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Religion and politics

Religion pervaded the ancient Olympics. Zeus was thought to look down on the competitors, favouring some and denying victory to others. 'You could spur on a man with natural talent to strive towards great glory with the help of the gods', says Pindar in a victory-ode. If an athlete was fined for cheating or bribery (human nature stays much the same over a few millennia), the money exacted was used to make a cult statue of Zeus.

A grand sacrifice of 100 oxen was made to Zeus during the Games, and Zeus the apomuios, or 'averter of flies', was invoked to keep the sacrificial meat fly-free. Olympia was home to one of Greece's great oracles, an oracle to Zeus, with an altar to him consisting of the bonfire-heap created by burnt sacrificial offerings. As the offerings were burnt, they were examined by a priest, who pronounced an oracle - an enigmatic and often ambiguous prediction of the future - according to his interpretation of what he saw. Athletes consulted the oracle to learn what their chances in the Games were.

The Greeks tried to keep some aspects of politics out of the Olympics, but their efforts met then, as such efforts do now, with limited success. The Olympic truce was meant to lead to a cessation of hostilities throughout Greece, to allow competitors to travel and participate safely, but it was not always observed.

The great historian of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, tells how in 420 BC the Spartans violated the truce by attacking a fort and dispatching hoplites, and they were therefore banned from the Games. But Lichas, a prominent Spartan, thought of a way round the ban - he entered the chariot race as a Boeotian. When his true nationality was discovered, however, he was given a public flogging at Olympia.

A victorious athlete brought great honour to his home city. The sixth-century Athenian statesman Solon promoted athletics by rewarding Athenian victors at the Games financially - an Olympic victor would receive 500 drachmae (for comparison, a sheep was worth one drachma). Thucydides represents the maverick Athenian leader Alcibiades as trying to drum up political support in 415 BC by boasting of his earlier successes in the Olympic Games.

And it is clear from the victory odes of Pindar and Bacchylides that the Sicilian tyrants in the fifth century aimed to strengthen their grip on affairs by competing in the equestrian events at the Games, and by commissioning famous poets to compose and publicly perform odes celebrating their victories.

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Religion pervaded the ancient Olympics. Zeus was thought to look down on the competitors, favouring some and denying victory to others. 'You could spur on a man with natural talent to strive towards great glory with the help of the gods', says Pindar in a victory-ode.

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Google celebrates the 120th anniversary of the first modern olympic games. On April 6, 1896, the Olympic Games, a long-lost tradition of ancient Greece, are reborn in Athens 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. At the opening of the Athens Games, King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 nations to the international competition.

Doodle designer Olivia Huynh created 4 drawings in an old fashion drawing style. Nice.
"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." -- Olympic Charter

Music: "Old timey" by Kevin MacLeod

Thumbs up if you like.

FAQ:
When did the modern olympic games start?
First modern Olympics is held ? History.com This Day in History ? 4/6/1896. April 6. Sports. On April 6, 1896, the first modern Olympic Games are held in Athens, Greece, with athletes from 14 countries participating.

Where were the first Olympic Games of the modern era celebrated?
The 1896 Summer Olympics (Modern Greek: ? 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agó?nes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era.

When are the olympic games held?
The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.

Who were the first to establish the Olympic Games?
In 1850 an Olympian Class was started by Dr. William Penny Brookes at Much Wenlock, in Shropshire, England. In 1859, Dr. Brookes changed the name to the Wenlock Olympian Games. This annual sports festival continues to this day. The Wenlock Olympian Society was founded by Dr. Brookes on 15 November 1860.

Officially called the Games of the I Olympiad, the events took place inside the Panathenaic Stadium. The 1896 games included 9 different sports and 43 events. Most noteworthy was the marathon ? it had the greatest number of international athletes ever. Equally noteworthy was its winner, Spyridon "Spyro" Louis, the only Greek champion in the athletics division, and a national hero for the host country. His monumental victory on that historic day continues to inspire Greek pride. Today's Doodle by Olivia Huynh shows 4 different scenes from the games; refresh the homepage to see them all.

More about the first modern Olympic Games: http://goo.gl/RJbehc
All results of the first olympic games: http://goo.gl/iIYdjp
More about the doodle drawings: https://goo.gl/kbelzd
See also my blog-article: http://goo.gl/ZiFXNb

Some amazing old images:
http://goo.gl/T82f4G
http://goo.gl/JMKKCS
http://goo.gl/wluji0

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First modern Olympic Games - Video Olimpiadi Invernali

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First modern Olympic Games video Google celebrates the 120th anniversary of the first modern olympic games. On April 6, 1896, the Olympic Games, a long-lost tradition of ancient Greece, are reborn in Athens 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

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First place winners were awarded a silver medal, an olive branch and a diploma. Those in second place were given a copper medal, a branch of laurel and a diploma.

The obverse side of the medal has Zeus' face along with his hand holding a globe with the winged victory on it, with the caption in Greek "Olympia". The reverse side had the Acropolis site with the caption in Greek "International Olympic Games in Athens in 1896."

No official poster was made for the 1896 Olympic Games, but the cover page of the official report is often used to refer to the Games of the I Olympiad. The inscription "776-1896", like the drawing as a whole: the Olympic stadium in a newly designed horseshoe shape, the Acropolis, the girl personifying the goddess Athena and presenting the branch of wild olive intended for the victor, mark the bond between the Games of Antiquity and the first Games of the modern era.

The official report of the Athens 1896 Olympic Games consisted of two parts: "The Olympic Games in Ancient Times", published before the Games, and "The Olympic Games in 1896", published after the Games. Pierre de Coubertin was the co-author. The two volumes were published in four languages in the form of two bilingual editions, French-Greek and English-German. This official report was the subject of various new editions, the first one in 1941.

Athens 1896

The Official Report of the Athens 1896 Olympic Games consisted of two parts: "The Olympic Games in Ancient Times", published before the Games, and "The Olympic Games in 1896", published after the Games. Pierre de Coubertin was the co-author. The two volumes were published in four languages in the form of two bilingual editions, French-Greek and English-German. This official report was the subject of various new editions, the first one in 1941.

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First place winners were awarded a silver medal, an olive branch and a diploma. Those in second place were given a copper medal, a branch of laurel and a diploma. The obverse side of the medal has Zeus' face along with his hand holding a globe with the winged victory on it, with the caption in Greek "Olympia".

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Top 6 Differences Between the Ancient and Modern Olympics

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History of the Olympics | National Geographic

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From boxing contests with no weight classifications or point scoring to chariot racing where danger lurked on every corner, it is easy to see why the Ancient Games enthralled the Greeks for so long. Here, we give you the essential lowdown, highlight our favourite facts.

Full of blood, passion and extraordinary feats of athletic endeavour, the Olympic Games were the sporting, social and cultural highlight of the Ancient Greek calendar for almost 12 centuries.

"It is hard for us to exaggerate how important the Olympics were for the Greeks," Paul Christesen, Professor of Ancient Greek History at Dartmouth College, USA, said.

"The classic example is that when the Persians invaded Greece in the summer of 480 (BC) a lot of the Greek city states agreed that they would put together an allied army but they had a very hard time getting one together because so many people wanted to go to the Olympics. So, they actually had to delay putting the army together to defend the country against the Persians."

The threat of invasion or not, the Games took place every four years from 776BC to at least 393AD. All free Greek males were allowed to take part, from farmhands to royal heirs, although the majority of Olympians were soldiers. Women could not compete or even attend. There was, however, a loophole to this misogynistic rule - chariot owners, not riders, were declared Olympic champions and anyone could own a chariot. Kyniska, daughter of a Spartan king, took advantage of this, claiming victory wreaths in 396BC and 392BC.

At their heart, the Games were a religious festival and a good excuse for Greeks from all over the Mediterranean basin to gather for a riotous barbeque. On the middle day of the festival a vast number of cows were slaughtered in honour of Zeus, King of the Greek Gods - once he had been given a small taste, the rest was for the people.

For the first 250-plus years all the action took place in the sanctuary of Olympia, situated in the north-western Peloponnese. Pock-marked by olive trees, from which the victory wreaths were cut, and featuring an altar to Zeus, it was a hugely sacred spot.

The Games lasted a full five days by the fifth century BC and saw running, jumping and throwing events plus boxing, wrestling, pankration and chariot racing. At least 40,000 spectators would have packed the stadium each day at the height of the Games' popularity, in the second century AD, with many more selling their wares outside.

But first, here are our 10 favourite facts to get you started:

All athletes competed naked

Wrestlers and pankration (a sort of mixed martial art which combined boxing and wrestling) competitors fought covered in oil

Corporal punishment awaited those guilty of a false start on the track

There were only two rules in the pankration - no biting and no gouging

Boxers were urged to avoid attacking the on-display male genitals

There were no points, no time limits and no weight classifications in the boxing

Athletes in the combat sports had to indicate their surrender by raising their index fingers - at times they died before they could do this

Boxers who could not be separated could opt for klimax, a system whereby one fighter was granted a free hit and then vice-versa - a toss of a coin decided who went first

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The first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to Olympia in 776 BC. Full passion and extraordinary feats of athletic endeavour, the Olympic Games were the sporting, social and cultural highlight of the Ancient Greek calendar for almost 12 centuries.

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Kids take a quiz or webquest on the Ancient Greece. Practice problems online test and history questions for students.

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Greece is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. With over sixty inhabited islands, historic sites that span four millennia, idyllic beaches and towering mountain ranges there is a wide variety of tourist attractions in Greece to explore. And despite the debt crisis with credit downgrades and protest by day, Greece as a travel destination is as popular as it has ever been.

See also

Mount Athos is a mountain and a peninsula in northern Greece. The peninsula, the easternmost "leg" of the larger Halkidiki peninsula houses some 1,400 monks in 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries. An autonomous state under Greek sovereignty, entry into Mount Athos is strictly controlled and only males are allowed entrance.

flickr/domestictimes

Situated near ancient Sparta, Mystras served as the capital of the Peloponnesus in the 14th and 15th centuries, ruled by relatives of the Byzantine emperor. The site remained inhabited throughout the Ottoman period but was abandoned in 1832, leaving only the breathtaking medieval ruins, standing in a beautiful landscape.

Lindos is a medieval village on the island of Rhodes that is made up of a network of cobbled streets amid whitewashed houses. Above the town rises the acropolis of Lindos, offering spectacular views of the surrounding harbors and coastline. Lindos beach and Saint Pauls beach are only a short distance from the town center.

The Samariá Gorge is a 16 km (10 miles) long canyon in southwest Crete. Walking the Samariá Gorge is extremely popular and more than a quarter million tourists do so each year. The walk takes 4 to 7 hours and passes through forests of ancient cypresses and pines, then cuts between vertical cliffs through the mountains to emerge at Agia Roumeli on the Libyan sea.

Located in the north-west of Kefalonia, Myrtos Beach is world-famous for the magical colors of the water. The blue and turquoise colors of the sea contrast sharply with the bright white of the smooth marble pebbles of the beach. The steep mountains and tall cliffs behind Myrtos beach only add to its beauty. For all these reasons Myrtos has previously been voted 12 times as the best beach in Greece.

flickr/Josh Clark

In ancient times Delphi was the most important site in ancient Greek religion, home to the sanctuary and oracle of Apollo. The ancient theatre of Delphi was built on a hill giving spectators a view of the entire sanctuary and the spectacular landscape below. It was originally built in the 4th and could seat 5,000 spectators. Today it is one of the top tourist attractions in Greece.

Metéora ("suspended in the air") in central Greece is a collection of six monasteries spectacular situated on top of several rock pillars. The first monastery in Metéora was founded in the 14th century. Access to the monasteries was deliberately difficult, requiring either long ladders or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith - the ropes were replaced only "when the Lord let them break".

Read more: Meteora Monasteries

Mykonos is famed as a cosmopolitan destination amongst the Greek islands and widely recognized as one of the best tourist attractions in Greece. Mykonos Town (Chora) is a stunningly picturesque Cycladic town with a maze of tiny streets and whitewashed steps lanes. It is also known for its sandy beaches and diverse and intense nightlife as evidenced by a vast number of bars and nightclubs.

Read more: Top Mykonos Attractions

dreamstime/© Jim Roberts

The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis is one of the most famous Greece tourist attractions and a visit to Athens is not complete without visiting this temple. The construction of the Parthenon started in 447 BC, replacing and older temple that was destroyed by the Persians, and completed in 432 BC. During its long life the Parthenon has served as a temple, fortress, a church, a mosque and even as a powder magazine.

Santorini is a volcanic island in the Cyclades group of the Greek islands. It is famous for its dramatic views, stunning sunsets, the white-washed houses, and its very own active volcano. Fira, the capital of Santorini, is a marriage of Venetian and Cycladic architecture, whose white cobblestone streets bustle with shops, tavernas, hotels and cafes, while clinging on the edge of the 400 meter (1,300 ft) high cliffs.

Read more: Santorini Attractions

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Greece is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. With over sixty inhabited islands, historic sites that span four millennia, idyllic beaches and towering mountain ranges there is a wide variety of tourist attractions in Greece to explore. And despite the debt crisis with credit d

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Greek Mythology Creation Story Explained in 8 Minutes (Animation)

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Athens and Sparta...in five minutes or less

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Food in Greece , Traditional Greek Food, Typical Greek Menus, Greek Cuisine, Greek meals in Rhodes Island , Greek food recipes, Greek Gastronomy of Rhodes, Rhodes tours

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Food of Greece, Traditional Greek Food, Typical Greek Menus, Greek Cuisine, Greek meals in Rhodes Island, Greek food recipes, Greek Gastronomy of Rhodes, Rhodes tours

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A day in the Life of an Ancient Athenian

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A day in the Life of an Ancient Athenian

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A day in the life of an ancient Athenian - Robert Garland

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Greek religion, religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Hellenes. Greek religion is not the same as Greek mythology, which is concerned with traditional tales, though the two are closely interlinked. Curiously, for a people so religiously minded, the Greeks had no word for religion itself; the nearest terms were eusebeia ("piety") and threskeia ("cult").

Although its origins may be traced to the remotest eras, Greek religion in its developed form lasted more than a thousand years, from the time of Homer (probably 9th or 8th century bce) to the reign of the emperor Julian (4th century ce). During that period its influence spread as far west as Spain, east to the Indus River, and throughout the Mediterranean world. Its effect was most marked on the Romans, who identified their deities with those of the Greeks. Under Christianity, Greek heroes and even deities survived as saints, while the rival madonnas of southern European communities reflected the independence of local cults. The rediscovery of Greek literature during the Renaissance and, above all, the novel perfection of Classical sculpture produced a revolution in taste that had far-reaching effects on Christian religious art. The most-striking characteristic of Greek religion was the belief in a multiplicity of anthropomorphic deities under one supreme god. Priests simply looked after cults; they did not constitute a clergy, and there were no sacred books.

The sole requirements for the Greeks were to believe that the gods existed and to perform ritual and sacrifice, through which the gods received their due. To deny the existence of a deity was to risk reprisals, from the deity or from other mortals. The list of avowed atheists is brief. But if a Greek went through the motions of piety, he risked little, since no attempt was made to enforce orthodoxy, a religious concept almost incomprehensible to the Greeks. The large corpus of myths concerned with gods, heroes, and rituals embodied the worldview of Greek religion and remains its legacy. ( See Greek mythology.) It should be noted that the myths varied over time and that, within limits, a writer-e.g., a Greek tragedian-could alter a myth by changing not only the role played by the gods in it but also the evaluation of the gods' actions.

From the later 6th century bce onward, myths and gods were subject to rational criticism on ethical or other grounds. In those circumstances it is easy to overlook the fact that most Greeks "believed" in their gods in roughly the modern sense of the term and that they prayed in a time of crisis not merely to the "relevant" deity but to any deity on whose aid they had established a claim by sacrifice. To that end, each Greek polis had a series of public festivals throughout the year that were intended to ensure the aid of all the gods who were thus honoured. They reminded the gods of services rendered and asked for a quid pro quo. Particularly during times of crises, the Greeks, like the Romans, were often willing to petition deities borrowed from other cultures.

History

The roots of Greek religion

The study of a religion's history includes the study of the history of those who espoused it, together with their spiritual, ethical, political, and intellectual experiences. Greek religion as it is currently understood probably resulted from the mingling of religious beliefs and practices between the incoming Greek-speaking peoples who arrived from the north during the 2nd millennium bce and the indigenous inhabitants whom they called Pelasgi. The incomers' pantheon was headed by the Indo-European sky god variously known as Zeus (Greek), Dyaus (Indian), or Jupiter (Roman). But there was also a Cretan sky god, whose birth and death were celebrated in rituals and myths quite different from those of the incomers. The incomers applied the name of Zeus to his Cretan counterpart. In addition, there was a tendency, fostered but not necessarily originated by Homer and Hesiod, for major Greek deities to be given a home on Mount Olympus. Once established there in a conspicuous position, the Olympians came to be identified with local deities and to be assigned as consorts to the local god or goddess.

An unintended consequence (since the Greeks were monogamous) was that Zeus in particular became markedly polygamous. (Zeus already had a consort when he arrived in the Greek world and took Hera, herself a major goddess in Argos, as another.) Hesiod used-or sometimes invented-the family links among the deities, traced out over several generations, to explain the origin and present condition of the universe. At some date, Zeus and other deities were identified locally with heroes and heroines from the Homeric poems and called by such names as Zeus Agamemnon. The Pelasgian and the Greek strands of the religion of the Greeks can sometimes be disentangled, but the view held by some scholars that any belief related to fertility must be Pelasgian, on the grounds that the Pelasgi were agriculturalists while the Greeks were nomadic pastoralists and warriors, seems somewhat simplistic. Pastoralists and warriors certainly require fertility in their herds-not to mention in their own number.

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Greek religion | Beliefs, History, & Facts

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Greek religion, the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Hellenes.

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Facts about Ancient Greece for kids | National Geographic Kids

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Join us here at National Geographic Kids as we travel thousands of years back in time to discover ten fascinating facts about Ancient Greece…

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Ancient Greece for Kids | History Learning Video

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Greece has the longest coastline in Europe and is the southernmost country in Europe.

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Learn how and why the Olympic Games began in Greece. Find out about the truce for the sacred games with this Bitesize History guide.