The Ancient Olympic Games has made an impact both on the past and present time. The event became well known to the public ever since its first event around 776 BC. The Greek games determined and selected certain civilians who had exceptional endurance and athleticism within the games. The event was an opportunity for the Greek civilization to enhance their athleticism and sportsmanship without any risk of death or injury. Events like running, jumping, discus throw and many others gave glory and wreath-like crowns to those worthy contestants who proved to have outstanding physical training. The purpose of the Ancient Olympics was secular in order to honor the Greek god Zeus. However in Rome, the Romans also followed with their own event to honor the Roman chief god, Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The Roman Games, called ludi, was quite different from the Greek Olympic system. Ludi had three programs of spectacles for Roman civilians: ludi circenses, venationes, and ludi scaenici. Ludi circenses were games being played within a circus, most primarily chariot racing and gladiator fights (munera) were the main events under the circus program. Venationes were games with an additional appearance from animals. Animals played part in the Roman Games to be hunted as a complement to the gladiator games. Ludi scaenici were not technically actual games compared to chariot racing and animal hunts, but a leisure activity of watching theater. The purpose of Ludi was to not only honor Jupiter,
The compares were that they both have games and have winners and losers. Most of the games still are in modern olympics. The diffrences were crazy. The Olympic games first happened in 776 B.C. The ancient Olympics permitted only people of Greek descent to participate. Because of this limitation, only a few people were able to participate. The modern Olympics is open to all types of participants. During the ancient Olympics, only the male athletes were allowed to take part in the games. In the modern Olympics, both male and female athletes are allowed to participate. In the ancient Olympics, only the winners would be recognized out of all of the men who participated. In the modern Olympics, there are several medal winners who are recognized
The Roman gladiator captivated the masses and contributed to the very definition of ancient Rome. The consumption and coverage of football in America today is the modern equivalent to how gladiatorial games fit into the entertainment and overall culture of the ancient Roman world, with the gladiatorial games holding even deeper importance regarding spirituality. In a society built through the balancing of bloodshed and civility, the ancient Roman gladiator made his impact through spectacle by pure carnage. From 264 BC to AD 404, the Roman people were captivated by gladiators; their appeal remained constant through shifts in power and changes in overall purpose. The purpose of Roman gladiatorial combat went from being to honor the dead and
The Olympics helped the Greeks civilization by providing entertainment to the people. it gave people jobs and opportunities to win big prizes if you win. it also brought in lots of money to greek to watch the Olympics. the Olympics also brought in more people in their land which was good for them because some of the people who come to watch the Olympics might want to stay and see some of their tourist attractions. this would help make the population of the Greek people bigger than it is. which would bring in more money to Greece and it would make Greece a more popular country.
The first accounts of the Ancient Olympic games trace back to the year 776 BC. Held at Olympia, the games were thought to have been dedicated to the ‘Olympian gods’, Hera, Athena, Apollo and most prodimately, Zeus, the god of the sky and the ruler of the Olympian gods. Ancient myths associated with the beginning games stated that Zeus, the father of humanity, have fought and defeated Cronus in a battle for the throne of the gods. Others predicted demigod Herakles staged the games in Zeus’s honour, as he had assisted him in conquering Elis. Olympia, the site in which the games were held, was located in the Western part of the Peloponnese. The sacred area held numerous temples and sporting facilities, as the site was used for both the Ancient Olympic games
Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar, afraid of losing the next election, as a form of distraction created the gladiator games we know today. Aristocrats tried to fight for control of the government, forcing Caesar to increase the growth of gladiatorial games across the empire. Without the games Caesar would lose popular vote with the Plebeians, and larger aristocrats would try and seize power. The ancient Roman people had the thirst for blood the only thing stopping them from rioting, gladiators. If the emperor could bring them joy he would a savior to them, but if local aristocrats put on the games then each state would think their governor stronger than the emperor. The plebeians made up about ninety-five percent of the population of Rome which meant that
In the image of a black figure vase, we can see a clear distinction between the different characters involved during the games. We can see the umpire on the right of the vase, naked and with a whip in his hand, ready to punish any athletes who cheated. The lower bodied athlete signals submission to the umpire, who then forwards the submission to the hellanodikai. The hellanodikai, on the left of the vase, wears a robe, which would have been purple, and a crown to signify his more honourable roll. The five days of the Olympics each had their own special event; the first included the athletes and hellanodikai swearing an oath of honesty and sportsmanship before the statue of Zeus, an unbreakable promise. The second day hosted the horse races and the pentathlon, consisting of discus, the long jump, javelin, running and wrestling, all went on in one afternoon. The third day saw a more religious side to the Olympics; rites for the hero Pelops were given, a procession of all participants, hellanodikai and ambassadors of the different cities took place, and a sacrifice of a hundred cows was given to Zeus. The fourth day was for the running and combat sports, including wrestling, boxing and pankration, which was a sport that combined both the rules of wrestling and boxing. In contrast to the Pythian Games at Delphi, musical events were never added to the Olympic Games. Victors in any of the contests received a crown of leaves as a symbolic prize for their achievements, and
Third, Greece valued competition and because of their desire for the perfect body and their intense passion for competition, they founded the Olympic Games. Modern day society continues to celebrate the Olympic Games, and the games still bring nations together, to converse and share ideas. Additionally, three things remain constant from the original Greek Olympic Games; they are held every four years; they have opening and closing ceremonies, and the winning athletes are still treated with abundant importance. (“The Ancient Olympics.”)
In addition to basically creating the first fairly functioning government, Greek scholars helped master forms of entertainment still relevant today. Considerably one of the most influential activities started by the Greek was the Olympic Games. First held around 776 B.C. to honor the god Zeus, the Olympic Games became a Greek tradition . The games were held close to Olympia, where Greeks believed all the deities lived, every four years. Competitions such as boxing, running, long jump, discus, javelin, chariot racing, and pankration were held. Approximately 2,600 years later, on April 6, 1896, began the modern Olympics taking place in Greece with 14 countries participating . The long jump and running races first seen in
Starting in 105 BC the Roman government began to provide the Roman people with a new form of entertainment. This new entertainment was the Roman gladiatorial games. The games not only served as an interesting past time, but also as a political ploy to gain citizen support, pay tribute to Roman gods, and feed the human craving for death and destruction. The Roman citizens saw the games as a way to improve social status, gain wealth, and provide punishment for those who deserved a cruel death. Gladiatorial games were therefore predominately supported by Roman society with the exception of Christians and a select number of philosophers. Though the philosophers and Christians objected to the games on the same grounds, the philosophical
Gladiatorial games in Ancient Rome and modern sports have more in common than some would think. Violence has been a key component to the success of each of these games. Many spectators watched as the Coliseum was filled with blood from brutal gladiatorial matches. These days, hundreds of people watch two men fight in a boxing ring. After thinking about gladiatorial games and looking at modern sports see similarities between the two. The Romans believed that they inherited the practice of gladiatorial games from the Etruscans who used them as part of a funeral ritual. The first gladiatorial games were offered in Rome in 264 BCE by sons of Junius Brutus Pera in their father's honor. Even though this ritual began as a ceremony to honor important men after their death, it began
As the games grew larger certain events were given in honor of individual Olympian gods and godesses. The sport that most pleased Zeus, for example, was the Pankration. The Pankration was the true test of a man. It was a mixture of boxing and wrestling, and to compete you had to be good at both events. There were rules, but not many. For example, you couldn't gouge your opponent's eyes, ears, or nose with your hands, but the fighting continued until someone was unconscious. The Greeks beleived it pleased the mighty Zeus that men were willing to beat themselves up just to please him.
Most sports in ancient Rome were played at the Colosseum. The Colosseum was a circular structure that was built in 72 BCE, stood 160 feet tall and had 80 entrances (http://www.synthreal.com). One of the most popular entertainments that was performed at the Colosseum was gladiatorial battles, in which gladiators would fight to the death. If
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"
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 Olympics today and the ancient Olympics are similar and different in some ways. The celebration of the modern Olympics and the ancient Olympics are the same as they take place after every four years and the competitions are still the same. The same competitions that were there in the past such as javelin, long jump and sprinting among others are still done today.