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This web page was created by the braintumorguy, in Athens, GREECE. please make a Small Donation, in my fight against my Brain Tumor which is Growing,

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(1) 2015-08-15 me and King Leonidas of Sparta, Greece, in front of the Acropolis Museum, in Athens, Greece.

(2) 2015-11-22 in front of the Acropolis, in Athens, Greece.

(3) 2015-11-26 in Athens GREECE, in Syntagma Square in front the Parliament Building. - in between the water fountain and the Christmas Tree.

(4) 2016-05-01 me and my Masters, the Great Ancient Greek Philosophers Plato, and Aristotle.

(5) 2016-05-30 Beautiful Greece & the Greek Islands from Space on a beautiful clear day. Thank you NASA.

for more information about me, please visit my main web page

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2016-10-23 : the website is under construction.

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How did the Olympic Games begin?

1. Let the games begin!
2. A truce for the sacred games
3. What events were at the ancient Olympics?
4. Women at Olympia
5. Take a tour of Olympia
6. Where next?

1. Let the games begin!

The Greeks loved sport and the Olympic Games were the biggest sporting event in the ancient calendar.

The Olympic Games began over 2,700 years ago in Olympia, in south west Greece. Every four years, around 50,000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and take part. The ancient games were also a religious festival, held in honour of Zeus, the king of the gods.

There were no gold, silver and bronze medals. Winners were given a wreath of leaves and a hero's welcome back home. Athletes competed for the glory of their city and winners were seen as being touched by the gods.

2. A truce for the sacred games

The ancient Olympics wasn't just about the sport, it was a religious festival too. Find out what it was like to visit the ancient games.

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The Olympic Games

Olympia was not only a centre of sport - but of culture, politics and religion.

This was a man's world.

Women were forbidden from coming here on pain of death, and inside the stadium the athletes would stand naked before all of Greece, and the gods.

Here they competed not for money, but to honour Zeus, the most powerful god of all.

Every four summers, for over a thousand years, tens of thousands of Greeks would come to the games from across the Mediterranean. All converging on Olympia, to experience the greatest spectacle of the ancient world.

We can't be certain what people saw when they came to this valley 500 years before the birth of Christ. But from fragments of written evidence, experts have been able to construct some idea of what would have happened once they'd arrived.

Even returning champions would have had to fight for space amongst the diplomats, philosophers and the thousands of spectators who descended upon Olympia.

For the athletes this was a time to concentrate and prepare for competition.

And many young challengers would have sought support from the gods.

Local priests acted as judges taking up special positions in a judge’s stand.

While the sun - scorched banks filled with expectant crowds.

Just like today, before being called to compete, the waiting pentathletes would have prepared mentally as well as physically.

The athletes knew that only five events separated them from immortal fame.

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Before the games began, messengers were sent out to announce a 'sacred truce' or a peace. This meant that any wars should be called off so that people could travel safely to Olympia.

The entire games were dedicated to Zeus. Visitors flocked to see the Temple of Zeus. Inside stood a huge gold and ivory statue of the king of the gods himself.

The main event at the Olympics was not a sporting event, but a sacrifice. On the third day of the games, 100 oxen were sacrificed and burnt on the Altar of Zeus.

This altar was not made from stone. Instead it was made from the leftover ash of all the sacrificed oxen. By around 200AD, the mound of ash stood six meters high!

3. What events were at the ancient Olympics?

Click on the athletes to find out more about some of the sporting events at the ancient games

Running

Long jump

Discus

Wrestling and boxing

Javelin

Horse racing

4. Women at Olympia

Married women were not allowed at the Olympic Games. However, one story tells of a mother so keen to see her son compete that she broke the no-women rule and got in disguised as a man.

Only men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Married women were barred.

If they were caught sneaking in, they could be thrown off the side of a mountain as punishment!

However, women could still own horses in the chariot races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their own festival at Olympia every four years.

This was called the Heraia and was held in honour of Hera, Zeus's wife. Winners were awarded crowns of sacred olive branches, the same as men. But in ancient Greece, only Spartan women were really interested in sport.

5. Take a tour of Olympia

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Introduction

In contrast to most Greek sites, Olympia is green and lush, amidst groves of trees. Here was the great Sanctuary of Zeus, the Altis, and the setting for the Olympic Games. For over a thousand years, in peace and war, the Greeks assembled here to celebrate this great festival. The simple crown of wild olive was sufficient to immortalize the victor, his family, and his city.

Aerial view of sanctuary from SE

Photograph by Raymond V. Schoder, S.J., courtesy of Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers

• The Greeks referred to the Sanctuary of Zeus as the Altis. The name Altis came from a corruption of the Elean word for grove, alsos . Sanctuaries were centers of religious worship where the Greeks built temples, treasuries, altars, statues, and other structures.
• The crowns made of olive leaves came from a wild olive tree in the Altis, which was called the olive of the Beautiful Crown. Olive trees, which supplied the Greeks with olive oil, olives, a cleaning agent for bathing, and a base for perfumes, were an important resource in the rocky and dry Greek environment. A Greek legend credited the hero Herakles (Hercules) with introducing the olive tree to Greece.

To read more about these topics, see Further Resources.

Next stop on the Tour

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Early Buildings

The earliest building remains at Olympia are a cluster of Bronze Age houses at the base of the Kronos hill. The ruins of one of these houses were preserved by the Greeks as the megaron of Oinomaos, the legendary king. Nearby was established the tumulus of Pelops, who defeated Oinomaos in a chariot race to Isthmia, and, in the same area, the Altar to Zeus was established.

Overall view of Kronos Hill from W

Photograph courtesy of the Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Saul S. Weinberg Collection

• A megaron was the large hall or main room of an early Greek house, with the roof supported by columns, the light entering through the doors, the smoke-hole, and the apertures just under the roof.
• A tumulus is a large artificial mound built over a grave.
• According to legend, the hero Pelops entered a chariot race with King Oinomaos to compete for the hand of Oinomaos' daughter Hippodamia in marriage. Hippodamia fell in love with Pelops and convinced her father's groom to sabotage the racing chariot by removing the linchpins attaching the wheels. After Oinomaos' chariot was destroyed and he was dragged to his death by his horses, Pelops became king and ruled over the region, which he called the Peloponnese after himself. Today, the southern part of the Greek mainland is still called by this name.
• The legendary chariot race of Pelops and Oinomaos was commemorated with sculptures which decorated the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which was built between 470 and 457 B.C.

To read more about these topics, see Further Resources.

Previous stop on the Tour | Next stop on the Tour

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The First Temple

During the 7th century, one of the very earliest monumental Greek temples was built here, originally a temple to both Zeus and Hera. But later, after the establishment of the great Temple of Zeus, it served Hera alone. In the 7th century, the temple was made of wood, but gradually was replaced in stone. The surviving capitals date to every period, from the late 7th century to Roman times. At the west end of the cella stood the archaic sculptures of Zeus and Hera, and the head of Hera has been recovered in the excavations. Here also was found the famous Hermes, sculpted by Praxiteles.

Olympia, Temple of Hera: overall view from E

Photograph courtesy of the Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Saul S. Weinberg Collection

• The temple of Hera was built in a system of regular proportions, so that many of the parts related to one another harmoniously. The width-to-length ratio of the temple was 3:8, and the number of pillars seen from the front and back (6) and the number seen from the sides (16) were in the same proportion. Also, the height of the columns was half the width of the temple's internal chamber, the cella.
• Of all the treasures donated to the temple and put on display, the most impressive was a cedar chest inlaid with ivory and gold, and covered with five rows of intricate figures and inscriptions. The temple also housed the bronze discus inscribed with the Sacred Truce, and an ivory and gold table where the olive crowns given to the athletic victors were set out.
• When the writer Pausanias visited the Temple of Hera in the 2nd century A.D., the tour guide told a gruesome story. In his youth, the roof of the temple needed repairs. When the Elean workers were fixing it, they found the corpse of a foot-soldier in the crawl space between the roof and the ceiling. They believed the soldier had crept in after being mortally wounded in a battle to defend the sanctuary, when the Eleans had climbed on the roof of the temple for an advantage in the fight.

To read more about these topics, see Further Resources.

Previous stop on the Tour | Next stop on the Tour

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The Treasuries

On a terrace at the base of Mount Kronos lies a row of poorly preserved treasuries built in the sixth century. All but two are dedications of Greek colonies. The best preserved is the Treasury of Sikyon, which has been partially restored. Two unidentified treasuries were obliterated by a fountain dedicated by the wealthy Athenian, Herodes Atticus, in the second century AD.

Immediately in front of the treasury terrace is the Metröon, temple of the mother of the gods, built in the fourth century. In Roman times, portraits of the Emperors were erected there. Today, only the stylobate survives.

Olympia, Treasury of the Sikyonians: Column from porch

Photograph by Michael Bennett

• Treasuries were built at Olympia by some of the Greek city-states, starting in about 600 B.C. They served as elaborate storehouses for valuable objects, many of them votive offerings which were given by people or cities to honor and thank the gods for blessings. Money was also deposited at Olympia, possibly in the treasuries.
• The Sikyonian Treasury contained two chambers lined with bronze, and such rich offerings as the sword of the hero Pelops, with a hilt of gold; an ivory horn inscribed to Olympian Zeus; and a wooden statue of Apollo with its head plated in gold.
• Many of Olympia's visitors were Greeks who had emigrated to new colonies around the Mediterranean. They saw their participation at Olympia as a way to maintain their Greek identity. All but two of the twelve Treasuries were built by Greek colonies.
• Public works like the treasuries were undertaken with public money in order to add to a city-state's prestige, and as expressions of piety. The most famous of these public works was the Parthenon built on the Athenian acropolis, which, with its mammoth gate building, the Propylaia, easily cost the equivalent of over a billion dollars in modern terms.

To read more about these topics, see Further Resources.

Previous stop on the Tour | Next stop on the Tour

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The Temple of Zeus and its Sculptures

The Temple of Zeus, completed in 456 BC, was one of the largest temples in Greece, and perhaps the most renowned example of Doric architecture in the Classical world. Today, none of the columns remain standing; earthquakes have taken their toll, and after the early Christian era, Olympia was abandoned to the flooding of the Kladeos River and the changing route of the Alpheios River. The building held six columns on each end, with thirteen on the flanks, and, except for the sculpted elements, was built entirely of local shell limestone.

The sculptures, however, are the best preserved of their era. The East Pediment depicted the preparations for the chariot race between Oinomaos and Pelops, with Zeus presiding in the center. All the figures are sculpted in the round, with the exception of the three inner horses, and are one and one half times life size. The West Pediment depicts the battle between Lapiths and Centaurs, with Apollo in the center. The metopes from the pronaos and opisthodomos illustrate the Twelve Labors of Hercules, slightly under life size.

Olympia, Temple of Zeus: fallen columns from S of temple

Photograph by Michael Bennett

• The Temple of Zeus was built in the Doric style, which was characterized by columns that had simple capitals, no bases, and heavy proportions. It was a peripteral temple, meaning the inner chamber was surrounded by a columned porch. The architect, a native Elean named Libon, constructed the temple of a local limestone which has a distinctive, shelly texture.
• The date of the temple's completion is based on the information Pausanias gives us about some related historical events. Pausanias writes that the temple was built from the spoils of the Eleans' victory over the Pisans, which probably took place around 470 B.C. The temple must have been finished, or close to completion, by 457 B.C., when the Spartans dedicated a golden shield to Zeus, and hung it at the top of the eastern end of the temple, following their military victory at Tanagra.
• The temple was the first major building erected in Greece following the Persian invasion of Greece. It is the first significant monument of the Early Classical period, and its sculpture in particular illustrates the dramatic stylistic change which took place and marks the transition from the Archaic period. Instead of the stiff postures of Archaic statues, Early Classical works evolved more naturalistic poses and realistic rendering of the muscles. The faces of classical sculptures reflected an impassive calm, rather than the smiles that characterized archaic figures.

Previous stop on the Tour | Next stop on the Tour

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The Stadium and the Events

The first Olympic event, and the only event for the first 13 Olympiads, was the foot-race, over a distance of one stade. By Classical times, there were 18 contests, including boxing, wrestling, horse races, and the pentathlon, as well as additional running events.

The stadium at Olympia was originally within the sacred precinct, where spectators could view the races from the hill of Kronos. Gradually, the stadium was pushed farther east, until the late classical period, when it reached its present location outside the precinct. All the embankments are of earth, and only a few stone seats were provided for officials. Connecting the sanctuary and stadium was a vaulted passageway, an early example of the use of vaulting by the Greeks.

Olympia, Stadium: view through vaulted entrance from E, inside stadium

Photograph courtesy of Frederick Hemans

Previous stop on the Tour | Next stop on the Tour

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Facilities for Athletes

Although little construction was carried out within the sanctuary after Classical times, west of the sanctuary, facilities continued to be developed for training athletes. The palaestra was added in the fourth century as a place for boxers and wrestlers to train, and north of it was the gymnasium. Southwest of the Altis lies another structure to accommodate the athletes, the hotel known as the Leonidaion, named for its donor.

Olympia, Palaestra: overall view from W, across Kladeos River

Photograph courtesy of the Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Saul S. Weinberg Collection

Previous stop on the Tour | Next stop on the Tour

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The Workshop of the Sculptor Pheidias

Directly west of the Temple of Zeus stands one of the few surviving monuments of the early Christian period at Olympia. In the fifth century BC, this was the site of the workshop where Pheidias created the chryselephantine cult statue of Zeus. The plan of the building matches the plan of the cella of the temple. Molds and tools used in making the sculpture were discovered here, and as final proof of the identification, a cup bearing Pheidias' name.

Olympia, Workshop of Pheidias: SW opening of Byzantine church

built over top of the sculptor's workshop

Photograph by Michael Bennett

Previous stop on the Tour

You have reached the end of the site tour. Continue exploring the ancient Olympics exhibit.

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6. Where next?

braintumor2014@gmail.com

and please send a text message to my mobile phone 0030 6942686838

( 0030 is the international area code of Greece )

in order I connect into the INTERNET and to my www.gmail.com email account and to reply to your email, withing the next 24 hours.

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( English ) the StatCounter was installed on 2016-10-23, 17:30 p.m. GMT

( Greek ) ( Ελληνικά ) Ο μετρητής εγκαταστάθηκε την 23-10-2016 19:30 μ.μ. ώρα Ελλάδας

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