The ancient origins of the Olympics Armand DAngour
Thousands of years in the making,
what began as part of a religious festival
honoring the Greek god Zeus
in the rural Greek town of Olympia
has today become the greatest show
of sporting excellence on Earth.
The inception date in 776 BC
became the basis
for the Greek’s earliest calendar,
where time was marked
in four-year increments called olympiads.
What could it be?
Why, it’s the Olympic games, of course.
Competition fosters excellence,
or so thought the Ancient Greeks.
In addition to sporting events,
contests were held for music,
singing, and poetry.
You can read about them all yourself
in classical literary works,
like Homer’s “Iliad”
and Virgil’s “Aeneid.”
Even mythical heroes appreciate
a good contest every now and then,
wouldn’t you say?
For the first thirteen games,
the Ancient Greek Olympics featured
just one event, the two hundred yard dash.
But over time, new exciting contests,
like boxing,
chariot and mule racing,
and even a footrace where the competitors
wore a full suit of armor
enticed many hopeful champions
into the Olympic stadium.
The combined running,
jumping,
wrestling,
javelin throwing,
and hurling the discus events
known as the pentathlon
inspired world-class competition,
and the pankration,
a no holds barred fight where only
biting and eye-gouging were prohibited,
ensured the toughest men were victorious.
And victorious they were.
Nobody tops the local baker Coroebus,
who 776 BC became the very first
Olympic champion.
And we’ll never forget Orsippus of Megara,
the 720 BC Olympic victor tore away
his loincloth so he could race unimpeded,
inaugurating the Ancient Greek tradition
of competing in the nude.
Now there’s a winning streak,
if ever we’ve seen one.
But all good things must end.
In 391 AD, the Christian Roman Emperor
Theodosius banned pagan practices,
so the world soon bid a fond farewell
to the Olympic games.
But just like those early
pankration athletes,
you can’t keep a good one down,
and 1500 years later in 1896,
the modern Olympic games
kicked off in Athens, Greece.
Today, the Summer and Winter Olympics
bring international world-class
athletes together by the thousands,
uniting fans by the billions for
the world’s foremost sporting competition.
Citius, Altius, Fortius.
Three cheers for the Olympics.