Olympics_of_Ancient_Greece_vs_Modern_Olympics

OLYMPICS OF ANCIENT GREECE VS MODERN OLYMPICS The Olympic Games were found by Heracles, a Zeus’ son, even though the first with written records was held in 776 BCE. In this particular recorded first Olympic Games, Coroebus who was a cook from Elis won the sole event at the stade; which was approximately 192 meters run. He did this while naked and he was the first Olympic champion in history. The games continued to be played every four years for about 1200 years. The games were later abolished in 393 CE, by the Roman emperor named Theodosius I, who was a Christian, on the claim that the game had pagan influences. About 1500 years later, Pierre de Coubertin, a young Frenchman began the revival of these games. When in 1870 the French were defeated by the Germans in the Franco-Prussian war, Coubertin attributed the defeat to French soldiers’ lack of vigor. He studied the education of the two countries and he concluded that exercise and more specifically sports had made the Germans more vigorous and well rounded. His Idea of getting the French people interested in sport was not importantly received, but still Coubertin was persistant.In 1890, he founded Union des societies Francaises de sports Athletiques (USFSA).In 1892, he first raised the idea of reviving the Olympic Games. Later, he organized a meeting with 79 delegates representing their countries. At the meeting, he spoke and arouse interest of the revival of the games and the delegates voted for the Olympic games and they had Coubertin construct an international committee to organize the games. The committee became the International Olympic Committee with Demetrious Vikelas, a Greek, as its first president. The revival was at Athens. There exists similarities as well as differences between Ancient and modern Olympics. In both, they have games like Javelin, Wrestling and Discuss. Events like races are there in both. Both were held after four years. In both, the winner gets an award that is not in monetary form. In both, athletes swear to play fairly. In ancient Olympic Games, the opening ceremonies were different to that of modern day. In the ancient, Festival of Heraia, Zeus wife was held. The festival was simple and continued throughout the games. In modern day Olympic opening ceremony, big ceremonies marked with famous performing artists singing and dancing, fireworks being lit and amazing costumes worn are seen. The ceremonies are also a commercial platform for organizations to market their brands. The sport of boxing, added in the 23rd Olympic Games, was very different to that of modern day. The competitors wore leather strips about their palms. It took place in open space and the fighters were not categorized in their weights. The punches were aimed for the body and there were no rounds as they were to fight until one fighter couldn’t fight back. A climax was asked for by the judge incase the fight continued for a long period. This was to bring a faster end to the match. At such time, punches were exchanged and the defender couldn’t protect himself. “Soon weight divisions, international championships and regulated point scoring systems would be introduced” (Spivey 29). What is still same is that in both, it’s a one on one competition with a judge overseeing the bout. Even though the modern wrestling is as a result of evolving of the original Greek sport that of today is much different. In the ancient wrestling, two forms existed. There was the upright wrestling during which the combatants stood upright and the winner was the one who threw the other down to earth. It displayed skill rather than force. A loser was the one whose knees, shoulders or back touched the ground. The similarity with modern day wrestling is that illegal moves such as arm twisting or hitting weren’t allowed. In the ancient games, the athletes trained for a period of ten months and a ten member crew assessed them. In modern games, the athletes train throughout their athlete’s lives and drug tests are taken before the competition commence. The difference that exists is that in the ancient Greek Olympics, only ten sports that consisted of four running races, pentathlon, equestrian racing, wrestling, boxing, pancratium and chariot races were present but in present day Olympics, there are more;triathlon,fencing,volleyball,gymnastics and many more apart from panctratium and chariot races which have been excluded. In pancration; a combination of boxing and wrestling, there were hardly any rules in the fight. Dislocating the opponents’ joints, gouging of the eyes and biting were allowed. Some athletes would not survive this contest. In the chariot races, a chariot with four horses would race 24 times around two poles at either end of rectangle area twice the length of the stadium. There was no direction given for the contestant to follow. The sport needed neither endurance nor strength. In the ancient Greek Olyimpics, only the male of Greek origin were allowed to compete against each other in the ten different sports. They did this while naked and they prayed to Hermes for speed. Women did not compete and were denied to watch the games, as the defiant woman would be killed if caught. In today’s competitions people from different nations compete in various sports and they wear uniforms which represent their countries flag color. Women are allowed to compete and also watch the games. In the ancient Olympic Games, the athletes were awarded wreath of olive leaves and these were worn on the head. They were also awarded a branch that was cut off from a wild olive tree using a golden handled knife. The winner would then give thanks publicly to Zeus and the gods would favor the athlete’s town. In today’s games, athletes are awarded gold, silver and bronze for the first, second and third winner respectively. They also get fame as they go on to magazines, commercials and also act in movies. Olympics have evolved over the centuries with requirements, frequency and the sports involved undergoing significant change from the first record which was held in Olympia, Greece in 776 B.C.E. Ancient time games were held after every four years during summer and the location was the same. Nowadays, Olympics are usually held in different locations everytime.There exists winter and summer Olympics which occur every four years and aren’t held in the same year. Winter Olympics are held two years after the summer Olympics are held and these continues on and on. The winter Olympics today have included sports such as skiing, bobsledding and figure skating. Not to erase the ancient Olympics, a torch is lit at Olympia to symbolize the ancient Olympic Games.”The torch and the Olympic Flame are a major feature of the ceremonial of the modern Olympic Games” (Toohey 63). Various participants in the games carry the torch throughout the host country till they reach the main stadium. Apart from the main differences above, there is still great resemblance between the ancient and the modern games. Works Cited Newby, Zahra. Greek Athletics in the Roman World: Victory and Virtue. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Spivey, Nigel J. The Ancient Olympics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print. Olympic Games 2nd Edition: A Social Science Perspective. S.l: Cabi Publishings, 2005. Print.