The olympic games Origins and Preparations

The Olympic Games were held in honour of the god Zeus because he was thought to give athletes their skills. Olympia, the permanent home of the Games, developed on the site of Zeus's sacred grove, known as the Altis. Zeus had already been worshipped here for several centuries, and the sanctuary flourished with the establishment of the Olympics. The most remarkable statue of the god, which stood inside his temple, was thirteen metres high and made of gold and ivory.

The Games probably developed from the funeral games held in ho­nour of local heroes. Informal competitions definitely took place long be­fore the official establishment of the Olympics in 776 ВС. In order that athletes and spectators could attend the Games in safety, the Sacred Truce was set up, suspending warfare for a period before, during and after the festival. Preparations for each Olympic festival were extensive, and sacri­fices took place throughout its five-day duration.

Preparations and Sacrifices

The Olympic festival lasted for five days, during which time many sacri­fices were made. One hundred oxen were offered to Zeus on the middle day, although many minor sacrifices to a variety of gods were also made through­out the Games. One of the vases shows a youth, possibly an athlete in cere­monial dress, pouring a libation over flames rising from an altar. Behind the altar is a herm, a pillar shaped at the top like the god Hermes, who together with Herakles (Hercules) presided over the gymnasium.

Although the sacrifices were not made until the festival started, other preparations took virtually the whole of the preceding year. The sports fa­cilities at Olympia had to be cleared of undergrowth, the courses dug and buildings and monuments repaired. The athletes would be in strict train­ing prior to the Games. They moved to Elis, 58 km from Olympia, up to ten months beforehand, to undergo strict training under the supervision of the judges. Two days before the festival, the whole company set out on the long journey to Olympia - an exhausting prospect for those competing the next day.

Athletics Events

The athletics events at the ancient Olympics were discus, long-jump, javelin and running. Of these, only running was a stand-alone event; the others took place as part of the pentathlon, which was a test for the all-round athlete. Competitors had to participate in all these events as well as wrestling during the course of one afternoon. It is not clear how the win­ner of the pentathlon was decided, but it seems likely that, if an athlete won the first three events — discus, long-jump and javelin — he would be declared the overall winner, and the running and wrestling competitions would be cancelled.

The programme of events for the five-day Olympic festival typically ran something like this:

Day one

Morning: Swearing-in ceremony; boys' running, wrestling and boxing;

prayers and sacrifices

Afternoon: Orations and recitals

Day two

Morning. Procession of competitors; chariot- and horse-races

Afternoon: Pentathlon: discus, long-jump, javelin, running, wrestling

Evening: Funeral rites in honour of the hero Pelops; parade of victors; singing and revelry

Day three

Morning. Procession of judges; sacrifice of one hundred oxen

Afternoon: Foot-races

Evening: Public banquet in the Prytaneion

Day four

Morning. Wrestling

Midday: Boxing and the /pankration/

Afternoon: Race-in-armour

Day five

Procession of victors; feasting and celebrations.