ancient Olympic Games

File:Le Jupiter Olympien ou l'art de la sculpture antique.jpg

To the ancient Greeks, it was important to root the Olympic Games in mythology.Kyle, 1999, p.101 During the time of the ancient games their origins were attributed to the gods, and competing legends persisted as to who actually was responsible for the genesis of the games.Kyle, 1999, pp.101–102 The patterns that emerge from these legends are that the Greeks believed the games had their roots in religion, that athletic competition was tied to worship of the gods, and the revival of the ancient games was intended to bring peace, harmony and a return to the origins of Greek life.Kyle, 1999, p.102–104

These origin traditions have become nearly impossible to untangle, yet a chronology and patterns have arisen that help people understand the story behind the games.Kyle, 1999, p.102 Greek historian Pausanias provides a story about the dactyl Heracles (not to be confused with the Hercules who was the son of Zeus and joined the Roman pantheon) and four of his brothers, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius and Idas, who raced at Olympia to entertain the newborn Zeus. He crowned the victor with an olive wreath (which thus became a peace symbol), which also explains the four-year interval, bringing the games around every fifth year (counting inclusively).Spivey, 2005, pp.225–226Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5.7.6–9 The other Olympian gods (so named because they lived permanently on Mount Olympus) would also engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests.Spivey, 2005, p.226

Another myth of the origin of the games is the story of Pelops, a local Olympian hero. Oenomaus, the king of Pisa, had a daughter named Hippodamia, and according to an oracle, the king would be killed by her husband. Therefore, he decreed that any young man who wanted to marry his daughter was required to drive away with her in his chariot, and Oenomaus would follow in another chariot, and spear the suitor if he caught up with them. Now, the king's chariot horses were a present from the god Poseidon and therefore supernaturally fast. The king's daughter fell in love with a man called Pelops. Before the race however, Pelops persuaded Oenomaus' charioteer Myrtilus to replace the bronze axle pins of the king's chariot with wax ones. Naturally, during the race, the wax melted and the king fell from his chariot and was killed. After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as a thanksgiving to the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus, in order to be purified of his death. It was from this funeral race held at Olympia that the beginnings of the Olympic Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and he gave his name to the Peloponnese.

One (later) myth, attributed to Pindar, states that the festival at Olympia involved Heracles, the son of Zeus: According to Pindar, Heracles established an athletic festival to honor his father, Zeus, after he had completed his labors.

Areas around the Mediterranean had a long tradition of physical activities, even though they did not seem to hold regular competitions, with the events being probably the preserve of kings and upper classes.{{sfn|Young|2004|p=3}} The earliest evidence of athletic tradition in Greece come from late Bronze Age artistic representations, such as from the island of Crete and Thera, and Archaic literary texts.{{sfn|Beale|2011|pp=9-12}} The Minoan culture centered on Crete engaged in gymnastics, with bull-leaping, tumbling, running, wrestling and boxing shown on their frescoes. The Mycenaeans adopted Minoan games and also raced chariots in religious or funerary ceremonies.{{sfn|Young|2004|pp=5–6}}{{cite book |author=Wendy J. Raschke |title=Archaeology Of The Olympics: The Olympics & Other Festivals In Antiquity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwU1IlTEhrYC&pg=PA22 |access-date=12 August 2012 |date=15 June 1988 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-11334-6 |pages=22– |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012003844/http://books.google.com/books?id=DwU1IlTEhrYC&pg=PA22 |archive-date=12 October 2013 |df=dmy-all}} The exact relation between the early Minoan and Mycenaean sporting activities and the later Greek practicies remains elusive.{{sfn|Beale|2011|pp=9-11}} The heroes of Homer's epics, composed around 750 BC and held to represent a late Bronze Age society, participate in athletic competitions to honor the dead. In the Iliad there are chariot races, boxing, wrestling, a foot race, as well as fencing, archery, and spear throwing. The Odyssey adds to these a long jump and discus throw.{{sfn|Young|2004|pp=6-7}}{{harvnb|Beale|2011|p=12}} writes that, while the Bronze Age visual images are typically hard to interpret due to their lack of context and poor condition, Homeric epics provide a detailed description of athletic competitions and the events involved, although, per {{harvnb|Young|2004|p=8}}, the question is how much of this "is an authentic memory of Mycenaean times, and how much comes from life in eighth-century Greece."

File:Hobble Group - ABV 415 4 - Athena Promachos - boxers - London BM 1873-0820-371 - 03.jpg was one of the most popular sports in the ancient Olympic Games and was introduced into the Olympics in 688 BCE.{{Cite book |last=Early |first=Gerald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0sqCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Boxing |date=2019-01-24 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-65103-5 |pages=25 |language=en}} Scene of youths boxing, {{Circa|336}} B.C]]

Aristotle reckoned the date of the first Olympics to be 776 BC, a date largely accepted by most, though not all, subsequent ancient historians.Nelson, Max. (2006) "The First Olympic Games" in Gerald P. Schaus and Stephen R. Wenn, eds. Onward to the Olympics: Historical Perspectives on the Olympic Games (Waterloo), pp. 47–58. See also, for example, "Olympic Games, in The Classical Tradition (2010) p.654. To this day, this is the conventional given date for the inception of the ancient Olympics and, while this specific date of origin cannot be verified, it is generally accepted that the games date from some time in the eighth century BC.{{Sfn|Sansone|2004|p=32}} Archaeological finds confirm, approximately, the Olympics starting at or soon after this time.{{sfn|Young|2004|pp=16–17}}

Archaeology suggests that major games at Olympia arose probably around 700 BC. Christesen's important work on the Olympic victor lists shows that victors' names and details were unreliable until the sixth century. Elis's independent state administered it, and while the Eleans managed the games well, there sometimes was bias and interference. Also, despite modern illusions, the famous Olympic truce only mandated safe passage for visitors; it did not stop all wars in Greece or even at Olympia.{{Cite book |last=Edelman |first=Edelman |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sports History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780199984749 |pages=85}}. See also Finley & Pleket, pp.98-99.

The historian Ephorus, who lived in the fourth century BC, is one potential candidate for establishing the use of Olympiads to count years, although credit for codifying this particular epoch usually falls to Hippias of Elis, to Eratosthenes, or even to Timaeus, whom Eratosthenes may have imitated.Plutarch, Numa Pompilius 1.4Dionysius, 1.74–1–3. Little remains of Eratosthenes' Chronographiae, but its academic influence is clearly demonstrated here in the Roman Antiquities by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.Denis Feeney in Caesar's Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History. (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: the University of California Press, 2007), 84. The Olympic Games were held at four-year intervals, and later, the ancient historians' method of counting the years even referred to these games, using Olympiad for the period between two games. Previously, the local dating systems of the Greek states were used (they continued to be used by everyone except historians), which led to confusion when trying to determine dates. For example, Diodorus states that there was a solar eclipse in the third year of the 113th Olympiad, which must be the eclipse of 316 BC. This gives a date of (mid-summer) 765 BC for the first year of the first Olympiad."The Athletics of the Ancient Olympics: A Summary and Research Tool" by Kotynski, p.3 (Quote used with permission). For the calculation of the date, see Kotynski footnote 6. Nevertheless, there is disagreement among scholars as to when the games began.See, for example, Alfred Mallwitz's article "Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia" p.101 in which he argues that the games may not have started until about 704 BC. Hugh Lee, on the other hand, in his article "The 'First' Olympic Games of 776 B.C.E" p.112, follows an ancient source that claims that there were twenty-seven Olympiads before the first one was recorded in 776. There are no records of Olympic victors extant from earlier than the fifth century BC.

According to the later Greek traveler Pausanias, who wrote in 175 AD, the only competition held at first was the stadion, a race over about {{convert|190|m|abbr=off}}.See Perrott, p.138, and "Olympic Games" in The Oxford Classical Dictionary (2003), p.1066. The word stadium is derived from this event.

File: StoneSeats.JPG reserved for the judges at Olympia on the south embankment of the stadium. Today, this is where the Olympic flame is passed on to the first torchbearer of the upcoming Olympic Games.]]

Several groups fought over control of the sanctuary at Olympia, and hence the games, for prestige and political advantage. Pausanias later writes that in 668 BC, Pheidon of Argos was commissioned by the town of Pisa to capture the sanctuary from the town of Elis, which he did and then personally controlled the games for that year. The next year, Elis regained control.

Greek sports also derived its origins from the concept that physical energy was being expended in a ritualistic manner, in which Paleolithic age hunting practices were turned into a more socially and glamorized function, thus becoming sport. The Greeks in particular were unique in the regard that their competitions were often held in grand facilities, with prizes and nudity that stressed the Greek idealisms of training one's body to be as fit as their mind. It is this ideology and athletic exceptionalism that resulted in theories claiming the Greeks were the inventors of sport.{{cite book|last1=Kyle |first1=Donald |editor1-last=Edelman |editor1-first=Robert |editor2-last=Wilson |editor2-first=Wayne |title=Oxford Handbook of Sports History. |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford Univ Press US |isbn=978-0-19-752095-6 |pages=83–86|chapter=Ancient Greek and Roman Sport}}

In the first 200 years of the games' existence, they only had regional religious importance. Only Greeks in proximity to Olympia competed in these early games. This is evidenced by the dominance of Peloponnesian athletes in the victors' roles.Spivey, 2005, p.172 Over time, the Olympic Games gained increasing recognition and became part of the Panhellenic Games, four separate games held at two- or four-year intervals, but arranged so that there was at least one set of games every year. The other Panhellenic Games were the Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games, though the Olympic Games, being the oldest among the rest, were considered the most prestigious.{{Sfn|Sansone|2004|p=31}} The Olympic games were held to be one of the two central rituals in ancient Greece, the other being the much older religious festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries.{{cite web |url = http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olancien.shtml |title = The Ancient Olympic Games |publisher = HickokSports |date = 4 February 2005 |access-date = 13 May 2007 |archive-url = http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020222234145/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/olancien.shtml |archive-date = 22 February 2002 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}

Participation in the Olympic Games was reserved for freeborn Greek men, although there were also Greek women who were victorious as chariot owners. Authorities differ as to whether females were allowed to attend the competitions. Some say all females were excluded from the sacred precinct where the games took place,Finley & Pleket pp. 17, 26, 45–46, while others cite Pausanias who indicated that parthenoi (maidens) could view the competitions, but not gynaikes (married women), who had to remain on the south side of the river Alpheios. Perrottet, pp.155–156; Pausinias, Description of Greece 5.6.7 & 6.20.9. For a lengthy examination of the issue, see Matthew Dillon, "Did Parthenoi Attend the Olympic Games? Girls and Women Competing, Spectating, and Carrying Out Cult Roles at Greek Religious Festivals," Hermes vol.128, no. 4 (2000), pp.457–480. The evidence regarding the attendance of women in the Olympics is inconclusive. Nevertheless, there is no specific evidence suggesting that women were excluded from attending the other Panhellenic or Panathenaic contests.Dillon (2000), pp.457–458

File:Model of ancient Olympia, British Museum5.jpg

After the Roman conquest of Greece the Olympics continued but the event declined in popularity throughout the pre-Augustan era. During this period, Romans largely concentrated on domestic problems, and paid less attention to their provinces. The fact that all equestrian victors were from the immediate locality and that there is a "paucity of victor statues in the Altis" from this period suggests the games were somewhat neglected.Young, p. 131

In 86 BC the Roman general Sulla robbed Olympia and other Greek treasuries to finance a war. He was the only Roman to commit violence against Olympia. Sulla hosted the games in 80 BC (the 175th Olympiad) as a celebration of his victories over Mithridates. Supposedly the only contest held was the stadion race because all the athletes had been called to Rome.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2cTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |title=Greek Athletics in the Roman World: Victory and Virtue |last=Newby |first=Zahra |author-link=Zahra Newby |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2005 |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=978-0-19-927930-2 |page=26}}

Under the rule of emperor Augustus the Olympics underwent a revival. Before he came to full power, Augustus' right-hand man Marcus Agrippa restored the damaged temple of Zeus and in 12 BC Augustus asked King Herod of Judea to subsidize the games.

After Augustus was declared a god by the Senate after his death, a statue of his likeness was commissioned at Olympia.Drees, p. 119 Subsequent divine emperors also had statues erected within the sacred Altis. The stadium was renovated at his command and Greek athletics in general were subsidized.Young, p. 132

One of the most infamous events of Olympic history occurred under the rule of Nero. He desired victory in all chariot races of the Panhellenic Games in a single year, so he ordered the four main hosts to hold their games in AD 67, and therefore the scheduled Olympics of 65, in the 211th Olympiad, were postponed. At Olympia he was thrown from his chariot, but still claimed victory. Nero also considered himself a talented musician, so he added contests in music and singing to those festivals that lacked them, including the Olympics. Nero won all of those contests, no doubt because judges were afraid to award victory to anyone else. After his suicide, the Olympic judges had to repay the bribes he had bestowed and declared the "Neronian Olympiad" to be void.

In the first half of the second century, the Philhellenic emperors, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius oversaw a new and successful phase in the history of the games. The Olympics attracted a great number of spectators and competitors and the victors' fame spread across the Roman Empire. The renaissance endured for most of the second century. Once again, "philosophers, orators, artists, religious proselytizers, singers, and all kinds of performers went to the festival of Zeus."Young, p. 133

The 3rd century saw a decline in the popularity of the games. The victory list of Africanus ends at the 249th Olympiad (217), though Moses of Chorene's History of Armenia lists a boxing winner from as late as 369 (the 287th Olympiad).{{Cite book|author=Moses of Chorene|title=History of Armenia|page=3.40}} Excavated inscriptions also show the games continued past 217. Until recently the last securely datable winner was Publius Asclepiades of Corinth who won the pentathlon in 241 (the 255th Olympiad). In 1994, a bronze plaque was found inscribed with victors of the combative events hailing from the mainland and Asia Minor; proof that an international Olympic Games continued until at least 385 (the 291st Olympiad).Young, p. 135

The games continued past 385, by which time flooding and earthquakes had damaged the buildings and invasions by barbarians had reached Olympia.{{cite book |author = David C. Young |title = A Brief History of the Olympic Games |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gMuuQZubxDIC&pg=PA135 |access-date = 1 April 2013 |date = 15 April 2008 |publisher = John Wiley & Sons |isbn = 978-0-470-77775-6 |pages = 135– |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140103071351/http://books.google.com/books?id=gMuuQZubxDIC&pg=PA135 |archive-date = 3 January 2014 |df = dmy-all }} The last recorded games were held under Theodosius I in 393 (at the start of the 293rd Olympiad), but archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held.{{cite book |author = Tony Perrottet |title = The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games |url = https://archive.org/details/nakedolympicstru00perr |url-access = registration |access-date = 1 April 2013 |date = 8 June 2004 |publisher = Random House Digital, Inc. |isbn = 978-1-58836-382-4 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/nakedolympicstru00perr/page/190 190]– |df = dmy-all }}

File:Plan Olympia sanctuary-en.svg, 4: Temple of Hera, 5: Pelopion, 10: Stadium, 15: Temple of Zeus, 20: Gymnasium, 21: Palaestra, 26: Greek Baths, 29: Leonidaion, 31: Bouleuterion

File:Olympos.jpg

Olympia lies in the valley of the Alfeiós River (Romanized as Alpheus) in the western part of the Peloponnese, today around 18 km (11 mi) away from the Ionian Sea but perhaps, in antiquity, half that distance.{{cite web|title=Olympia Hypothesis: Tsunamis Buried the Cult Site On the Peloponnese|publisher=Science Daily|date=July 11, 2011|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110710204240.htm|access-date=12 July 2011}} The Altis, as the sanctuary as was originally known, was an irregular quadrangular area more than 180 meters (590.5 feet) on each side and walled except to the North where it was bounded by the Mount Kronos.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/17740/Altis|title = Altis {{pipe}} ancient site, Greece}} It consisted of a somewhat disordered arrangement of buildings, the most important of which are the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion and the area of the great altar of Zeus, where the largest sacrifices were made. The name Altis was derived from a corruption of the Elean word also meaning "the grove" because the area was wooded, olive and plane trees in particular.Wilson; [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/site_1.html Perseus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211000638/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/site_1.html |date=11 February 2021 }}

Uninhabited throughout the year, when the games were held the site became over congested. There were no permanent living structures for spectators, who, rich or poor, made do with tents. Ancient visitors recall being plagued by summer heat and flies; such a problem that sacrifices were made to Zeus Averter of Flies. The site's water supply and sanitation were finally improved after nearly a thousand years, by the mid-second century AD.Young, p. 134

"A very wealthy Greek, Herodes Atticus, and his very wealthy Roman wife, Regilla, funded an elaborate fountain which was both a practical solution and a work of art. Water, piped in from a tributary of the Alpheus, entered into a large semi-circular basin. Emerging from 83 gargoyle fountains, it was then channeled all around the site. Behind the basin rose a semi-circular colonnade more than 100 feet high, with a series of niches built into its upper level."

{{blockquote|But you may say, there are some things disagreeable and troublesome in life. And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched? Are you not pressed by a crowd? Are you not without comfortable means of bathing? Are you not wet when it rains? Have you not abundance of noise, clamour, and other disagreeable things? But I suppose that setting all these things off against the magnificence of the spectacle, you bear and endure.| author =Epictetus, 1st century AD}}

File:Discobolus in National Roman Museum Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.JPG, a Greek statue from the 5th century BC, representing a discus thrower. The image shows a Roman marble version of the now-lost bronze original.]]

The ancient Olympics were as much a religious festival as an athletic event. The games were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus, and on the middle day of the games, 100 oxen would be sacrificed to him. Over time, Olympia, the site of the games, became a central spot for the worship of the head of the Greek pantheon and a temple, built by the Greek architect Libon, was erected on the mountaintop. The temple was one of the largest Doric temples in Greece. The sculptor Pheidias created a statue of Zeus made of gold and ivory. It stood {{convert|42|ft}} tall. It was placed on a throne in the temple. The statue became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. As the historian Strabo put it,

{{blockquote|... the glory of the temple persisted ... on account both of the festal assembly and of the Olympian Games, in which the prize was a crown and which were regarded as sacred, the greatest games in the world. The temple was adorned by its numerous offerings, which were dedicated there from all parts of Greece.}}

Artistic expression was a major part of the games. Sculptors, poets, painters and other artisans would come to the games to display their works in what became an artistic competition. Poets would be commissioned to write poems in praise of the Olympic victors. Such victory songs or epinicians, were passed on from generation to generation and many of them have lasted far longer than any other honor made for the same purpose.Golden, Mark, [https://books.google.com/books?id=HLORxPo6asUC&pg=PA77 p. 77] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504112937/https://books.google.com/books?id=HLORxPo6asUC&pg=PA77 |date=4 May 2016 }} Pausanias claimed that the destroyed Sicilian polis of Naxos would have been completely forgotten if not for its four-time Olympic champion, Tisandros.[https://anastrophe.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/perseus/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekNov21&getid=1&query=Paus.%206.13.10 Description of Greece 6.13.8] Pierre de Coubertin, one of the founders of the modern Olympic Games, wanted to fully imitate the ancient Olympics in every way. Included in his vision was an artistic competition modeled on the ancient Olympics and held every four years, during the celebration of the Olympic Games.Stanton, 2000, pp.3–4 His desire came to fruition at the Olympics held in Athens in 1896.Stanton, 2000, p. 17

File:Attica 06-13 Athens 35 Parthenon.jpg in Athens, one of the leading city-states of the ancient world]]

Power in ancient Greece became centered on the city-state (polis) in the 8th century BC.Hansen, 2006, p. 9 The city-state was a population center organized into a self-contained political entity.Hansen, 2006, pp.9–10 Every city-state worshiped the same pantheon of gods, although each one often gave more emphasis on a limited group of deities and celebrated religious festivals based on various calendars.{{Sfn|Sansone|2004|p=31}} These city-states often lived in close proximity to each other, which created competition for limited resources. Though conflict between the city-states was ubiquitous, it was also in their self-interest to engage in trade, military alliances, and cultural interaction.Hansen, 2006, p.10 The city-states had a dichotomous relationship with each other: on one hand, they relied on their neighbors for political and military alliances, while on the other they competed fiercely with those same neighbors for vital resources.Hansen, 2006, p.114 In this political context the Olympic Games served as a venue for representatives of the city-states to peacefully compete against each other.Raschke, 1988, p. 23

From the 8th century BC onwards, the city-states expanded with the establishment of colonies in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. While their cults and sanctuaries provided a sense of identity, those local identities as well as the increasing contacts with non-Greek populations presented the Greeks with the need to define themselves not only as members of a certain polis but also as Hellenes. That was made possible on the basis of a common language, a body of shared myths and legends, their religious observance and fondness in athletic festivals, which functioned as important factors for the Greek self-definition. As a result, a small number of religious festivals assumed a panhellenic character and were reserved for members of all Greek city-states; the oldest of them being the Olympic Games. A body of officials, known as Hellanodikai, was responsible for determining the city-state of origin and the Greek identity of the competitors.{{Sfn|Sansone|2004|pp=31-32}}

The spread of Greek colonies in the 6th and 5th centuries BC is repeatedly linked to successful Olympic athletes. For example, Pausanias recounts that Cyrene was founded c. 630 BC by settlers from Thera with Spartan support. The support Sparta gave was primarily the loan of three-time Olympic champion Chionis. The appeal of settling with an Olympic champion helped to populate the colonies and maintain cultural and political ties with the city-states near Olympia. Thus, Hellenic culture and the games spread while the primacy of Olympia persisted.Spivey, 2005, pp.182–183

During the Olympic Games, a truce, or ekecheiria was observed. Three runners, known as spondophoroi, were sent from Elis to the participant cities at each set of games to announce the beginning of the truce.Swaddling, 1999, p.11 During this period, armies were forbidden from entering Olympia. Legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden. The truce — primarily designed to allow athletes and visitors to travel safely to the games — was, for the most part, observed. Thucydides wrote of a situation when the Spartans were forbidden from attending the games, and the violators of the truce were fined 2,000 minae for assaulting the city of Lepreum during the period of the ekecheiria. The Spartans disputed the fine and claimed that the truce had not yet taken hold.Strassler & Hanson, 1996, pp. 332–333

The games faced a serious challenge during the Peloponnesian War, which primarily pitted Athens against Sparta, but in reality touched nearly every Hellenic city-state.{{cite web |title = Peloponnesian War |last = Lendering |first = Jona |publisher = Livius, Articles on Ancient History |url = https://www.livius.org/pb-pem/peloponnesian_war/peloponnesian_war.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100213095957/https://www.livius.org/pb-pem/peloponnesian_war/peloponnesian_war.html |archive-date = 13 February 2010 |url-status = live }} The Olympics were used during this time to announce alliances and offer sacrifices to the gods for victory.{{cite book |title = The History of the Peloponnesian War |last = Thucydides |volume = 5 |publisher = The Internet Classics Archive |url = https://archive.org/details/athensatwar00warn |others = Translated by Richard Crawley |year = 1971 |isbn = 978-0-525-26035-6 }}

While a martial truce was observed by all participating city-states, no such reprieve from conflict existed in the political arena. The Olympic Games evolved the most influential athletic and cultural stage in ancient Greece, and arguably in the ancient world.Kyle, 2007, p. 8 As such the games became a vehicle for city-states to promote themselves. The result was political intrigue and controversy. For example, Pausanias, a Greek historian, explains the situation of the athlete Sotades,{{blockquote|quote=Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans.}}

File:Three runners BM GR 1856.10-1.1.jpg

Apparently starting with just a single foot race, the program gradually increased to twenty-three contests, although no more than twenty featured at any one Olympiad. See also "Olympic Games" in The Classical Tradition p.654 and Finley & Peket, p.43. Participation in most events was limited to male athletes, except for women who were allowed to take part by entering horses in the equestrian events. Youth events are recorded as starting in 632 BC. Our knowledge of how the events were performed primarily derives from the paintings of athletes found on many vases, particularly those of the Archaic and Classical periods.Young, p. 18 Competitors had access to two gymnasiums for training purposes: the Xystos (meaning 'scraped'), an open colonnade or running track,{{Sfn|Beale|2011|pp=49, 160}} for the runners and pentathletes, and the Tetragono for wrestlers and boxers.[http://www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/en/204b.html "Preparing and organizing the games"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126024923/http://www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/en/204b.html |date=26 November 2019 }} Foundation of the Hellenic World

File:Group of Vatican 58 - ABV 345 3 - athletes in perizomata and trainers - Roma MNEVG - 06.jpg while training.]]

A loincloth known as the perizoma was initially worn by athletes at the ancient Olympic Games.{{Cite book |last=Poliakoff |first=Michael B. |url= |title=Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition, Violence, and Culture |date=1987-01-01 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-06312-7 |page=165 |language=en}} Archaeological evidence from late sixth-century BC reveals athletes sporting this garment during competitions. For most of its history, Olympic events were performed in the nude,See Perrottet, pp.6–7 and "Olympic Games" in The Classical Tradition p.654. a habit which the Greeks felt distinguished them from non-Greeks.{{Sfn|Sansone|2004|p=32}} Pausanias says that the first naked runner was Orsippus, winner of the {{lang|grc-Latn|stadion}} race in 720 BC, who simply lost his garment on purpose because running without it was easier.Pausanias [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1C.html Description of Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204103820/https://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1C.html |date=4 February 2021 }} 1.44.1. Trans. W. H. S. Jones The 5th-century BC historian Thucydides credits the Spartans with introducing the custom of "publicly stripping and anointing themselves with oil in their gymnastic exercises". He continues saying that "formerly, even in the Olympic contests, the athletes who contended wore belts across their middles; and it is but a few years since that the practice ceased."Thucydides (431 BC) [http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.1.first.html The History of the Peloponnesian War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407122012/http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.1.first.html |date=7 April 2020 }} 1.1 (Trans. R. Crawley)

File:Ancient Olympic Starting Line.JPG

The only event recorded at the first thirteen games was the {{lang|grc-Latn|stade}}, a straight-line sprint of just over 192 metres (630 feet).{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC |page = 33 |title = Ancient Greek Athletics |first = Stephen G. |last = Miller |date = 8 January 2006 |publisher = Yale University Press |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171115124102/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&PA=33 |archive-date = 15 November 2017 |df = dmy-all |isbn = 978-0300115291 }} See also Finley & Pleket, p. 43.

The {{lang|grc-Latn|diaulos}} ({{lit|double pipe}}), or two-stade race, is recorded as being introduced at the 14th Olympiad in 724 BC. It is thought that competitors ran in lanes marked out with lime or gypsum for the length of a stade then turned around separate posts ({{lang|grc-Latn|kampteres}}), before returning to the start line.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA44 |page = 44 |title = Ancient Greek Athletics |first = Stephen G. |last = Miller |date = 8 January 2006 |publisher = Yale University Press |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171115124102/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA44 |archive-date = 15 November 2017 |df = dmy-all |isbn = 978-0300115291 }} There is uncertainty about this. See, for example, Finley & Pleket, pp.35-37. Xenophanes wrote that "Victory by speed of foot is honored above all."

A third foot race, the {{lang|grc-Latn|dolichos}} ("long race"), was introduced in the next Olympiad. Accounts of the race's distance differ; it seems to have been from twenty to twenty-four laps of the track, around 7.5 km to 9 km (4.6 to 5.6 mi), although it may have been lengths rather than laps and thus half as far.Golden, p. 55. "The {{lang|grc-Latn|dolichos}}" varied in length from seven to twenty-four lengths of the stadium – from 1,400 to 4,800 Greek feet."[https://archive.org/details/ancientgreekathl00mill/page/32 Miller, p. 32] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115124102/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA32 |date=15 November 2017 }} "The sources are not unanimous about the length of this race: some claim that it was twenty laps of the stadium track, others that it was twenty-four. It may have differed from site to site, but it was in the range of 7.5 to 9 kilometers."

The last running event added to the Olympic program was the {{lang|grc-Latn|hoplitodromos}}, or "hoplite race", introduced in 520 BC and traditionally run as the last race of the games. Competitors ran either a single or double {{lang|grc-Latn|diaulos}} (approximately 400 or 800 metres, 0.25 or 0.5 miles) in full military armour.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA33 |page = 33 |title = Ancient Greek Athletics |first = Stephen G. |last = Miller |date = 8 January 2006 |publisher = Yale University Press |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |isbn = 978-0-300-11529-1 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160918002901/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC |archive-date = 18 September 2016 |df = dmy-all }} The {{lang|grc-Latn|hoplitodromos}} was based on a war tactic of soldiers running in full armor to surprise the enemy.

File:Palaestra scene Louvre G7.jpg scene. Attic red-figure plate. {{Circa|520–510 BC}}]]

Wrestling ({{lang|grc-Latn|pale}}) is recorded as being introduced at the 18th Olympiad. Three throws were necessary for a win. A throw was counted if the body, hip, back or shoulder (and possibly knee) touched the ground. If both competitors fell nothing was counted. Unlike its modern counterpart Greco-Roman wrestling, it is likely that tripping was allowed.{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |title = Greek athletic sports and festivals |first = Edward Norman |last = Gardiner |date = 15 November 2017 |publisher = London : Macmillan |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Internet Archive |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311004156/http://www.archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |archive-date = 11 March 2012 |df = dmy-all }}

File:Foul pankration at Kylix by the Foundry Painter BM VaseE78.jpg}} {{circa|490–480}} BC, British Museum ]]

File:Pankration Black Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter.jpg prize amphora, {{circa|500}} BC.]]

Boxing ({{lang|grc-Latn|pygmachia}}) was first listed in 688 BC,{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA51 |title = Ancient Greek Athletics |first = Stephen G. |last = Miller |date = 8 January 2006 |publisher = Yale University Press |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160918002901/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC |archive-date = 18 September 2016 |df = dmy-all |isbn = 978-0300115291 }} the boys' event sixty years later. The laws of boxing were ascribed to the first Olympic champion Onomastus of Smyrna. It appears that body-blows were either not permitted or not practised.To judge from the story of Damoxenos and Kreugas who boxed at the Nemean Games, after a long battle with no result combatants could agree to a free exchange of hits. ([https://archive.org/stream/greekathleticspo00garduoft#page/432/mode/1up Gardiner, p. 432] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817023933/http://www.archive.org/stream/greekathleticspo00garduoft |date=17 August 2009 }}) The Spartans, who claimed to have invented boxing, quickly abandoned it and did not take part in boxing competitions. At first the boxers wore {{lang|grc-Latn|himantes}} (sing. {{lang|grc-Latn|himas}}), long leather strips which were wrapped around their hands.

The {{lang|grc-Latn|pankration}} was one of the most popular sports in the ancient Olympic Games.{{Cite book |last=Dunning |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMVorY12iCQC&pg=PA48 |title=Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence, and Civilization |date=1999 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-06413-2 |pages=48–49 |language=en}} The {{lang|grc-Latn|pankration}} was introduced in the 33rd Olympiad (648 BC).{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |page = 435 |title = Greek athletic sports and festivals |first = Edward Norman |last = Gardiner |date = 15 November 2017 |location = London |publisher=Macmillan |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Internet Archive |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311004156/http://www.archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |archive-date = 11 March 2012 |df = dmy-all }} Boys' {{lang|grc-Latn|pankration}} became an Olympic event in 200 BC, in the 145th Olympiad.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA60 |page = 60 |title = Ancient Greek Athletics |first = Stephen G. |last = Miller |date = 8 January 2006 |publisher = Yale University Press |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171115124102/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC&pg=PA60 |archive-date = 15 November 2017 |df = dmy-all |isbn = 978-0300115291 }}

As well as techniques from boxing and wrestling, athletes also used kicks,[https://archive.org/stream/greekathleticspo00garduoft#page/445/mode/1up Gardiner, p. 445–46] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817023933/http://www.archive.org/stream/greekathleticspo00garduoft |date=17 August 2009 }} "Galen, in his skit on the Olympic games, awards the prize [in the {{lang|grc-Latn|pakration}}] to the donkey, as the best of all animals in kicking." locks, and chokes on the ground. Although the only prohibitions were against biting and gouging, the {{lang|grc-Latn|pankration}} was regarded as less dangerous than boxing.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=s_HjZ3JpPYIC&pg=PA41 |title = The Olympic Games: The First Thousand Years |first1 = M. I. |last1 = Finley |first2 = H. W. |last2 = Pleket |date = 24 May 2012 |publisher = Courier Corporation |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171115124102/https://books.google.com/books?id=s_HjZ3JpPYIC&pg=PA41 |archive-date = 15 November 2017 |df = dmy-all |isbn = 9780486149417 }}

It was one of the most popular events: Pindar wrote eight odes praising victors of the {{lang|grc-Latn|pankration}}. A famous event in the sport was the posthumous victory of Arrhichion of Phigalia who "expired at the very moment when his opponent acknowledged himself beaten".

File:Red-figure kylix discus thrower (Boston MFA 00.338) tondo.jpg

The discus ({{lang|grc-Latn|diskos}}) event was similar to the modern competition. Stone and iron {{lang|grc-Latn|diskoi}} have been found, although the most commonly used material appears to be bronze. To what extent the {{lang|grc-Latn|diskos}} was standardized is unclear, but the most common weight seems to be 2 kg (4.4 lbs) size with a diameter of approximately 21 cm (8 in), roughly equivalent to the modern discus.Miller, p. 60

File:Red-figure kylix athlete with jumping weights (Boston MFA 98.876) tondo.jpg carrying halteres (jumping weights) {{Circa|late Archaic Greece}}]]

In the long jump ({{lang|grc-Latn|halma}}) competitors swung a pair of weights called {{lang|grc-Latn|halteres}}. There was no set design; jumpers tended to use either spherical weights made of stone carved to fit the hand or longer lead weights.Miller, p. 63[https://archive.org/stream/greekathleticspo00garduoft#page/299/mode/thumb Gardiner, p. 295] It is debated whether the jump was performed from a standing start or after a run-up. In his analysis of the event based on vase paintings, Hugh Lee concluded that there was probably a short run-up.Lee, Hugh M. (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=lNvfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA157 "The {{lang|grc-Latn|Halma}}: A Running or Standing Jump?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226112037/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lNvfAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA157 |date=26 December 2022 }} in Onward to the Olympics: Historical Perspectives on the Olympic Games

{{Main|Ancient Olympic pentathlon}}

The pentathlon was a competition made up of five events: running, long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, and wrestling. The pentathlon is said to have first appeared at the 18th Olympiad in 708 BC.{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC |title = Ancient Greek Athletics |first = Stephen G. |last = Miller |date = 8 January 2006 |publisher = Yale University Press |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Google Books |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160918002901/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC |archive-date = 18 September 2016 |df = dmy-all |isbn = 978-0300115291 }} The competition was held on a single day,Young, p. 32 but it is not known how the victor was decided,Young, p. 19{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |pages = 362–365 |title = Greek athletic sports and festivals |first = Edward Norman |last = Gardiner |date = 15 November 2017 |location = London |publisher= Macmillan |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Internet Archive |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311004156/http://www.archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |archive-date = 11 March 2012 |df = dmy-all }} or in what order the events occurred, except that it finished with the wrestling.{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |page = 363 |title = Greek athletic sports and festivals |first = Edward Norman |last = Gardiner |date = 15 November 2017 |location = London |publisher= Macmillan |access-date = 15 November 2017 |via = Internet Archive |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311004156/http://www.archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |archive-date = 11 March 2012 |df = dmy-all }}

Horse racing and chariot racing were the most prestigious competitions in the games, due to only the wealthy being able to afford the maintenance and transportation of horses. These races consisted of different events: the four-horse chariot race, the two-horse chariot race, and the horse with rider race, the rider being hand picked by the owner. The four-horse chariot race was the first equestrian event to feature in the Olympics, being introduced in 680 BC. It consisted of two horses that were harnessed under a yoke in the middle, and two outer horses that were attached with a rope.{{cite web |url=http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC008aEN.html |title=Ancient Olympics |access-date=2017-04-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106040630/http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC008aEN.html |archive-date=6 January 2017 |df=dmy-all }} "Four-horse chariot" The two-horse chariot was introduced in 408 BC.{{cite web |url=http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC008bEN.html |title=Ancient Olympics |access-date=2017-04-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105123201/http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC008bEN.html |archive-date=5 January 2017 |df=dmy-all }} "Two-horse chariot" The horse with rider competition, on the other hand, was introduced in 648 BC. In this race, Greeks did not use saddles or stirrups (the latter was unknown in Europe until about the 6th century AD), so they required good grip and balance.{{cite web |url=http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC008cEN.html |title=Ancient Olympics |access-date=2017-04-04 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023000347/http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC008cEN.html |archive-date=23 October 2015 |df=dmy-all }} "Horse with rider"

Pausanias reports that a race for carts drawn by a pair of mules, and a trotting race, were instituted respectively at the seventieth Festival and the seventy-first, but were both abolished by proclamation at the eighty-fourth. The trotting race was for mares, and in the last part of the course the riders jumped off and ran beside the mares.Pausanias, Description of Greece [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=5:chapter=9&highlight=olympic 5.9.1–2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125163702/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160:book=5:chapter=9&highlight=olympic |date=25 November 2020 }}

The chariot races also saw the first woman to win an Olympic event, as the winner was deemed to be the wealthy benefactor or trainer that funded the team rather than those controlling the chariot (who could only be male). This allowed for horse trainer and spartan princess Cynisca to be the first female Olympic victor.Millender, Ellen G., "Spartan Women" p. 500–525. In A Companion to Sparta, edited by Anton Powell, Vol. 1 of A Companion to Sparta. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell, 2018.

Due to the winner being the benefactor, it was also possible for a particularly wealthy person to improve their odds by bringing multiple teams to the races; according to Plutarch, the record belongs to Alcibiades, who brought seven chariots to a single competition, winning the first, second, and either the third or fourth place at once.Plutarch, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alcibiades*.html The Life of Alcibiades]

In 67, the Roman Emperor Nero competed in the chariot race at Olympia. He was thrown from his chariot and was thus unable to finish the race. Nevertheless, he was declared the winner on the basis that he would have won if he had finished the race.{{cite web |url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/olympics-olympic-games-no-longer-play-ancient-greece |title = Olympic Games We No Longer Play |date = 4 August 2016 |access-date = 4 August 2016 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160805194129/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/olympics-olympic-games-no-longer-play-ancient-greece/ |archive-date = 5 August 2016 |df = dmy-all }}

== Famous athletes ==

{{Main|List of ancient Olympic victors}}

File:Olympic victors on Papyrus 1185.jpg

• Running:
• Koroibos of Elis (stadion, traditionally declared first Olympic champion)
• Orsippus (diaulos, first to compete naked)
• Leonidas of Rhodes (stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos)
• Chionis of Sparta (three-time stadion/diaulos winner and champion jumper)
• Astylos of Croton (stadion, diaulos and hoplitodromos)
• Alexander I of Macedon (stadion){{cite web |url = http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh5020.htm |page = 22 |title = The History of Herodotus, parallel English/Greek: Book 5: Terpsichore: 20 |website = www.sacred-texts.com |access-date = 15 November 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160515201448/http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh5020.htm |archive-date = 15 May 2016 |df = dmy-all }}
• Combat:
• Arrhichion (pankratiast, died while successfully defending his championship in the 54th Olympiad (564 BC). Described as "the most famous of all pankratiasts".)
• Milo of Croton (wrestling, legendary six-time victor: once as youth, the rest in the men's event)
• Diagoras of Rhodes (boxing 79th Olympiad, 464 BC) and his sons Akusilaos and Damagetos (boxing and pankration)
• Timasitheos of Croton (wrestling){{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3C8-9j8Zb3oC&q=Timasitheos+of+Croton&pg=PA102 |title = A Brief History of the Olympic Games |access-date = 16 April 2015 |isbn = 9780470777756 |last1 = Young |first1 = David C. |date = 2008-04-15 |publisher = John Wiley & Sons }}
• Theagenes of Thasos (boxer, pankratiast and runner)
• Sostratus of Sicyon (pankratiast, notorious for his finger-breaking technique)
• Dioxippus (pankratiast, crowned champion by default in 336 BC when no other pankratiast dared compete. Such a victory was called akoniti (lit. without getting dusted) and remains the only one ever recorded in the Olympics in this discipline.)
• Varastades (boxing, Prince and future King of Armenia, last known ancient Olympic victor (boxing) during the 291st Olympic Games in the 4th century369 according to Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece by Nigel Wilson, 2006, Routledge (UK) or 385 according to Classical Weekly by Classical Association of the Atlantic States)
• Equestrian:
• Cynisca of Sparta (owner of a four-horse chariot) (first woman to be listed as an Olympic victor)
• Pherenikos ("the most famous racehorse in antiquity", 470s BC)
• Tiberius (steerer of a four-horse chariot)Tiberius, AD 1 (or earlier) – cf. Ehrenberg & Jones, Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius [Oxford 1955] p. 73 (n.78)
• Nero (steerer of a ten-horse chariot)
• Other:
• Herodorus of Megara (ten-time trumpet champ)

{{Main|Ancient Greek Olympic festivals}}

Athletic festivals under the name of "Olympic games", named in imitation of the original festival at Olympia, were established over time in various places all over the Greek world. Some of these are only known to us by inscriptions and coins; but others, as the Olympic festival at Antioch, obtained great celebrity. After these Olympic festivals had been established in several places, the great Olympic festival itself was sometimes designated in inscriptions by the addition of Pisa.William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 1875 – {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110606012307/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0839.html ancientlibrary.com]}}

{{portal|Olympics|Sport of athletics}}

• Archaeological Museum of Olympia
• Epinikion
• Athletes and athletics in ancient Greek art
• Ludi, the Roman games influenced by Greek traditions
• New Testament athletic metaphors
• Olympic Games ceremony
• Panathenaic Games
• History of physical training and fitness
• Tailteann Games (ancient), a similar tradition of legendary pre-Christian Ireland
• Running in Ancient Greece
• Olympic winners of the Stadion race

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

{{refbegin|2}}

• {{Cite book |last=Beale |first=Allan |title=Greek Athletics and the Olympics |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521138208}}
• {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/greekathleticspo00garduoft |title=Greek athletic sports and festivals |last=Gardiner |first=E. N. |publisher=London : Macmillan |year=1910}}
• Gardiner, E. Norman, Athletics of the Ancient World, 246 pages, 200+ illustrations, with new material, Oxford University Press, 1930
• {{cite book |url=https://is.muni.cz/el/1451/jaro2011/bk900/um/A_Brief_History_of_the_Olympic_Games__CuPpY_.pdf |title=A Brief History of the Olympic Games |last=Young |first=David C. |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4051-1130-0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009184000/https://is.muni.cz/el/1451/jaro2011/bk900/um/A_Brief_History_of_the_Olympic_Games__CuPpY_.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2016 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wdh6YGXOxMC |title=Ancient Greek Athletics |last=Miller |first=Stephen G. |author-link=Stephen G. Miller |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-300-11529-1}}
• Golden, Mark, Sport and Society in Ancient Greece, Cambridge University Press, 1998.
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UwFoJTJZ1wIC&q=greek+city+state |title=Polis, an Introduction to the Ancient Greek City-State |last=Hansen |first=Mogens Herman |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-920849-4 |location=Oxford, England |access-date=12 February 2010}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pjt3ZGU61wIC&q=olympic+truce+violated&pg=PA332 |title=The Landmark Thucydides |last2=Strassler |first2=Robert B. |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-4165-9087-3 |location=New York |last1=Hanson |first1=Victor Davis |access-date=12 February 2010}}
• [http://www.geocities.com/ejkotynski/Papers.htm Kotynski, Edward J. The Athletics of the Ancient Olympics: A Summary and Research Tool. 2006.]( 2009-10-25); [http://www.oocities.org/ejkotynski/Olympics.pdf new link] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102184921/http://www.oocities.org/ejkotynski/Olympics.pdf |date=2 January 2013 }}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEbcu-sDkFEC&q=greek+city+state+pride+at+the+olympics&pg=PA8 |title=Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World |last=Kyle |first=Donald G. |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-631-22970-4 |location=Oxford, England |access-date=12 February 2010}}
• Mallowitz, Alfred. Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia. Raschke 79–109.
• Miller, Stephen. "The Date of Olympic Festivals". Mitteilungen: Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung. Vol. 90 (1975): 215–237.
• {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l582jgEACAAJ&q=patay+The+origins+of+the+olympic+games |title=The Origins of the Olympic Games |last=Patay-Horváth |first=András |publisher=Archaeolingua Foundation |year=2015 |isbn=978-963-9911-72-7 |location=Budapest}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwU1IlTEhrYC&q=greek+city+state+olympics&pg=PA23 |title=The Archaeology of the Olympics: the Olympics and Other Festivals in Antiquity |last=Raschke |first=Wendy J. |publisher=Wisconsin University Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-299-11334-6 |location=Madison, Wisconsin |access-date=12 February 2010}}
• Remijsen, Sofie. The End of Greek Athletics in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
• {{Cite book |last=Sansone |first=David |title=Ancient Greek civilization |publisher=Wiley |year=2004 |isbn=9780631232360}}
• {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientolympics00spiv |url-access=registration |quote=origins of the ancient olympics. |title=The Ancient Olympics |last=Spivey |first=Nigel |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-280433-4 |location=Oxford, England |access-date=12 February 2010}}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3Mz55M5DRwC&q=art+of+the+ancient+olympics&pg=PP8 |title=The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions:The story of the Olympic art competitions of the 20th century |last=Stanton |first=Richard |publisher=Trafford |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-55212-606-6 |location=Victoria, Canada |access-date=23 February 2010}}
• {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientolympicga00swad |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientolympicga00swad/page/11 11] |quote=announcing olympic truce. |title=The ancient Olympic Games |last=Swaddling |first=Judith |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-292-77751-4 |location=Austin, Texas |access-date=12 February 2010}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060202014013/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cl135/Students/Leslie_DesMarteau/olympia2.htm Tufts – "Women and the Games"]
• [http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/ Ancient Olympics. Research by K. U. Leuven and Peking University] **{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511065706/http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/ |date=11 May 2011 }}

{{refend}}

• Christesen, Paul. 2007. Olympic Victor Lists and Ancient Greek History. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
• Lee, Hugh M. 2001. The Program and Schedule of the Ancient Olympic Games. Nikephoros Beihefte 6. Hildesheim, Germany: Weidmann.
• Nielsen, Thomas Heine. 2007. Olympia and the Classical Hellenic City-State Culture. Historisk-filosofiske Meddeleser 96. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
• Sinn, Ulrich. 2000. Olympia: Cult, Sport, and Ancient Festival. Princeton, NJ: M. Wiener.
• Valavanis, Panos. 2004. Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, Nemea, Athens. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
• Swaddling, Judith. 1984. The Ancient Olympic Games. Austin: University of Texas.

{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Ancient Olympic Games |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}

{{Commons category|Ancient Olympic Games}}

{{NSRW Poster|Olympic Games}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040602233340/http://minbar.cs.dartmouth.edu/greecom/olympics/ The Ancient Olympic Games virtual museum (requires registration)]
• [http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/ Ancient Olympics]: General and detailed information
• [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/ The Ancient Olympics]: A special exhibit
• [http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/olympics/olympicintro.shtml The story of the Ancient Olympic Games] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501061301/http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/olympics/olympicintro.shtml |date=1 May 2008 }}
• [http://www.onereed.com/articles/vvf/olympics.html The origin of the Olympics]
• [http://macedonia-evidence.org/pdf/olympia-macedonia-scanlon.pdf Olympia and Macedonia: Games, Gymnasia and Politics]. Thomas F. Scanlon, professor of Classics, University of California
• [https://archive.today/20040517160750/http://www.panmacedonia.info/olympians.html List of Macedonian Olympic winners (in Greek)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080812023304/http://histoforum.digischool.nl/olympicgames/ Webquest The ancient and modern Olympic Games]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121113220525/http://goddessnike.com/goddess_nike_and_the_olympic_games.php Goddess Nike and the Olympic Games: Excellence, Glory and Strife]
• [http://ancientolympicgames.org/games/ancient-events/ Ancient Olympic Games: Ancient Events] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512150425/http://ancientolympicgames.org/games/ancient-events/ |date=12 May 2021 }}
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Games, Classical|volume=11|pages=443–445|first=Francis|last=Storr}}
• The Games Odyssey podcast: [https://wordrobemedia.com/games-odyssey/episodes The OG Olympic Games, Pt. 1: Ancient Origins]
• The Games Odyssey podcast: [https://wordrobemedia.com/games-odyssey/episodes The OG Olympic Games, Pt. 2: Eternal Glory]

{{Ancient Greece topics}}

{{Ancient Olympic Games}}

{{Multi-sport events}}

{{Olympic Games}}

{{authority control}}

Category:8th-century BC establishments in Greece

Category:390s disestablishments in the Roman Empire

Category:394 disestablishments

Category:Defunct multi-sport events

Category:Festivals in ancient Greece

Category:Greek inventions

Category:History of gymnastics

Category:History of the Olympics

Category:Panhellenic Games

Olympic Games

Olympic Games