Games of the Ancient Olympics Essay

Stephen G. Miller, the author of Ancient Greek Athletics and many other academic writings lived a very astounding life. Miller spent a great portion of his life traveling between the United States and Greece. He went to school to become an archaeologist and afterwards became a professor at Berkeley and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Miller was driven by Plato’s love for his work; however, he faced a minor setback when he realized Plato’s language was beyond what he could understand. He then decided to change his studies to archaeology because of his new-found love for amazing indoor and outdoor work. Miller had a unique perspective on ancient Olympic games because he directed excavations for multiple years at one of the Panhellenic sanctuary sites. He has written dozens of academic books along with children’s books, therefore I was excited to read this authors rendition of the earliest Olympic Games.

Olympics he competed for America in the modern day pentathlon. A pentathlon consists of five

“The Olympic games satisfied the Greek ideal-- that a healthy body was necessary for a well balanced mind.” ( Quinnell, 156)All over Greece every boy practice the five parts of the pentathlon, ( running, jumping, discus, javelin throwing, and wrestling) hoping that one day they would be able to represent their city in the event. Competitors trained year around to get ready for the games. Greece was known to be one of the most powerful civilization during this era. If a war was to ever break out in Greece they had the advantage because of how fit most of the men already were. The Olympics brought the greek world a unique power against other

The origins of wrestling go back to 15,000 years ago Wrestling is one of the oldest sport played. The Greeks feared the true history of the sport would be lost therefore Greco-Roman wrestling was born from that one type of wrestling many forms were elaborated. The first real traces of the development of wrestling date back to the times of the Sumerians which is 5000 years ago. Drawings , as well as many other vestiges, witness the existence of corporations of wrestlers in Ancient Egypt, wrestling rules and refereeing codes. Fights were similar to those of freestyle wrestling, as shown by drawings and inscriptions from that time. The most famous of all wrestlers was Milon of Croton, six times Olympic champion, ten times winner of the

As running was the most popular of the events of the games, in 724 BC a second running event was added, the diaulos foot-race, which ran two lengths of the stadium. Gradually, as the games gained popularity, other events were added also, including wrestling, boxing, equestrian events, discus and jumping. Over time, development in Greek society constructed different variations of many of the basis games, expanding the event and gaining popularity. The Pankration, a combination of wrestling and boxing, was added and quickly became the one of the most challenging sports played. The Pentathlon event was also added in 708 BC and incorporated 5 separate games; Discus, Javelin, Jump, Running and Wrestling. As the games developed and events were added, the duration of them became longer. By 5th century BC, the games had extended to a 3-day event, and again to cover 5 days. They were held every 4 years, and were always played at the site of Olympia. With the consistent expansion of games came the development of prizes for worthy victors of the each competition. These became more extravagant and desirable as the games gained

The Olympic games were an athletic competition help in Greece around every four years from 776 B.C.E. In 776 B.C.E, the first olympics were held in Athens where many competitors clashed during the sporting events. The olympics then stopped in 393 C.E. due to Theodosius I’s orders on stopping the olympic events. Later during 1896, the modern olympics began to take place. The olympics were different from the ancient olympics in that the competition was shaped due to social, political, and economic reasons.

The start of the Ancient Olympics early 776 B.C. The Olympics were every four years started

Track and field is among one of the oldest of all sports competitions, such as running, jumping, and also throwing. Track and field started in Greece around 776 BC, and they created the 1st example of organized track and field events with the 1st Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece. As many years went by, track and field started to expand by inventing the Pentathlon which involved the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, 100m dash, and also wrestling. Years later the Decathlon added 5 more events (400m, 1500m, hurdles, pole vault, and shot put.) This event became worldwide very quickly and now the winner of the decathlon is known as the greatest athlete of their time. Many decathletes such as the 2012 Olympic decathlon champion, Ashton

In the ancient Olympic Games, there were only six different events to compete in. The original events were boxing, pankration, wrestling, running, equestrian and the pentathlon (Top End Sports). The first event ever held was the “stade” which is a 192-meter foot race. A cook named Coroebus won it becoming the first Olympic champion.

The ancient Olympic Games started when Koroibos, a cook from the close-by city of Elis, won the 600 feet long foot race in the stadium. This race was the only athletic competition of the Olympics for the initial thirteen Olympic games until 724 BC. The Olympic Games, initially created to respect Zeus, were the most critical national celebration of the ancient Greeks, and a center of competition among the

"The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us,” said John Williams, the composer for theme music for the Olympics (8). The Olympic Games are international sports festivals that began in ancient Greece. The first ancient Olympics can be traced back to 776 BC when people held this religious festival to honour Zeus, the father of all the Greek gods and goddesses. The participants were male citizens from Greece, and these athletes participated in only one event — foot race. Unfortunately, this ancient Olympics did not last forever. The first olympic in 776 BC in Olympia was an significant event

Stephen G. Miller, an expert Yale professor in the field of Ancient Greek athletics states that the Olympics were held “in honor of Zeus in the city of Olympia” (Miller). “The element of religion is evident in this historical event. Many people have heard of the concepts of the Greek Gods, but this level of religious involvement is interesting. These games were held “for four days every fourth summer”, a tradition that partially continues to this day (Miller). “Many festivals in ancient Greece were dedicated to the Gods” (Miller). In addition to the Olympic Games, there were also other athletic festivals which included the Pythian Games at Delphi, the Isthmian at Corinth, and the Nemean at Argos (Miller). However, the Olympics at Olympia were “the oldest and most prestigious of the four great ancient Greek athletic festivals.

While there are clear contrasts between the ancient and the modern Olympics there is still the respect for the athlete striving to perform at the highest level. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest carnival of athletic skill and competitive spirit. They are displays of nationalism, commerce, and politics. These important elements of the Olympics are not a modern invention, as the first Olympics was in 776 BC in Ancient Greece. After 1503 years, in 1896 the Olympic Games were recreated as what we know today. The Ancient Games were once dedicated to the Olympian God, Zeus Olympios and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia, which is also how the word ‘Olympics’ originated from. The modern Olympics is the largest international sporting event, which feature both summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of respectable athletes from over 200 different nations compete against one another. There are clear contrast between the modern and ancient forms of the Olympic Games regarding uniforms, participants, religion, events, politics and the concept of amateurism. However both the Ancient Greeks and the people in the modern world still respect and admire the athletics achievements of the participants making the Olympics the most highly regarded contest in sport.

The first area that Poliakoff studies is ‘General aspects of the ancient combat sports’ is the definition of a combat sport, which he splits into two explanations. Firstly, the idea of sport or athletics, Poliakoff believes, is an “activity in which a person physically competes against another in contest with

First of all, the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The man responsible for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest pageant of athletic skill and competitive spirit.