Origin of the Olympics in the Ancient Greek Society

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Outline

This paper takes a detailed look at the origin of the Olympics in the ancient Greek society. It starts with brief introduction explaining the emergence of the Olympic Games. It exhaustively explains the importance of the Olympic Games to the Greek society in the ancient times and the significance they played in shaping the locals lives. The debate on the manner in which the Olympics have influenced our society today follows next. It ends in conclusive remarks on the impacts of the Olympics.

Naked Olympics

The ancient Olympics trace their roots in the ancient Greek society from as early as 776 BC (Spivey 21). The Games were always held at Olympia, a place believed to be sacred. In the ancient Olympic Games, only men were allowed to compete in the various sports and women were not allowed into the stadium. The men used to compete while naked or half naked as a show of how the mind and body were connected. This was also a requirement for the spectators who were also strictly men and Greek speakers. The competition was held after every four years, then known as an “Olympiad”. A variety of games were engaged in by the participants ranging from foot-races, wrestling, boxing, pancratium (a combination of wrestling and boxing held between the winners of the two events) among others.

Importance of the Olympics and Olympic Games in the Greek Society

The ancient Olympics and Olympic Games impacted the Greek society in various ways due to the importance they attached to the event. The event was initially developed for religious inclinations to honor their god Zeus. The first day of the event was devoted to sacrifices to the god. The foot-race made the event of the second day with the third day being the main event day in the stadium. Olympia was the place they choose for the event as it was dedicated to Zeus. As they competed naked, seriousness was attached to the games as the Greeks believed Zeus was impressed by men and boys with strong, fit and built bodies. The sacredness of the Olympics had forbidden anyone from engaging in crime, corruption, cheating, accepting bribes or invasion during the events.

A lot of importance was also attached to the pride of winning an event. This was seen by the winner being rewarded with an olive wreath and to honor him, his name was inscribed in the official Olympic records. The value that was attached to winning inspired the various city states traveling to Olympia to support one of their own in a show of unity. The winners received a hero’s welcome in their city states with a lot of praise and some even being honored for the rest of their life. The passion expressed in support of a participant served as unifying factor to the city state.

Cheating during the Ancient Greek Olympics was considered a serious crime, considering the sacredness of the event. Any athlete who was found cheating was disqualified from ever competing, and in addition to stress the magnitude of the crime, his trainer and his city state were highly fined. This was important in that it discouraged cheating in the society and other sort of crimes (Perrottet 112).

The long distances traveled by the Greeks from various city states to Olympia in a bid to honor their god and support their own, encouraged interaction between the members of different states especially as they sacrificed and prayed to one god. The Olympics brought Greeks together as it had several city states and also colonies. Numbers made long journeys as they looked forward to taking part in the event motivated by the feeling of a common culture and region.

Certain events engaged in the ancient Greek Olympics were significant of war restructured in a more peaceful context but still proved prowess. “Events ranging from the merciless chariot races to the pankration were a sort of early predecessor of ultimate fighting in which strangulation was seen as the surest means of attaining victory” (Perrottet 68).

The Olympics period was civic and military interim moment of neutrality, where warring states observed cease fire in honor of the games. A “sacred truce” was declared just before the games by messengers who went from city to city announcing the date of the competition. All wars were supposed to be halted before, during and after the Olympics to allow the participant and spectators to travel to Olympia. During the event, an atmosphere of peace prevailed throughout Greece and its colonies (Spivey 98).

In the ancient Greek society, the Olympic Games were also seen as way of preserving their culture. Most of the games engaged in during the event were characteristic of the locals’ way of living. Games such as wrestling formed an important part of the Greek culture. With hunting an essential art in providing food, javelin and other games that were related to the Greeks way of survival acted as an effective means to preserve the traditions of the society. With the honoring of their god through the event, their religious beliefs were given a big boost.

How the Influence of the Events Impact our Society Today

Since the first induction of the modern Olympics in 1896 by Pierre de Coubertin, Olympic Games have since formed an important part of our calendar of events. The event has evolved since then seeing more sporting events being incorporated and inviting participation from allover the world. It would therefore only serve as unfair to ignore the influence that the games have in the society today.

Through entered participation from many countries from allover the world, the event has served as an avenue for cultural interaction and a platform for fostering good relationship between nations. People of different nationalities and of diverse cultures with a wide variety of language find a common purpose as they engage in competitive sports. The Olympic Games form one of those rare moments when people of diversities speak a common language of sports (Guttmann 102).

Just like in the old Greek society when city states come together to cheer and honor one of their own, today the nations rally their support behind their country men and women as they compete in the Olympics. This has helped enhance unity within a country as various internal differences and problems are put aside and those at war join hands and speak in one voice in support of their country men. Tribal, racial, political and religious affiliations which form the major divisions in our society are broken when the event provides a platform for a common purpose. The winners receive a heroic welcome at home and the country in turn is made proud and praised for the good performance.

With the modern Olympics allowing for competitive bidding to host the Olympic Games, the value attached to hosting the event has now been visible. Nations today campaign for a chance to hold the games owing to economic gains accrued from the massive influx of sports tourists at the time. Sports men and women travel from all over the world today either to take part or to be spectators. They reside in the hotels and make use of various facilities in the host nation leaving a lot of generated wealth to the locals. The Olympics also gives the host nation a perfect opportunity to market itself and its products and attraction sites. The massive wealth generated acts a big boost to the economy.

The Olympic Games have led governments to inject stimulus packages towards development of world class facilities and improving the various infrastructures ahead of hosting the games, an occurrence which would not have otherwise happened. Guttmann notes that a lot of historical world class facilities have been put up this way and have helped put the country in the map. The high profiling of the event leads to a lot of specification to a nation in order to play host, which it must be able to meet or correct to stand a chance. Implementation of such leaves the country in a better state in bid to get the privilege (112-3).

The hyping of the event based on the high reward to the winners has impacted negatively on the society. With the huge rewards being awarded upon winning, participants will now do anything to win. This ‘win at all cost’ philosophy has led to lapses in morals and virtues. This is evidenced by the rising cases of usage of performance enhancing drugs which have been banned by the IOC. These drugs have negative long term effects on the health of a person. Other dehumanizing methods have been used in a bid to secure a win, for instance, in the Nazi Germany women participants were impregnated and as the competition neared they induced abortions which gave them a competitive advantage. As the IOC steps up its dope tests campaigns, new drugs are on the rise to beat those tests.

The Olympic Games have gained popularity over the years to be the most famous sporting event in the calendar. It started as an all Greek community event with men only allowed to participate and has now evolved to see participants from almost every nation in the world and entrance of participation by women athletes. The modern Olympics have evolved over the years and now include a wide range of sports events borrowed from different cultures in the world. The games have continued to impact on our society up to today with a lot of importance being attached to winning.

Works Cited

Guttmann, Allen. The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games Illinois History of Sports. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2002

Perrottet, Tony. The Naked Olympics. New York: Random House Inc, 2004.

Spivey, Nigel. The ancient Olympics. London: Oxford University Press, 2004.

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Origin of the Olympics in the Ancient Greek Society

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