"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
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 Greeks set up athletic events in honor of Zeus for which the Olympics was made.
Kamelia Dineva Ms. Young ENG 2D1 Tuesday 5th, October, 2015 Myth Report: Zeus INTRODUCTION For more than 600 years, all the gods, goddesses, and heroes have been under the leadership of one certain god, Zeus (Kinsey 294). The exact time period that Zeus was born or when his ascend to the throne began is not known
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
The olympics have been around for ages and almost a thousand years in ancient times. According to many people the olympic of ancient times can be traced back to 776 b.c and goes all the way to 393 A.D. The records state that the games were played in the island of pelops. The Games were dominated by the cult followers of zeus. Religion and the games were also stated to be very close in relation.
The Olympic Games: A Hero’s Journey At the end of the dark ages in ancient Greece, nothing was more important to Greek men, than reaching their divine potential. At a young age Greek males were taught many legends, such as the Odyssey, which gave them a desire to accomplish their own heroic journey. The importance to be recognized and remembered as a hero surprisingly led to the creation of a religious festival called, the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games created an opportunity for all free men to discover their divine role in society, by letting them present their skills in athletic competitions, which often led to the victors gaining a sense of immortality. The Olympics provided what was needed in the Greek society to continue the teachings of having a sound body and mind in order to fulfill ones divine purpose.
“Although the ancient Games were staged … from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return” (The Games). The Olympic Games were very important to the Greeks just like the Games are a huge spectacle for the world now. The Games were always important to the Greeks because the Olympics tied into their religion. The Greeks used the Olympics to worship their gods by showing their strength and gifts that the gods had given them. Once the Greeks lost their empire, the Olympics died off. Modern day people did not warm up to the idea of the Olympics until the 1900s. Once they warmed up to the idea of the Olympics, they took off with it, and it is now a global spectacle. The Olympics has a rich history, significant purpose,
Athletic festivals like the Olympics were held in Greece to offer athletes the chance to compete in events to obtain glory and acclaim. Competitors would often size up the competition before they competed and sometimes this led to athletes withdrawing themselves from the competition all together before it even began. This seems ridiculous as these athletes would train year round for these festivals and one would assume they would compete at all costs. However, in ancient Greece, some athletes would rather withdraw and not compete at all than suffer the blow to their ego that comes with losing to another athlete (Scanlon 80). In their minds, the chance of public humiliation should be avoided at all costs.
Description of modern reference and context of Olympic Games I found this reference among the ancient Greek narratives about Zeus; the Greeks used the Games to honor him. The Olympic Games originated from the ancient Greek where they were conducted once a year. The reference originates from the games conducted in the ancient Greek to honor Zeus. Zeus was the god of all gods in Greek community (Olympic, 2007). Due to the Greek Olympic Games, the modern world adapted the name of the current Olympic games, which are held after every four years. Like the ancient Olympic Games the modern Olympic Games, the olive leafs crowns the opening and closing of the
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.
The Olympic Charter reads: “Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole, the qualities of body, will and mind” ("Olympic movement medical," 2009). The execution of this moral statement can be exalted through the provided medical services and personnel that deliver such services during the Olympic Games. The Medical Commission, as an ordinance from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), aims to provide legislature to protect the health and well-being of each Olympic athlete (“The Medical Commission”, 2014). Its mission began in 1967, and since its inception, the intentions of the medical commission were to protect the health of all athletes (“The Medical Commission”, 2014). 47 years later, the medical
I believe that the Olympics are about more than just sports. In my opinion, they are also about excellence, respect, and friendship. Excellence is giving one’s best. Friendship is building a peaceful and better world through solidarity, team spirit, joy, and optimism. Respect is the ethical principle that should inspire
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
Despite many incidents of the athletes and the corporate sponsors infringing the core values of the Olympics, the IOC claims that they are working on their part to enforce more significance on the Olympics moral standards. The IOC is the main organizer of the Olympics Games, who is responsible for the total construction of the event, from the venue, athletes, to the judging system; thus, it should be safe to assume that once the IOC determines to put effort into reviving the true spirits of the Olympics, the moral codes of the Games should gradually restore. During the Sochi Olympics event, where five athletes were sent home after being tested positive from the use of performance-boosting drugs, Thomas Bach, an IOC president, commented that