Ancient Olympic Games - Sources & Links

by

Harvey Abrams, BS, MAT, Ph.d/abd.

1. INTRODUCTION

The ancient Olympic Games are so old that even the ancient Greeks didn't know how they started. The origins of the ancient Games are steeped in legend and myth. Different versions of the origins of the Games were described by ancient writers such as Pindar, Strabo, Phlegon, Pausanius and Eusebius.

Of course all of these writers came many years after the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY were written by an ancient Greek writer named Homer. There is no evidence to date Homer's works, but they appear to be from the period of the 10th to the 6th centuries BCE. In fact, there is no evidence that shows Homer was the writer and it is possible that these works were written by more than one person.

Remember -- what we know today is only a mere fraction of what happened 3,000 years ago. Think about your own history -- what happened on the day you were born? What evidence exists to prove it? Your birth certificate? Your parents told you about it? Was there a newspaper article written about your birth? Did you talk to any doctors or nurses who were there?

So in studying the past -- even your own past -- how can you find out what happened? There has to be something to look at, or someone to talk to (witnesses). So how could we possibly know anything about the Greeks who lived 3000 years ago?

Some of our knowledge is based on ancient writings (the literary evidence), ancient sites & ruins, vases & pottery (the archeological evidence) and stone carvings and reliefs (the epigraphical evidence). The material is scattered all over the world and can be found in museums, libraries and archeological sites. The world wide web can help you in finding some, even much of the material. But a trip to the library is still in your best interest. Don't be too lazy to read a book! Learn another language, such as Greek or Latin! At the very least learn the words that are related to the Olympic Games and sports. Learn how to do research. Ask good questions about the "sources of information." The web will not answer all your questions, but it can help a lot. Just do NOT depend upon it for everything!

Created on October 29, 2000
Updated on February 20, 2008
These pages are dedicated to K & A.

2. The Ancient Olympic Games -- 776 BCE to 393 CE

The origins of the Olympic Games are unknown, but they may have started as early as the 14th century BCE. The stories of funeral Games (celebrations in honor of a dead king or warrior) come to us from Homer's works -- the Iliad and the Odyssey. He wrote about the Trojan War, which historians date approximately 1193-83 BCE.

Many ancient writers used Homer's works along with others, which have been lost since ancient times. Ancient Greek and Roman writers offered different versions of the origins of the Olympics. Some ancient writers attempted to recreate actual dates. For example, Eusebius of Caesarea wrote his CHRONOLOGY circa 324 CE. That's the 4th century after Christ -- over 1,000 years after the ancient Games began. He recreated the Olympic Register of Victors (winner's lists) from 776 BCE to 217 CE, the 1st through the 249th Olympiads. His work was based on the work of Sextus Julius Africanus who wrote a century earlier. But this "book" was lost in ancient times and we only know that it existed because translations of chapters exist in other languages -- the entire "book" in its original Greek languages does not exist.

But these Roman era writers were actually latecomers. The ancient Greeks had attempted to get their Olympic records straight for centuries. The records of the ancient Games were first recreated in the 5th century BCE by Hippias of Elis and a century later revised by Aristotle. These works are known only because later writers referred to them - no copies have survived for us to examine. What happened to them? Unfortunately all the libraries that existed in ancient times had fires -- and all the papyrus scrolls that filled the shelves burned to ash. Much of ancient history has been lost forever because these fires destroyed the few copies of writings that existed.

Our knowledge of the ancient Olympics is fragmentary and based on a tiny portion of literary evidence that has survived -- perhaps 10% has survived. When the Romans conquered the ancient world -- including Greece, they translated Greek works into Latin. Sometimes the new "books" had both the Greek and Latin for the reader. some works were translated by early christians into other languages such as Armenian.

Much of what we know is based on an incredible Guidebook to Greece written by Pausanius in the 2nd century CE. He went to Olympia, described all the statues that decorated the site and interviewed the officials who worked there. His work, written in Latin, has been translated into English and you can buy this paperback in most bookstores today. You should have a copy in your school library and use it as a "primary source" of information. But remember this -- The Olympic Games were already over 900 years old when Pausanius wrote his book -- and that was 1,800 years ago!

Because archeologists are always finding new caches of evidence, it is still possible that someday we will find papyrus scrolls in vases which shed more light on the ancient Olympic Games. That will be very exciting.

Here is a brief list of some ancient writers you can use in your research:

Homer, 10th - 6th century BCE (Iliad, Odyssey)
Pindar, 518? - 446 BCE (Odes)
Hippias of Elis, 5th century BCE (works lost)
Aristotle, 4th century BCE
Strabo, 63 BCE - 21 CE (Geography)
Phlegon of Tralles, circa 138 CE
Pausanius, 174 CE (Guide to Greece)
Pausanius wrote his book in the 2nd century CE and it was first "printed" as a book in modern times in 1516 in Latin. Another edition was printed in 1583. It was translated by scholars into English in the late 1890's and is available today in a paperback edition. Look in any good bookstore for a copy.
Sextus Julius Africanus, 3rd century CE
Eusebius of Caesarea, circa 324 CE (Chronology)

3. LINKS to Ancient Olympic studies

4. Commentary

There are now hundreds of links on the web about the ancient Olympic Games because in 2004 Athens (Greece) hosted the Olympic Games. With the modern Games returning to Greece the interest in the ancient Greek Olympic Games grew to an all time high in my academic career. I have looked at many of these sites and there are so many errors being repeated due to lack of scholarship that you need to be very careful what you use for your own research. Much of what has been written has repeated errors in scholarship from previous books. Other errors are intended to re-write history based upon the personal bias of the writers -- especially Greek writers.

• For example -- if a site says that the Olympic Games started in 776 BCE -- it is wrong. The first Olympic champion -- whose name is known -- can be traced to 776 BCE -- and therefore the ancient writers used this date as the 1st Olympic Games and numbered later Games from that date. But this is because there were no known "winner's lists" for over 100 years before the Greeks started keeping written records -- which were later lost or destroyed in fires.
  

• Almost no site understands the ancient Olympic "truce." If the site tells you that all wars came to an end or that "all hostilities ceased" -- it is not true. The Olympic "truce" merely allowed travelers to go to the Games at Olympia -- to walk through Greece without being murdered or robbed -- because the traveler was protected by "Zeus" -- the Greek god. Wars did not come to an end.
  

• If a site mentions the "amateur ethic" of ancient athletes -- it is not true. "Amateurism" was a 19th century British idea. The ancient athletes were almost all professionals and earned huge sums of money and lots of glory for their victories. In the modern Olympic Games the concept of amateurism existed until recently. Today, professional athletes do compete in several Olympic sports such as basketball.
  

• Some sites will tell you that the Olympic Games returned to their home in Athens in 2004. This is very misleading and wrong. The ancient Olympic Games were never held in Athens. The ancient Olympic Games were in Olympia, Greece, far away from Athens. However, the modern Olympic Games were in Athens in 1896 and again in 1906. In 2004 Athens hosted the Olympic Games for the third time -- the only city ever to host three modern Olympic Games. (Paris has hosted the Olympic Games twice, in 1900 and 1924. Los Angeles has also hosted the Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984).
  

• The ancient Games were not unlike the modern Games -- there was cheating, bribery, corruption and intense "nationalistic" competition -- in addition to religious festivities and sacrifices, poetry and art, and incredibly talented athletic competition in a variety of sports.
  

But don't forget the best sources -- your local LIBRARY and the professional LIBRARIAN who can help you find quality material for your project.

Go back to my front page on Olympic History
Olympic Games History Page

Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 Harvey Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the expressed written permission of the author. Or the wrath of Zeus will be upon you.