Olympia is an ancient Greek sanctuary in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four years.
Located at the junction of two rivers, the Alpheus and the Kladeos, Olympia was a mixture of religious and sports facilities. It had a stadium, the first of its kind, that could hold 40,000 people. It also had a hippodrome where great chariot races took place. Two nearby cities called Elis and Pisa, at times waging war, argued over who had the right to control the site.
Among the religious attributes was one of the Seven Wonders of the World - a giant statue of Zeus made of wood, gold and ivory. The seated deity had a statue of the winged goddess Nike in his right hand and a scepter with an eagle in his left. Preserved in a temple dedicated to Zeus, the long-lost statue is estimated to be about 40 feet (12 metres) tall.
With 40,000 people crammed to watch five days of games and religious celebrations, Olympia put on a very big and crowded show.
The writer Epictetus, who lived about 1900 years ago, wrote, “And what do you do in Olympia? Do you not melt in the heat? Do you not crowd in crowds? Do you not have a thousand problems when you want to wash yourself? Do you not soak when it rains? Do you not suffer from noise, screaming, and other troubles? But It seems to me that you bear all this because what you will see is worth it.” (From Games and Havens in Ancient Greece by Panos ValavanÄ“s, Kapon Edition, 2004)
The games would be played for over 1,000 years until they stopped under pressure from Christian authorities sometime in the 5th century AD
Olympia Origins
Panos Flavanos, a professor at the University of Athens, notes in his book that the first evidence of human settlement near Olympia dates back more than 5,000 years, long before the first games began. 4,500 years ago, they built a mound, a rocky structure of ritual significance, which the inhabitants probably used for burial.
About 3000 years ago, a small sanctuary was built and became a place where people made offerings in bronze and figurines made of terracotta. Valavan notes that it includes images of "bulls, horses, rams, deer, and birds", indicating that "the lovers put themselves and their possessions (ie, hunting animals and their flocks) under the protection of the god" Zeus. Later on, these displays would include more and more weapons, which indicates the increasing importance of the army among the ancient Greek city-states.
Although the first Olympic Games were traditionally held in 776 BC, archaeological evidence indicates that they could not have taken place before 700 BC, after which a stadium and track were built.
Ancient Olympic Games
Who founded the games and why is it a mystery. The ancient Greeks had several legends that described how they began. “The earliest mention of their institution is found in the writings of Pindar (who lived 2,500 years ago),” write Christine Toohy and Anthony James Fell in their book The Olympic Games: A Sociological Perspective (Cab International, 2007).
"I trace their origins to Heracles, who established the games at the tomb of Pelops (king of a city called Pisa) upon his return from the victory over King Ogias of Elis."
But getting started, it has grown to include a five-day festival, held in mid-August, that included events for boys and men in a variety of sports, including foot and chariot racing, pentathlon, wrestling, sparring, and sparring, a form of non-medical mixed martial arts. Banned otherwise known as Pankration. Describing this sport, the ancient writer Philostratos wrote: "They bend the ankles, twist the arms, throw punches, and jump over their opponents."
As ancient art suggests, all competitions, with the exception of chariot racing, were held naked, at least until the period of Roman rule.
Leaf crown winners were honored (there were no second or third place medals) and a feast was held in a building known as the Prytaneion. It was also common to make statues to honor Olympic champions.
Married women, with the exception of the priestess of Demeter Shamin, were not allowed to watch the competitions; However, as Cambridge professor Nigel Spivey points out in his book The Ancient Olympics (Oxford University Press, 2012), this ban was not complete. "Olympia was not completely closed to spectators or participants," he writes.
Spivey notes that in the early fourth century B.C., a Spartan woman named Kyniska was the "owner and trainer" of a chariot team that had won twice, and an inscription records that she was "the only woman in all of Greece" to have received the crown.
In addition, unmarried girls were also allowed to view the games, and Spivey notes that there was "a separate small sports festival in honor of Hera, wife of Zeus, at which they could compete. This festival included a running event and presentation of a modern woven robe to Hera. Unlike men, The girls competed in clothing, "the girls competed not naked, but in short, one-shoulder dresses (or men's-style cloaks) with their hair flowing," Spivey wrote.
Hira Temple
Olympia has a number of buildings that were used for religious ceremonies rather than for athletics. Valavan notes that the oldest monumental building was dedicated not to Zeus, but to his wife Hera. Known as Heraion, it was built around 600 BC
"On both ends there were six columns, and 16 standing on either side," writes Valavanus, noting that the style of columns surviving today is Doric. “The original pillars of the temple were wooden.” Among the surviving carvings is a 1.7-foot (half a meter) limestone head of Hera wearing a ribbon and headdress.
Temple of Zeus
In 476 B.C., after the Greeks defeated an invasion attempt by the Persians, a decision was made to build a temple dedicated to Zeus in Olympia that would later bear his gigantic statue, Wonder of the World.
Archaeologist Ulrich Senn wrote in his book Olympia: Culture, Sports and the Ancient Festival (Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000): “The size of the building that Ilian dedicated to him exceeded all other temples in the Peloponnese.” It rose more than 65 feet (20 m) above a plot of approximately 92 by 210 feet (28 by 64 m). It contained three rooms, an open vestibule, a main room where the giant statue of Zeus was eventually kept, and a back room written by Sinn that may have been used for lectures by famous Greek thinkers such as the historian Herodotus.
The upper part of the east and west sides of the colonnaded building contains the so-called "arches," triangular niches containing statues. In the West, there was a scene showing a battle between centaurs (mythical half-human, half-horse creatures) and a mythical people known as the Lapith. According to legend, centaurs got drunk at a wedding hosted by the Lapith king and tried to rape their women and children, and a quarrel broke out.
Valavan notes that the eastern view was another scene, depicting a chariot race between Oinomanus, king of Pisa, and Pelops, a claimant to the throne. Overseeing the event, in the center, was Zeus himself.
treasury bonds
About 2,500 years ago, 12 small temple-like buildings were erected, which are known today as "Treasuries". It appears to have been built by the Greek colonies to make offerings to Zeus.
“Pausanias (an ancient writer) describes some of these precious votive objects and mentions ten treasures, namely Scyyon, Syracuse, Epidamenos, Byzantium, Cypress, Cyrene, Selinus, Metapontum, Megara and Gela,” wrote archaeologist Olympia Vikato online. These simple buildings consist of a single room and a diagonal portico (with two columns), which faces 'south towards the sanctuary'.
Valavan writes in his book that "the fact that the majority of the cities that offered these tips were in southern Italy, Sicily, the Propontes, and North Africa illustrates the reputation of the sanctuary among the colonies..."
Roman Olympia and the end
Valavan notes that after conquering Greece in 146 BC, the Romans were generally eager to respect Olympia. The Roman general Mummius, who oversaw the Roman forces, even made a parade of 21 gilded Greek shields that hung in the Temple of Zeus.
Roman citizens, including the emperor himself, were allowed to compete in the games (Nero is said to have won six competitions, albeit fraudulently). New construction was built in Olympia, including inns, shops, and a much-needed new water system.
What eventually ended the ancient Olympics was the rise of Christianity. When it grew and became the official religion of Rome, its leaders did not take kindly to the pagan games in their eyes. In AD 393, Emperor Theodosius I issued a decree banning the Olympic Games, although they were ignored for some time. It is not known exactly when the last games were held, but it appears that they ended sometime in the fifth century AD
As for the statue of Zeus, it appears to have been moved to Constantinople (now Istanbul) at some point and was lost in a fire in 475 CE.
On the site of Olympia, a Christian village will be built beyond the sanctuary that was crumbling. “As he did with the rest of the world,” Valavanes wrote, “Zeus handed over his greatest sanctuary, Olympia, to Christianity.” The games hosted by Sanctuary of God would not be revived until 1896.
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January 22, 2022
