Essay About Ancient Greece And Foot Race

Reinstitution Of Olympics
Essay Preview: Reinstitution Of Olympics
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The Olympics are a huge sporting event that contains many different sports and consists
of many different countries from around the world. Back in ancient Greece is where the ancient
Olympics originated. It was primarily a part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus the father of
Greek Gods and Goddesses. The Olympics where held at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia,
which is in Western Peloponnesos. From 776 BC, the games took place at Olympia every 4 years
for almost 12 centuries. However, for a period of time of 1503 years for the Olympics were no
where to be found. The reinstitution of the Olympic games came when a Frenchman named
Baron Pierre De Coubertin
In 776 BC, a foot race was the only event. The winner was the first Olympic hero ever.
From that very first race to today, the Olympics have always been a way for nations to come
together in friendly competition and international goodwill.
The conditions of the first Olympics were not anything like they are today. The events
were held in an open space in which a track had been paced off, areas for the javelin and discus
had been laid out, etc. The spectators did not have stands to sit in; instead, they occupied the
sloping areas around the track; sitting on blankets and sleeping in tents if they were wealthy
enough to have one.
Since the games were held during the hottest time of the year, flies were a terrible
problem. The problem was so pervasive that an offering, in the form of a sacrifice, was made to
Zeus, asking him to keep the flies away from Olympia.
As time went on different features and structures were added to the site. A hippodrome
was built for the chariot races, a gymnasium and bathhouse for the athletes, and even a hotel for
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the wealthiest of spectators.
Vendors were there, selling wine that the spectators drank along with the cheese, bread
and olives they ate. Sanitation was basically nonexistent. Water was always in short supply until
Herodes Atticus of Athens built an aqueduct and a water system. This did not occur until the
games had been taking place for 900 years.
The contests consisted of foot races, horse and chariot races, boxing, wrestling, discus,
javelin, broad jump, and horse races. The horse races were unique in that the prizes were given to
the owner of the horse, not the rider. The discus, javelin and broad jump were part of the
pentathlon event, which also included a 200-meter dash and a wrestling match. The winner had
to have taken three of the five events.
On the fifth and final day of the festival, the athletes marched to the temple of Zeus to
collect their winnings, the coveted victorÐÐŽÐЇs olive wreath. The winner of an Olympic event won
much more than just the olive wreath however. He was often awarded a cash bonus by his
townspeople; sometimes a pension for life. Additionally,