Transcript Sports and the Ancient Greece Olympics Ancient Greeks

The people in ancient years and their
relation with the athletics-sports
Ancient Greece
Sports and the Ancient Greece Olympics
Ancient Greeks loved sport and most cities in Ancient Greece had
public gymnasiums where people gathered to train and relax. The
Greeks believed that a healthy body was very important. Most
men and boys practised sports every day because they enjoyed
them and wanted to keep fit. Sport was a good preparation for war
too. The Greek armies had to be fit enough to march long
distances, carrying all their heavy equipment, and then begin the
fight with the enemy.
The Greeks had four national sports festivals, where athletes from
different city states competed against one another. The most
important of the sports contests was the Olympic Games. These
were played at Olympia, every four years, in honour of Zeus. On
the first day of the Olympics, sacrifices of grain, wine, and lambs
were made to Zeus.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian Sports
Many of today's sports were practiced by the Ancient
Egyptians, who set the rules and regulations for them.
Inscriptions on monuments indicate that they practiced
wrestling, weightlifting, long jump, swimming, rowing, shooting,
fishing and athletics, as well as various kinds of ball games.
Ancient Egyptian kings, princes and statesmen were keen on
attending sports competitions, which they encouraged and
provided with the necessary equipment.
Drawings on pharaonic monuments tell us that several
thousand years ago, the Egyptians had laid down basic rules
for games, chosen a neutral referee, a uniform for players, and
a means of announcing the winners by awarding them
different collars.
Both winner and loser were met with ovation, the first for his
superiority and the latter for his sporting spirit.
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The following is an expose of some ancient Egyptian sports:
Hockey
Javelin Throw
Equestrian Sports
Handball
Gymnastics
(floor exercises)
Fishing
Boxing
Weightlifting
Swimming
Rowing
High Jump
Gymnastics
(consecutive vault)
Archery
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Equilibrium
Tug of Hoop
Tug of War
Marathon
Ancient Athens
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Ancient Greece was famous for its festivals and especially Athens.
These festivals were events held for many days and to which many
people participated. The contests involved were mainly sports or
artistic and the winners were receiving different prizes and were
treated with great respect.
Ancient Makedonia
Abstract:
The dissertation examines the sport, athletics and agonistic festivals of the ancient
Macedonian state from 600 B.C. to 300 B.C., using historical and sociocultural
anthropological methodology. The intent is to show how the symbolism of athletic
involvement, association with athletes, athletic imagery and patronage of important
athletic festivals all operated as one expression of the changing ideology of the
Macedonian ruling dynasty. In examining the Macedonian use of sport, some of the
cultural and political structures of Macedon are revealed. Sport is seen as a
component of culture which has the capacity to reflect and transform society. When
studied, sport reveals the larger framework of human behaviour in the individual, in
society and in culture. The transformation of Macedonian society and those
intertwined with Macedon is illuminated through the analysis of sport in Macedonian
culture.
Ancient Sparti
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Pankration is a newly developed fighting game in contemporary
Greece. The new pankration was developed by the resources
available by both modern scholarly research and ancient literature
and art. Pankration was unknown to Homer, who knew the
techniques of wrestling and boxing. It is event, therefore, that
pankration is a mix of wrestling and boxing techniques which was
introduced in the late archaic era.
Ancient Crete
The renowned sport of ancient Crete, open to both genders and subjecting
all to the same standards, was bull leaping. This was a dangerous pastime,
but harmless and humane to the athlete and the animal if performed with
skill. A bull would be released to charge toward the jumper. Once it was in
sufficient proximity, the performer would attach his hands to the bull's
horns and vault onto the creature's back. Another common objective was
to somersault from such a position to a state of standing on a spot of land
directly behind the bull.
Boxing was also a favorite activity, as portrayed in numerous wall murals.
The precise regulations are unknown, but this is perhaps a source of
inspiration for later Greeks, who adapted the sport to the Olympic Games.
Ancient Mesopotamia
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Ball Games. Little evidence relating to Mesopotamian sports has
survived from the ancient Near East. Clay and faience balls have
been excavated, but the rules for the games played with them are
not clear. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, king Gilgamesh wears out the
young men by playing a kind of human polo, riding on their backs
while hitting a puck with a stick.
By
Christina A.