Ancient Greek Culture Research Paper

Today the Olympic Games are the ultimate sporting even that takes place every four years and is comprised of men and women whose commitment and dedication to the be the very best is truly inspiring. What toll does this is sort of dedication take on the athletes over a period of time and furthermore what kind of toll does it on the rest of the populace, who watches these athletes in utter awe. As a population do we look at these people as one of us or something entirely different and if so, was it always that way? The origins of the Olympiad reveals that the games not only changed the lives of the men and women who competed but also the average citizen, who only spectated the games. A work on the entire history of the Olympic Games would be both entertaining and very tedious therefore, this work will be an analysis of the Olympic Games from creation, which is around 776 B.C. to about 396 B.C. This range will still be able to show how the Olympic Games changed many different aspects about life. This work will include a general overview of the Greek Olympics. This overview will include how/ why the Greek Olympics began and a description of the games that were played and what caused the expansion of the games. Next, will be a description of the games. The description of the games will include three separate accounts of the Greek Olympics from the people who experienced it. After that, will be how male and female athletes were treated by society at this time. Finally, how the

For a vast number of Greeks and Romans, either taking part in or observing sports was a fundamental part of life. In 776 B.C. the ancient Olympics began and are now viewed as the formal beginning of Greco-Roman sports, the Olympics were the most famous and long-lasting of all ancient games. The athletic contest initially included running, jumping, and throwing. During the first several Olympiads there was not a formal stadium available for the athletes instead, the judges drew a line in the dirt to mark the start and another line to mark the finish. Unlike the Olympics now, the only people that could participate in the ancient Olympics were free white males. Women and slaves could not even watch the games, but by the first century B.C. women were permitted to watch the games and even participate in a few women’s only events. Wrestling and boxing were some other popular sports that became evident in Ancient Rome, wrestling was so important in Greece that by the fifth century, almost every town had a wrestling facility and became the most important component of physical education. Greeks and Romans only practiced who types of wrestling upright and ground. Boxing was the most dangerous of the two sports and the goal was to pound one’s opponent into submission. Lastly, back

In Greek society, athletics represented a way of expressing one’s own personal arête, as well as maintaining the strength of society. The Olympics was the embodiment of the value placed on athletics and the glory they bring to the individual along with the polis. Men were able to compete for their

Greeks were the first people to formally introduce athletic contests all the way back in the eighth century B.C., and they actually became more and more popular until they were finally a central part of life in ancient Greece by the time they reached the fifth century A.D. Back then, organized athletic games were part of religious festivals held all over the Greek lands where they worshiped the gods. However, nowadays they are just a way of entertainment for most people. Team games were not very common during the emergence of athletic games because they were of very little interest to the Greeks. They preferred to participate in contests as individuals to demonstrate their own personal excellence. Also, throughout Greek’s history, all contestants were males. This is a very different story in modern society because many women are recognized as some of the best athletes in the world today, and they have become much more athletically involved, driven, and competitive over the years. The only events that were performed during the early age of athletics were what we now know as track and field events. They ran some of the same races as we still do today, and they do some of the same field events as us, too, such as the long jump, the discus throw, and the javelin throw, which is less widely performed today than it once was. Without ancient Greece, we also would not have the Olympic Games. They

The Olympic games provided ancient times with entertainment. "spectators came not only from mainland Greece, but also from as far as what are, today, the countries of Spain and Georgia" as stated from paragraph 7. People from far away lands would come to watch. The chariot races "were both exciting and dangerous"

As you can see, there were a variety of things that held women back from doing much for the Olympics and the ways that men could try to become renowned throughout Greece. These chances they were given would make them eager to try and be the best. Although married women couldn’t really do anything for the Olympics, unmarried women had the chance to win glory through competing at Heraia. Even though men and women couldn’t compete together, they both were given the opportunity to show their skills and have

Ancient Greek women and girls were not expected to do much physical work for amusement purposes.The Ancient Greeks also played games that did not involve much physical activity, such as marbles, dice, checkers and knucklebones. The Greek version of checkers was kind of like what the current game of backgammon is. The Ancient Greek

The Olympic Games originated in Olympia, one of the great religious centers of Greece (Fiero 37), and their purpose was to honor the Greek gods. In Greece the games were held every four years in midsummer; in today’s time the games occur every four years as well

Every two years we crowd around our televisions for a month, watching the greatest athletes in the world compete to see who is the best. During this time our lives revolve around the games and the athletes competing in them. Thousands of years ago, from 8th century BC to 4th century AD, the Olympics were held in Olympia,Greece. Any person could compete in these, as long as you were a free, male, Greek citizen. Married women weren't even allowed to watch the games, but unmarried could. These games were religious, held for their God Zeus. Every four years the games took place in Olympia, and there were never more than 10 events that were held. They only lasted for a day, but over time they increased to five days. Either on the last day, or at

The Olympic Games were held every four years at the same place, the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, to honor Zeus. Most Greeks believed in the same group of Gods, though they did acknowledge that Zeus was the king of the Gods. That is why they worshiped him at the Games, by worshiping him at his holy city, they were honoring all of the Gods together. The competitors in the Games were either professional athletes or Aristocrats. There were no amateurs or women participating in the games. The spirit and the actual Games itself was good for the people. Most saw it good for the public’s spirit and a positive release of

There has always been different ways humans have shown their joy and pride through the cultures they live in. The Olympic Games that were held in ancient Greece were forms of celebration and entertainment for Greeks. These ancient games have ranged from a variety of sports such as boxing and wrestling. The energy and pleasure that these ancient games have had have also influenced the way philosophers and women saw them. In addition, these traditional games have been going on for thousands of years and they have drastically been through numerous changes. However in the end, these games have became a major aspect of the overall Greek culture people know today.

The Olympics is a cultural event still going on today. The Olympics in Greek Mythology was honored all to Zeus. It represents the true warriors, athletes, and men of the country. It first started when Zeus, God of the sky, defeated Kronos in a battle for king and royalty. The event happened every four years for the Olympics. The Nemean games happened every other year at the shrine of Zeus. Again to honor him, in a city called Nemea, a place in Peloponnesus. Those were the two of the four games. The others were Isthmian Games and the Pythian games. The competition had athletic and musical contests. The first ever games held were in 573 BC. Greeks enjoyed lots of sports and competitions. Archeologists have found lots of artifacts from these times and noticed that the athletes worked hard to earn the right to be known as, “the great one,” or the ablest. Gymnasiums were discovered by archaeologist all over the cities and were used for training like jumping, running, wrestling, boxing, javelin throwing, and conditioning. Their trainers were called paidotribes because they helped them get stronger and have lots of stamina. If the rules were not followed they would get whipped. These games and events

The first Olympic games were held all the way back to 776 B. The site where the ancient Olympics were held is called “Olympia” it is in the western part of the Peloponnese. The site holds many amazing, ancient structures such as buildings, shrines and ancient sporting facility’s. The ancient Olympics had 13 sports, all free men were allowed to attend or compete , woman was not allowed to attend the Olympics if they were married. The ancient Olympic nearly continued for 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius banned the games in 393 A.D.

In ancient Greece athletic activity in the ancient world fell into 2 categories: competitive athletics in public religious festivals (victors won prizes and honored with statues and poems) or sporting events in a gymnasium.

The social patterns of the Temple of Hera consist of the political association we believe was rudimentary. There were no great rulers like Minos or Agamemnon, practicing distant control but there was a larger amount of kings and chiefs of a particular area (Wycherley, 3). Marinatos stated that dating from the beginnings of the early sixth century, four of the main sanctuaries, Olympia, Nemea, Delphi and Isthmia, all came together to form the soul of a festival cycle which in turn many other festivals would occur. Little to no archeological evidence has survived (26). So you can tell that sporting events were very popular in those times for the Greek culture. Marinatos goes on to say that when isthmian games were originally formed during the