the world has been following the Olympic torch relay.
In 1960, during the Summer Olympics in Rome, an athlete from Denmark, Knud Jensen, died for the first time due to doping.
In 1960, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, America, the opening ceremony was for the first time accompanied by a large-scale theatrical performance (Walt Disney was responsible for organizing it).
At the 1972 games in Munich, members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September took Israeli team athletes and coaches hostage. During the operation to free them, 11 members of the Israeli team and one West German policeman were killed.
In 2004, during the Athens Olympics, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the IOC insured itself (for $170 million) in case of cancellation of competitions due to the threat of terrorism or natural disasters
The longest Games were the 1900 Games in Paris and the 1904 Games in St. Louis (USA). They were combined with the World Exhibitions and lasted several months (May-October 1900, July-November 1904). The Olympics in St. Louis also went down in history as “American”: out of 625 participants, 533 were Americans, since many European athletes were unable to come to the competition due to the high cost of travel.
The largest Olympic team ever entered by one country was the Great Britain team at the 1908 Olympics in London - 710 athletes.
Several times certain countries did not take part in the Games for political reasons. Thus, Germany and its allies in the world wars were excluded from participation in the games in 1920 and 1948. In 1920, athletes from Soviet Russia were not invited to the Olympics in Antwerp (Belgium). 65 countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow due to the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979. In response, teams from 13 countries of the socialist camp did not attend the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The official reason for the boycott was the refusal of the organizers of the 84 Olympics to provide safety guarantees to athletes from the USSR and other Warsaw Pact countries.
In the history of the Games, there were several cases when competitions in some sports were held both before the opening of the games and after they closed. Thus, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp were officially held on August 14-29, but competitions for figure skaters and hockey players took place in April, yachtsmen and shooters - in July, football players - in August and September. In 1956, at the Games in Melbourne, due to quarantine rules, equestrian competitions were held not only six months earlier than the Olympics itself, but also in another country and on another continent - in Stockholm.
The Olympics first appeared on television at the games in Berlin in 1936. To ensure that as many people as possible could see the athletes’ competitions, screens were installed throughout the city. Games were first broadcast to Londoners' home televisions in 1948. In 1956, the Olympic Games were transferred to all European countries, and starting from 1964 - to all continents. /TASS-DOSSIER/
The ancient Olympic Games were brutal competitions in which athletes shed their blood and even gave their lives for the sake of glory and championship, in order to avoid shame and defeat.
Participants in the games competed naked. Athletes were idealized, not least because of their physical perfection. They were praised for their fearlessness, endurance and will to fight, bordering on suicide. In bloody fist fights and chariot races, few reached the finish line.
The emergence of the Olympic Games
It is no secret that for the ancient Olympians the main thing was will. In these competitions there was no place for politeness, nobility, exercise in amateur sports and modern Olympic ideals.
The first Olympians fought for the reward. Officially, the winner received a symbolic olive wreath, but they returned home as heroes and received unusual gifts.
They fought desperately for something that modern Olympians cannot understand - for immortality.
There was no afterlife in the Greek religion. hope for continuation of life after death it was only possible through glory and valiant deeds, perpetuated in sculpture and song. Losing meant complete collapse.
In ancient games there were no silver and bronze medalists, the losers received no honors, they went home to their disappointed mothers, as the ancient Greek poet writes.
Little remains of the ancient Olympic Games. The festivities that once rocked these places can no longer be returned. These columns once supported the vaults, in whose honor the games were held. The now unremarkable field was the stadium where the competitions were held, where 45 thousand Greeks gathered.
The tunnel has been preserved, in which the steps of the Olympians were heard as they entered the field. From the top of the triangular column, the winged goddess of victory, the symbol and spirit of the Olympic Games, looked at all this.
The origin can be called prehistoric, people lived here in stone houses around 2800 BC. Around 1000 BC Olympia became a temple to the god of thunder and lightning.
How did games come about?
From religious rituals. The first competition was running to the altar of Zeus – ritual offering of energy to god.
The first recorded games took place in 776 BC., they were held every 4 years continuously for 12 centuries.
All citizens could participate. Non-Greeks, whom the Greeks themselves called , were not allowed to participate, and women and slaves were also not allowed.
The games took place in August on a full moon. Athletes arrived here 30 days before the opening to train for a month. They were closely watched by judges called.
To those who carefully prepared for the Olympics, were not lazy and did not do anything reprehensible, the Hellenistics said move forward boldly. But if someone didn't train properly, they should have left.
In those times The entire ancient world came to the Olympics, 100 thousand people set up camps in the fields and olive groves. They arrived here by land and sea: from Africa, the territory of modern France and the southern coast of modern Russia. Often people came here from city-states that were at war with each other: the Greeks were quite quarrelsome by nature.
The games were of great importance and were respected, and therefore in honor of Zeus a truce was signed on the sacred disk, which protected all arriving guests for three months. Perhaps due to the fact that it was reinforced by fear in everyone, the truce was almost never broken: even the most sworn enemies could see each other and compete at the Olympics in the world.
But on the first day of the Olympiad there were no competitions; it was a day of religious purification and parting words. The athletes were led to a sanctuary and meeting place. There was also a statue of Zeus with a lightning bolt in his hand.
Under the stern gaze of the god, the priest sacrificed the genitals of a bull, after which athletes took the Solomon's oath To Zeus: compete fairly and follow the rules.
Everything was serious. The punishment for breaking the rules was severe. In the distance, the athletes saw statues of Zeus, called zanas, erected with money received in the form of fines paid by violators of competition rules.
Victory had to be earned not by money, but by the speed of the legs and the strength of the body - said the instructions of the Olympics. But the crown of victory was given with considerable blood.
Fist fight
The ancient Greeks admired the beauty and power of sports, but they were also drawn to savagery and violence: they saw this as a metaphor for life.
The Greek word for competition is agon, which is where the word agony comes from. The concept of struggle is one of the central ones in Greek culture. In the context of athletics, "agon" meant competition with pain, suffering and brutal competition.
Without a doubt, no sport has such fierce competition as boxing, which has its origins in
Fist fighting entered the games program in 688 BC, followed by wrestling and an even more brutal sport -. All of them quickly became the crowd's favorite sports because the risk of injury or even death was extremely high here, and the victims had to appease Zeus, so the battles were held in the sacred part of Olympia - in front of the 9-meter altar of Zeus, made from the ashes of sacrificial animals.
Modern boxers would be horrified by the rules of the competition, or rather, by the practical absence of them: there were no weight restrictions, there were no rounds, the opponents fought without a break, water, a trainer in the corner of the ring and gloves - the fighters were left to their own devices.
They were reeling Rough leather straps for fists and wrists to increase the impact force. The skin cut into the flesh of the enemy. The blows often landed on the head, everything was splattered with blood, they fought nonstop until one of the opponents falls.
Since 146 BC. The Romans became the hosts of the Olympics. With them, competitors began to insert three-centimeter metal spikes between their belts - it was more reminiscent of a knife fight than a fist fight, some almost immediately dropped out of the competition, others were very successful. Many beginners were slashed by these belt gloves, or rather, they were even torn into pieces.
To make the battles tougher, they were held in August afternoons under the scorching Mediterranean sun. Thus, the competitors fought each other with blinding light, dehydration and heat.
How long did the battles last? Four hours or more until one of the athletes gave up, for this all you had to do was raise your finger.
But the defeat was much more humiliating than today: many wrestlers preferred to die than to lose.
The Spartans, fanatical soldiers, were taught to never give up, so they did not participate in fist fights, since defeat was a mortal shame.
Wrestlers were admired not only for the blows they could inflict on their opponents, but also for the pain they could endure. They valued physically and philosophically the ability to withstand pain to the point where you would take blow after blow under the scorching sun, the heat, breathing dust - they saw virtue in this.
If the matter went to a draw, or the fight reached a dead point, the judges could appear climax, when the fighters had to exchange open blows. There is a famous story about two fighters who reached this point in a match - Krevg and Damoxena. Everyone had to strike a blow to the enemy. The first was Damoxenus, he used a karate piercing cut, pierced his opponent's flesh and ripped out his intestines. Krevg was posthumously declared the winner, because the judges stated that technically Damoxenus struck him not with one blow, but five, because he used five fingers to pierce the enemy's body in several places at once.
The ancient fighters did not have equipment for training, but they were not inferior in physical strength to their modern colleagues.
Pankration - fights without rules
Wrestling matches were practically a battle to the death, but for the savagery - low blows and prohibited techniques- had my own sport, pankration.
Pankration was a very brutal event, it was the most brutal of all ancient competitions. They say about him that it is a mixture of unclean boxing with unclean wrestling: it was allowed to hit, push, choke, break bones - whatever you want, no prohibitions.
Pankration appeared in 648 BC. It had only two rules: Don't bite or gouge out eyes, but these prohibitions were not always observed. Opponents fought completely naked, blows to the genitals were prohibited, but even this rule was often violated.
Technique was not important in these ancient fights without rules, very soon they became the most popular event at the Olympics.
Pankration was the personification of violence in ancient sports, it was a most exciting and popular spectacle, and it gives us some idea of the spirit of humanity in those days.
Wrestling is a relatively civilized combat sport.
Wrestling was the only combat sport that could be called relatively civilized by today's standards, but even here the rules were not strict. Simply put, everything was used: much of what is prohibited today - chokeholds, breaking bones, tripping - everything was considered normal technique.
The ancient fighters were well trained and taught many techniques: throwing over the shoulder, vice grips and various grips. The competitions were held in special shallow hole.
There were two types of competitions: lying on the ground and standing. The wrestlers fought either on their feet - in this case, any three falls meant defeat, or the opponents fought in slippery mud, where it was difficult for them to stay on their feet. The fight continued, as in wrestling or pankration, until one of the participants gave up. Fights were often akin to torture.
In the 7th century BC. e. judges realized the need to introduce ban on breaking fingers, but was often ignored. In the 5th century BC. Antikozy won two victories in a row, breaking the fingers of his opponents.
Chariot racing is the most dangerous sport
But it wasn't just wrestlers who risked their bodies and lives at the ancient Olympic Games.
Long before the appearance of the Olympic Games, the Greeks loved to combine sports with sometimes even mortal danger. Bull jumping was a popular sport in the 2000s BC. The acrobats literally took the rushing bull by the horns, performing on its back.
The most dangerous Olympic sport was chariot racing. The chariots competed in the hippodrome, which is now an olive grove: the hippodrome was washed away around 600 AD. river Althea suddenly changed course.
The racing strip of the hippodrome was about 135 meters long, its width could accommodate 44 chariots, each of which was harnessed by 4 horses.
Tens of thousands of Greeks watched the races, which were real a test of control skill and nerve resistance. 24 laps of 9 kilometers each freely accommodated 160 horses, beating their hooves at the start.
The most difficult part of the distance was turning around: the chariot had to be turned 180 degrees almost on the spot, i.e. the chariot rotated around its axis. It was at this point that most accidents occurred: chariots overturned, athletes were thrown, and horses bumped into and tripped over each other.
The level of danger of racing reached the point of absurdity, mainly due to the lack of dividing strips. Chariots often collided head-on. The poet writes that in one of the races, 43 out of 44 chariots crashed, leaving the winner the only survivor on the field.
Zeus ruled Olympus, but the fate of the chariots rather depended on the god of horses, whose statue looked over the hippodrome. His name was, he instilled fear in horses, so before the race the participants tried to appease him.
The only element of order in this racing chaos was introduced at the start. The Greeks came up with an original mechanism to ensure fairness on the field: the bronze eagle of Zeus rose above the crowd, which meant the start of the race.
The chariots were small in size and had two wheels; they were open at the back, so the driver was not protected in any way.
It was erected by participants almost as prestigious as the Olympic ones. The Greeks praised control and self-control in the midst of violence and chaos. The statue embodies these ideals.
Was it possible for women to participate in competitions?? Not as charioteers, but they could display their chariots.
On the pedestal on which stood the statue of the king’s daughter, there is an inscription: “ Sparta kings are my fathers and brothers. Having defeated the chariots on fleet-footed horses, I, Kiniska, erected this statue. I say with pride: I am the only woman who received this wreath.”
Kiniska was the first woman to win the Olympics, sending his chariot to the games.
As today, boys often acted as jockeys in the horse racing that followed chariot racing. The main thing here was the right combination of uncontrollability and control. Jockeys raced bareback horses controlling them only with knees and a whip.
The horses were wild. In 512 BC. the mare named Veter threw off the jockey as soon as she burst into the field, ran without a rider and won the race.
Pentathlon is the most prestigious competition
Olympians trained here in palaestre, practicing fist and hand-to-hand combat. In the gymnasium they trained for the most prestigious competition among the ancient Olympic Games - pentathlon.
If in chariot racing the Greeks demonstrated fearlessness and fury, then in the pentathlon other Olympic ideals were valued: balance, grace and well-rounded development.
The event was imbued with idealism, the Greeks attached great importance proportions and balance in a person. We can see the embodiment of all this in pentathletes.
It was the pentathletes who served an example of an ideal body, when ancient sculptors depicted gods. The Greeks appreciated correct proportions, the winner in the pentathlon was recognized main athlete of the games.
He competed in five different competitions: running, jumping, discus throwing, javelin throwing and wrestling. Craftsmanship and timing were extremely important.
Pentathletes trained for years in the gymnasium in rhythm to the sound of a flute. The competition was interestingly different from modern ones. For example, in javelin throwing the Greeks used loop in the middle of the spear shaft to enhance the throw. They threw a disc weighing 6 kilograms 800 grams - three times heavier than a modern one. Perhaps that is why they performed such perfect twisting and throwing techniques that these techniques have survived to this day.
The most intriguing difference occurs in the long jump: the Greeks held loads in their hands from 2 to 7 kilograms to increase momentum and increase the length of the jump.
Holding weights to jump further seems absurd. In reality you can catch the impulse of a flying cargo and he will literally drag you through the air so that you will feel the inertial force on yourself. This actually adds length to the jump.
The length is incredible: the jumping pit was designed for 15 meters, which is 6 meters more than the modern world record. Pentathletes, like all Olympians, competed naked.
Nude Olympics
From the point of view of modern people nudity is the most amazing aspect ancient Olympic games. All the competition took place without clothes: running, discus throwing, wrestling and everything else.
But why participants began performing naked? History says that this has been the case since the 8th century BC. In 720, a runner named Arsip lost his loincloth during the competition. He won, and all the runners decided to compete naked. Gradually this custom spread to other sports.
Modern scientists reject such explanations and note that nudity and homosexuality were not considered shameful in Greek society. The very word “gymnasium,” where the Greeks studied, meant “nakedness.”
Invented in the 600s BC. These were training facilities. And at the same time, the importance of homosexuality increased, it ceased to be a secret among the Greeks. This may be partly why nudity was introduced into the games.
Homosexuality was not only not shameful in Russia, it was even encouraged, because It is important for a man to marry a virgin and have children. The only way to keep virgins intact was homosexual relations. The atmosphere at the Olympics was very electric, these were the best men of the city-states: they were the most attractive, trained and there was sexual attraction between them.
As well as between men and women who were allowed to watch nude games. Oddly enough, but married women were strictly prohibited from watching games, even just crossing the Altis River, which skirted the sacred place. Violation of the ban was punishable by death. Women caught on sacred ground were thrown into an abyss that yawned near the temple.
But young virgin girls could watch the games, despite the nudity of the athletes and the brutality of the spectacle. Unmarried girls were allowed into the stadium, because in some ways they were ignorant, they needed to get used to the idea of a man being a part of their life. The best foreplay was the performance of naked men.
One of the modern researchers said that this order was developed so that married women would not see what they could no longer have, but young maidens looked at the best of the best to know what to strive for.
Gerean games
Virgos could compete in their games called Heroes in honor of the wife of Zeus. The Heroes consisted of three races: for girls, teenage girls and young women, one lane long in the Olympic stadium, shortened by one-sixth in proportion to a woman's stride.
Spartan girls trained from birth just like boys, so they were the leaders of the games.
Unlike men, girls did not compete naked: they wore short tunics, chitons, revealing the right breast.
Women's competitions were a ritual event, something like public demonstration of their strength and spirit before they were tamed by the bonds of marriage and before they became women, it was a ritual transition.
The women's races took place on a day when the men were resting. It was a day of rituals and feasts, leading to the culmination of the religious part of the ancient games.
Art in Olympia
But people came to Olympus not only for the games, they literally wanted to see people and show themselves off: - here any of them could be found in the crowd. , the world's first professional historian, earned his fame here, reading his works at the Temple of Zeus.
People came to enjoy the works of art that decorated the temple. Those who saw this place for the first time were amazed at its beauty. These ruins were once home to thousands of masterpieces, a “forest of sculptures,” as one writer put it.
But only a few of them have survived to our times - those that archaeologists pulled out from under the cobblestones a little more than a century ago. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the legendary one that stood in the temple and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
It took countless amounts of gold and ivory. Zeus's entire body was made of ivory, his throne was made of ivory, ebony and precious stones. Zeus's robe was entirely made of gold - gold foil.
Dozens of gutters in the shape of lion heads decorated the temple and surrounded the statue. Outside, along the perimeter of the temple, sculptures depicted scenes from. Bright ornaments on the walls of some buildings in the complex made the temple even more dazzling.
The ruins, surrounded by 182 columns, were once a hotel Leonidio, where only the richest people stayed. Of the hundreds of thousands who came to Olympus, only 50 guests could be accommodated here at the same time.
There is no trace left of the altar of Zeus. Once it was located between the temples of Zeus and, it was the main shrine Olympia, animals were sacrificed here every day. This cone-shaped altar, more than 9 meters high, was famous throughout Ancient Greece. It consisted entirely of the ashes of sacrificial animals. The altar was symbol of worship of Zeus: the more sacrifices they made to him, the more honors he was given, and this is a clear reminder of how many sacrifices were made to his divine essence.
The ashes were mixed with water and pressed into a mold. Steps were carved into the side of this ash mound, along which the priests climbed to make another sacrificial offering.
At noon on the third day of games the sacrifice became a special spectacle: a herd of bulls – a whole hundred – stabbed and burned in honor of Zeus. But in reality, only a small symbolic piece from each animal was given to God.
They took the most useless parts of the animals, placed them on the altar, and then burned them for the gods. They cut up and cooked 90% of the carcass, and in the evening everyone got a piece. The meat was distributed to the crowd, it was quite an event.
Running is the very first sport
There was an even bigger event the next morning: a men's running competition. The very first and once only sport had special significance for the Greeks, who named each Olympics after the winners of cross-country or sprint.
Treadmills were practically no different from modern ones. There were indentations on the starting line, which runners could rest their toes on. The distance was about 180 meters long. According to legend, he could run exactly this distance in one breath. On both sides, 45 thousand roaring spectators sat on the slopes. Many of them camped here and cooked food at night.
Interestingly, even in the August heat, they watched the games with their heads uncovered: wearing hats in the stadium was prohibited, because they could block someone's view.
Despite the wealth and prestige of the games, on the hillsides never built shops like in other stadiums. The Greeks wanted to keep the ancient democratic tradition of sitting on the grass. Only 12 stone thrones in the center were intended for the Hellanodic judges. Another seating area was provided the only married woman who could be present at the stadium- priestess, goddess of the harvest, who was once worshiped on Olympus even before Zeus.
20 runners could compete at the same time in the stadium. Starting positions were drawn by lot, then they were called to the start one by one. False starts were strictly prohibited: those who took off ahead of time, judges beat with rods.
In the 4th century BC. The Greeks invented the hysplex starting mechanism - wooden starting gate, guaranteeing a fair start.
What was the main thing difference between ancient races and modern ones? In starting positions. Such an arrangement of runners would seem strange to us, but we needed to understand how everything was arranged: when the boundary board fell, the athletes’ arms dropped, the body leaned forward, the toes pushed off from the depressions in the ground - the starting jerk was very powerful.
It is unknown how fast the Greeks ran; they would not have recorded time even if they had stopwatches. They never compared the competition to any records. For the Greeks the idea and the meaning of the sport was a duel between men, in the struggle and what they called the word “agon”.
However, legends about speed have survived. One of the statues says that Phlegius of Sparta did not run, but flew over the stadium. His speed was phenomenal, incalculable.
In addition to sprinting, the Greeks competed in double distance running, i.e. there and back on a treadmill, and also in Darikos, where you had to run 20 times along a 3,800-meter-long circular track.
Ironically, the famous torch relay race were not included in the program of the Olympic Games, like those that the Greeks considered form of communication, being phenomenal long-distance runners. Immediately after the victory at Dorikos in 328, an athlete named Augeias ran from Olympus to home, 97 kilometers, in one day.
The last race of such a day was the most unusual: a grueling test of speed and strength in which Greek infantrymen, called , ran twice back and forth along the stadium track in full uniform and equipment. Imagine what it’s like to run 400 meters with 20 kilograms of weapons at the highest speed and turn around.
It is interesting that the hoplite race was held at the very end of the Olympiad, it meant end of the olympic truce and a return to hostility and hostilities. It was a reminder that the beauty of the games had to come to an end, to be replaced by other important events.
Legends of the Ancient Olympic Games
For more than 12 centuries, the best athletes of the Ancient world came to Olympia to compete in games that were the main test of strength and agility.
What did the winners receive? Only branch cut from an olive tree in the grove behind the Temple of Zeus. But as soon as they returned home, they were showered with gifts: free food for life and rewards for every win, commensurate with a modern hundred thousand dollars.
Them worshiped like heroes or even gods, even their sweat was revered as a symbol of struggle. Athletes' sweat was an expensive commodity. It was collected along with dust from the site during competitions, placed in bottles and sold as a magic potion.
A stone has been preserved that contains the names of the winners of the Olympics. Unfortunately, statues of game legends such as the wrestler, won 6 Olympiads in a row. He was so feared that his opponents immediately dropped out of the game, crushed by his glory. They said he had superhuman strength. Ancient texts report that Milo once carried a full-grown bull through the stadium, then butchered it and ate it whole in one day.
Another Olympian was a famous strongman - champion of pankration in 408 BC. He was known for his exploits outside the stadium: they said that Polydam fought with an adult lion and killed him with his bare hands, and also stopped the chariot at full speed, grasping the back with one hand.
Among the runners the best was Leonid of Rhodes. They said he was as fast as a god. He won three races during 4 Olympics in a row. He was revered as a god.
But the main Olympic record belongs to the jumper Failu, who participated in the 110th Olympiad. The story goes that the jumping pit was 15 meters long, this is unimaginable to us, because modern athletes jump a little further than 9 meters. They said that Fail jumped over that pit and landed at about 17 meters with such force that he broke both of his legs.
But Fail's jump is nothing compared to the Olympics' leap in time. The temple also reflects an outstanding history. This round monument was erected by the king and his son in honor of the victory over the Greeks in 338 BC. They built this memorial in the heart of Olympia to show their strength and power.
The Romans did the same a couple of centuries later, installing 21 golden shields around the Temple of Zeus when Greece became a Roman province. Thus, Olympia became the embodiment of Roman greatness, and the Romans put a lot of effort into maintaining the sanctuary in decent condition: they built an aqueduct that brought water to one of the structures, in addition, the Romans built baths there and a kind of club for athletes, discovered by German archaeologists only in 1995
Only the winners of the games could be members of the club. The building was paved with marble tiles, even the walls were covered with it. There is evidence in ancient sources that similar clubs existed. The winning athlete at Olympia was immediately included in the circle of the elite.
The building was built by an emperor who considered himself a god. In '67 he took part in a chariot competition. While driving a cart pulled by 10 horses, Nero lost control and, crashing the chariot, did not finish the race. Nevertheless, he was declared the winner. A year after the death of the emperor this the decision was reconsidered.
The end of the ancient Olympic Games
How and when did the tradition of games end?
Until very recently, it was believed that the last Olympiad took place in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I, who was a deeply religious Christian, put an end to all pagan traditions.
30 years later, in 426 AD. his son finished what he started, setting on fire the sanctuary and Temple of Zeus.
However, scientists have found evidence that the tradition of games continued for almost a century up to 500 AD. This information was found on marble tablet, found at the bottom of an ancient latrine. There were inscriptions on it left by the hand of 14 different athletes - winners of the Olympics. The last inscription dates back to the very end of the 4th century AD. Thus, it should be considered that the history of games should be extended for another 120 years.
The ancient games finally disappeared along with Olympia itself, destroyed by two earthquakes at the beginning of the 5th century. Subsequently, a small Christian village arose on the ruins, the inhabitants of which turned the only surviving building into a church - the workshop of the great sculptor who sculpted the once legendary statue of Zeus.
By the 6th century floods destroyed it along with everything, what remained of ancient Olympia, hiding the ruins under an 8-meter layer of dirt and earth for 13 long centuries.
The first excavations were carried out in 1829. German archaeologists appeared here in 1875 and since then work has never stopped.
However, excavations turned out to be so difficult and expensive that the stadium was liberated from earth captivity only in the 1960s. The cost of excavating the hippodrome, hidden by groves, is so great that it will probably remain underground forever.
However, the spirit of this place is reborn, just as the Olympic Games themselves were revived in 1896 at the height of the excavations. Every 4 years for 12 centuries here the Olympic flame was lit, and this tradition has resumed in our time. From here the fire begins its path in the hands of the runners, symbolizing the beginning of the games, games that will never be able to achieve the scope and brilliance of the Olympics of the past.
