Ancient Greek Games/Ancient Greek Sports

The ancient Greek games were of four kinds- Olympian, Nemean, Isthmian and Pythian. All the four of these games were dedicated to several gods.

Out of these the most important was the Olympian Games that were devoted to Zeus, father of the Gods. The Olympian Games were held after every four years.

The timing of this game was crucial as the gap between every game (that is four years) were used as a reference of dating events. It must be hereby noted that Greece was not one nation. It was divided between several city states which were always fighting with one another. Each of them had a unique system of dating events. The Olympian Games served to provide a bit of uniformity among these numerous methods.

Religion and Ancient Greek Games, Sports

The Olympian Games were held in the city of Elis which was located in the south of Greece. As mentioned earlier, all of the four ancient Greek games were religious events. They provided an opportunity for the different city states to compete with each other without shedding blood. This was thought to be a healthy way as compared to war.

Olympia had a temple of Zeus where a statue of him made of ivory and gold was present. This statue was worshipped and this statue was about 42 feet high. This was a world of architecture which was unparalleled anywhere else in the universe. In fact, it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World at that time.

Matrons could not attend the games but it was mandatory for the priestess of Demeter to be present. The Olympian Games were most importantly based on honesty and good nature. Invasion, corruption and accepting of bribes were unthinkable.

Victory

When a person won the Olympian Games, an olive wreath was crowned upon his head. The official Olympic books also recorded his name as a winner. Not only was this, in fact the victor sometimes so respected that the poleis took upon itself to feed him for the rest of his life. But no one paid the victor. But they were accorded great honor as heroes as they brought a lot of fame and respect to the city states they belonged.

The Olympian Games is given a high pedestal among all the ancient Greek games.
Information on:
Sports in ancient Greece
Ancient Greek sports

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