Transcript S.M.S. “CARDARELLI” LE OLIMPIADI NELL’ANTICA GRECIA

S.M.S. “CARDARELLI”
2003/2004
The Olympics
in Ancient
Greece
Comenius Project
“Olympism and Education
in the field of sport”
EXIT
The Olympics in Ancient Greece
The Greeks and The Olympic spirit
The origins of the Olympic Games
The rules of the Games
The programme of the Games
The Greeks: different but similar
Even if the Greeks were divided into groups: the
Dorians, the Ionians, the Aeolians and splitted in a
lot of poleis (city-states) they had a strong sense of
unity in religion, customs and language.
And wherever they lived the Greeks claimed the
right to take part in the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games were the greatest
national festival for the Athenians. Held every
four years athletes came from all regions of
Greece to compete in the great Stadium of
Olympia and honour their god, Zeus.
Olympia
In the closed and sacred rectangular
complex there was plenty of space for
practising sports- the Gymnasium and the
Stadium -as well as rooms for religious
ceremonies and for keeping the sacred fire
of the Olympics.
The Gymnasium, a closed rectangular
building with a large yard ,where the
athletes practised events such as the
javelin, the discus etc.
.
The Stadium
Dates from the early 5th century B.C.
The track has a length of 212,54m
and a width of 28,50m. The stadium
held 45000 spectators. The spectators,
sitting on the stands or steps of the
stadium, shouted and cheered the
athletes
The Olympic spirit
Ancient athletes competed as
individuals and glory achieved
in sport was not different from
the one achieved in battles.
The athletes were not
interested in breaking records
but only to win the game and
honour their city.
776 B.C.
The year 776 B.C.
was the year of the
first Olympic games
and, at the same time,
the beginnig year of
the Greek calendar.
Time was divided
into Olympiads,
years, months and
days. An Olympiad
was a period of four
hellenic years.
Omero
The first sports reporter.
In the epic poem, the Iliad,
Homer describes the funeral Games held by Achilles in
Honour of his late friend Patroclus.
In the Odyssey Homer
tells about the games held
by Feaci in honour of Ulisse.
Among the sports: discus throwing,, wrestling, the foot race
The Rules of the Games
Only males of greek origin
could participate in the
Olympics. According to the
Olympic rules, women,
slaves, no-greeks, were
excluded. In addition, any
man who had committed a
crime or stolen from a temple
was banned from
participation. Married women
could not enter the olympic
stadium or attend the games.
The Ancient Games
The ancient Games were held every four years
(an Olympiad) for almost 1200 years until 393
A.D. when Roman Emperor Theodosius
banned all pagan festivals (the Olympics
celebrated the Greek God Zeus).
The Athletes
One month before the official
opening of the games, the judges
checked the character and the
sporting capabilities of the
athletes who wished to
participate, selecting only those
who really deserved to compete.
The duration of the Games
The games lasted five days: the first day
was devoted to make sacrifices to gods.
On the second day the boys games were
held, while on the third and the fourth day
the adults games took place. The fifth day
was the day of the proclamation of the
winners.
The Prize
At the conclusion of the Games, the
winners were crowned with simple
olive wreaths (crown of wild olive).
Naked Athletes
The athletes performed naked during the
competitions. The Greeks were not ashamed to
show their bodies, the beauty of the naked
body was considered to reflect internal beauty
and the harmonius balance between body and
mind. Their bodies were used as models by
sculptors and painters who drew inspiration for
their works directly from the athletes and their
movements.
FOOT RACES
There were different types of races:
-The “Stade” which consisted of one lenght of the stadium
-The “Diaulos”, two lenghts or double stadium
-The “Dolichos”, a long distance race (from 7 to 24
lenghts)
The competitors ran in a straight line and not around the
stadium as they do today.
LONG JUMP
The Athletes used weights made
of stone or metal, in order to
jump further.
THROWING EVENTS
The discus and the javelin throwing
events were very similar to today’s
ones. The discus was made of stone
or bronze. The javelin was a
wooden stick with a pointed end, it
was one meter and a half long.
BOXING
It was one of the most violent
competitions in which two boxers,
wearing wrapped strips of leather
on their arms, faced each other
until one of them was knocked
out.
WRESTLING
A kind of fighting sport in which two people
fought by holding each other , trying to make
each other fall to the ground.
CHARIOT RACING
Chariot races were spectacular and very popular
with the public. Only the wealthy could practise it
as the horse-breeding was very expensive. The
drivers , called charioteers, rode the lenght of the
hippodrome for seven or eight times.
PENTATHLON
It was the most important of the competitions
where an athlete competed in five different
events: Running - Wrestling - Jumping Discus throwing - Javelin throwing
From 776 b.C. to 2004
Thanks to the French educator: Baron Pierre de
Coubertin, the games were revived in 1896 in
Athens. Now the games are returning to the
country of their birth and the city of their revival.
The 2004 Olympic Games will be held
in Athens from 13 to 29 August.