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Essay On Ancient Greece Vs Modern Day Olympics

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It can be argued that ancient greece and Modern day olympics are examples of areté. However in Ancient greek olympics you had to be the best of the best to participate in the games. And also in the modern day olympics you have to be an excellent athlete. As a result you have to be well trained and fit to be in both olympics. It is clear to see that the Ancient Greece and Modern day Olympics both are examples of Areté. Areté is found both in Ancient greece and modern day because both demonstrates excellence. In Ancient greece Areté was seen as being excellent. Some examples in excellence are in art, poetry, sports, and many more. It was once said by Aristotle that “We are not what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore is not an act but a …show more content…

For the ancient opening ceremonies “the athletes filing into the temple, where they had to give their oath before a terrifying statue of Zeus wielding these thunderbolts. They had to swear over this bloody slice of boar 's flesh that they would obey the rules of the game and use no unfair means to gain victory.” (Lovgren and Chamberlain, 2012) Much like today how the judges are concerned with athletes using performance enhancing drugs, ancient greek judges were concerned with athletes using potions for an unfair advantage. It is clear to see that ancient Olympic games were very similar concerning with enhancers, ceremonies and events.
The sources suggest that the first modern day olympics took place on April 6, 1896 in the birthplace of the ancient Olympics games in Athens, Greece. “At the opening of the Athens Games, King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 nations to the international competition.” (History.com Staff, 2009) This means that in addition to having the first modern day Olympics being held in Athens, “Most of the competions were held in the ancient stadium, the Panathinaiko Stadium, which had been restored for the occasion.” (The Olympic Museum, 2012) Which is truly

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