The Olympics: An Historical Overview
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The Olympics have come to us down through the ages as an example of the purity and beauty of athletics. The Olympic ideal is something that we hear touted in the media and that many young athletes dream about as they embark on their athletic careers. In studying the history of the Olympics, there is no denying that there are many differences between the ancient Greek games and the modern Olympics. In ancient Greece, for example, religion was a central component of the Olympic Games. This is not true for the modern games. What is truly striking, however, are how striking the similarities between the ancient and modern Olympics are. For example, many of the critics of the Olympic movement point to the fame and fortune accrued by successful athletes as a corruption of the Olympic ideal, and yet successful athletes were revered by the ancient Greeks and could amass great fortunes as a result of their successes. This paper will focus on these similarities between the ancient and modern Olympics. First, we will examine the origins of the Olympics deep in the shadows of antiquity, and then we will briefly explore the history of the modern games. Last, we will compare the two and show that their similarities far outweigh their differences. The Olympics were originally part of a religious festival held in honor of Zeus, the father of all the Greek gods and goddesses. The festival and the games that were part of them were held in Olympia, which was a rural sanctuary site na
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es was considered a great honor which reflected favorably on the athlete's home city. In the sixth century, the Athenian statesman Solon promoted athletics within his city by rewarding Athenian victors at the games with a 500 drachmae prize. This was a handsome reward; during this era one sheep was worth one dracma. The Athenian leader Alcibiades was famously depicted trying to drum up political support in 415 BC by boasting about his successes at the Olympic games. In the fifth century, the Sicilian tyrants participated in the equestrian events and commissioned famous poets to compose and perform odes celebrating their victories at the Olympic games (Instone). Fame was thus a vital part of the Olympic games. Victory in the games brought fame to the athletes and to their cities. This led some politicians to use their successes at the game as a means to shore up their political support.
The ancient Olympic Games were special because they brought together the entire Greek world during an era when Greece was not a single nation. Ancient Greece was comprised of a series of often-warring city-states which were economically and politically independent (Instone). People traveled thousands of miles to attend and participate i
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Approximate Word count = 2462
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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