The First Olympics
The early Greek games were not as pristine as we like to imagine
Amid fears that terrorists will mount an attack at this summer's Athens Olympics, it's tempting to take solace in visions of the earliest games as a more innocent and civilized gathering. After all, isn't Greece, the cradle of western civilization, promoting a worldwide cease-fire during the 2004 games, just like the Olympic Truce of ancient times?
Not quite, says a group of scholars and authors who are taking a closer look at ancient texts and art and other archaeological artifacts, and puncturing cherished myths about the original games. To be sure, Greek cities generally granted travelers safe passage to and from the competitions. But many continued warring even as their athletes competed in the hallowed stadium at Olympia. Once, an army even invaded Olympia's Sacred Grove in the middle of a wrestling match, while spectators critiqued soldiers' martial skills from the sidelines.
Indeed, almost every dewy-eyed notion about the ancient games is shriveling in the light of the revisionist scholarship. The Greeks' high-minded athletics were all about agility, speed, and coordination--right? Hardly. Two of the most popular events at the ancient games were the four-horse chariot race--which often ended in gory pileups--and a ferocious, no-holds-barred brawl known as the pankration . The ancient Olympians were highborn amateurs who competed for the pure love of sport, their sole prize a crown of olive leaves? Not at all. Indeed, Greek athletes trained hard under highly paid coaches and reaped rewards ranging from tax breaks to huge cash prizes. "All the vices of our modern games," writes Tony Perrottet in his new book The Naked Olympics, "were present at their birth."
Spectators. In this post-9/11 world, attending the Olympics is not for the risk-averse. But that's not new, scholars say. In ancient times, spectators had to be not just adventurous but in robust health. While some fortunate sports fans took boats to the games, most walked to Olympia in the blistering late summer heat, over steep trails and roads snaking through the mountains of Arkadia.
Arriving travelers found few amenities. According to Perrottet, Olympia had only one inn, which was reserved for dignitaries, so spectators slept under the stars or in makeshift tents. Sports fans had to use nearby pine forests and dry riverbeds as latrines because there were no toilets until A.D. 150. The air was hazy with the smoke from thousands of cooking fires lit morning and night. And water was in short supply. Archaeologists have excavated nine wells. Still, water had to be hauled in by mules throughout the five-day extravaganza, and physicians were kept busy caring for those who had collapsed from heatstroke.
Despite the creature discomforts, the games were wildly popular, with between 40,000 and 70,000 celebrants arriving from all over the Mediterranean world. Most were men, although some had young, unmarried daughters in tow, perhaps to broaden their marriage prospects. Married women were strictly forbidden; host city Elis even had a law stating that any matron who dared attend would be thrown off a nearby cliff. Why the ban? It was surely easier for the men to carouse with their women out of the way. And carouse they did, with prostitutes of both sexes at lavish, nightly feasts. But perhaps they also weren't pleased at the prospect of their wives' drooling over the athletes who, unlike today's Olympians, competed entirely in the nude.
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