Greek Athletic Contests

By the 6th century B.C., there were four main athletic contests held in Greece. The first of which were held at Delphi and were called The Pythian Games. These games were held in honor of Apollo and consisted mainly of signing and drama (acting). Poseidon also had games held in honor of him at Isthmia. Zeus, the king of the gods, had games held in honor of him at Nemea, as well as Olympia (Hemingway and Hemingway). The games held at Olympia are the most talked about, and these grew into and inspired what is now known as The Olympics. The world has come to a consensus that the Olympics were founded in 776 B.C. The original games were quite simple, consisting of only one race called a stade (Olympic Games, Encyclopedia Americana). A stade was

that a second race, a diaulos, was added. A diaulos went around the track twice, making it similar to a 400 meter run today. In 720 B.C. a dolichos was added, this race was about 1500 meters, close to a mile. Other sports like boxing, wrestling, and chariot racing were not added until later. All running events were regarded as the most prestigious events. Wrestling and a pentathlon were finally added in 708 B.C. The pentathlon consisted of five events: the long jump, the javelin throw, the discus throw, a foot race, and a wrestling match. Boxing was added in 688 B.C. and chariot races were finally added in 680 B.C. (Olympic Games, The New Encyclopedia Britannica). The chariot races were considered the most popular event in the Ancient Olympics. One race could involve up to 40 chariots and charioteers at one time. This made crashes extremely common, contributing to the popularity of the chariot races. It was common for a chariot owner to employ another Greek citizen to drive their chariot. The owners of the chariots were generally wealthy citizens (Olympic Games, Khan Academy). This practice can be compared to that of horse racing today. Boxing in Ancient Greece was much more brutal than it is today. In the Olympics and many other parts of Ancient Greece, boxing did not have rounds. The competitors fought until someone surrendered, or could physically not go on any longer. The only protection that the ancient boxers had for themselves were thin strips of leather wrapped around their hands to protect them, comparable to a boxing glove, however a rather crude one (Olympic Games, Khan Academy). The event that was considered the most brutal was called the pankration. The pankration was a mixture of wrestling and boxing, very similar to today’s UFC fighting, only much nastier. There were few rules in the pankration, only eye gouging and biting were considered illegal (Olympic Games, Khan Academy). The original games only lasted one single day,