Download or read book The Crown Games of Ancient Greece written by David Lunt and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2022-04-22 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Crown Games were the apex of competition in ancient Greece. Along with prestigious athletic contests in honor of Zeus at Olympia, they comprised the Pythian Games for Apollo at Delphi, the Isthmian Games for Poseidon, and the Nemean Games, sacred to Zeus. For over nine hundred years, the Greeks celebrated these athletic and religious festivals, a rare point of cultural unity amid the fierce regional independence of the numerous Greek city-states and kingdoms. The Crown Games of Ancient Greece examines these festivals in the context of the ancient Greek world, a vast and sprawling cultural region that stretched from modern Spain to the Black Sea and North Africa. Illuminating the unique history and features of the celebrations, David Lunt delves into the development of the contest sites as sanctuaries and the Panhellenic competitions that gave them their distinctive character. While literary sources have long been the mainstay for understanding the evolution of the Crown Games and ancient Greek athletics, archaeological excavations have significantly augmented contemporary understandings of the events. Drawing on this research, Lunt brings deeper context to these gatherings, which were not only athletics competitions but also occasions for musical contests, dramatic performances, religious ceremonies, and diplomatic summits—as well as raucous partying. Taken as a circuit, the Crown Games offer a more nuanced view of ancient Greek culture than do the well-known Olympian Games on their own. With this comprehensive examination of the Crown Games, Lunt provides a new perspective on how the ancient Greeks competed and collaborated both as individuals and as city-states.
Download or read book Ancient Greek Athletics written by Stephen Gaylord Miller and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting a survey of sports in ancient Greece, this work describes ancient sporting events and games. It considers the role of women and amateurs in ancient athletics, and explores the impact of these games on art, literature and politics.
Download or read book The Victor s Crown written by David Potter and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2012 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details the role of sports in the classical world from early Greece through the late Roman and early Byzantine empires.
Download or read book The Ancient Olympic Games written by Charles River Editors and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-03-13 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures. *Includes ancient accounts about the Games. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."- Epictetus "Many are the sights to be seen in Greece, and many are the wonders to be heard; but on nothing does Heaven bestow more care than on the Eleusinian rites and the Olympic games." - Pausanias While they are still well-known, the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece are more relevant today than most people know, and the ways in which athletic sports pervade contemporary culture is comparable only to the spirit of athleticism in Hellenic Greece. Today, a large section of the media industry is devoted exclusively to sports, and in some nations, sports even figures as a critical component of their identity. In America, the Super Bowl could be considered a holiday of sorts, and of course, today's Olympic Games capture the attention of millions and millions of people around the world for two weeks. The Ancient Olympic Games were all these things and then some. It was a ritualized spectacle of great cultural importance in Greece, as well as an international communion that celebrated both diversity and unity, but most importantly, it was an ode to the strength of the human body and a paean to the vigor of the human spirit. For over a thousand years, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD, competitors and spectators traveled from all over Europe and Asia Minor to attend the legendary contests, bringing with them not only their passion for athletics but also their poetry, music, arts, and ideas. The ancient historian Strabo captured the spirit well when he described the Olympics: ..". the glory of the temple persisted ... on account both of the festal assembly and of the Olympian Games, in which the prize was a crown and which were regarded as sacred, the greatest games in the world. The temple was adorned by its numerous offerings, which were dedicated there from all parts of Greece." Despite their international character, the Ancient Olympic Games belonged exclusively to the Greeks, even though prior to Alexander the Great, Ancient Greece consisted mostly of small city-states that warred constantly with each other. The Olympic Games served to assemble them and allow them to appreciate the commonality of their customs, gods, language, and other cultural characteristics, the very things that made them Greek. The historian Pausanias explained just how important the games were to the Greeks and their sense of pride by discussing one of the Olympics' best athletes: "Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans." The Ancient Olympic Games: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Sports Competitions examines the origins of the games, highlights the competitions, and looks at the history and legacy of the events that spawned today's modern Olympics. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Ancient Olympics like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece written by Waldo E. Sweet and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1987-10-29 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aimed at readers of all levels--from student to classics buff to serious scholars--this sourcebook looks at sport and recreation in ancient Greece through translated accounts of ancient Greek and Latin authors. It examines such diversions as the ancient Olympic Games, athletic clothing, women in sports, dining, dancing, and fishing. Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece offers a wide range of topics geared to students' interests, new translations into readable English that facilitate their introduction to the subject, and a rich assortment of illustrations. The questions following each translation help students understand the passages, while the presentation of contradictory evidence challenges them to evaluate different points of view, both in the study of ancient culture and in their own daily lives. Successfully tested in college classrooms for a ten years, this book provides an excellent springboard for the study of ancient Greek history, classical literature, or sports history.
Download or read book The Ancient Olympics written by Nigel Spivey and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-06-14 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The word 'athletics' is derived from the Greek verb 'to struggle for a prize'. After reading this book, no one will see the Olympics as a graceful display of Greek beauty again, but as war by other means. Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were - fierce contests between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were not an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield.
Download or read book Helen of Troy written by Margaret George and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-08-03 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed author Margaret George tells the story of the legendary Greek woman whose face "launched a thousand ships" in this New York Times bestseller. The Trojan War, fought nearly twelve hundred years before the birth of Christ, and recounted in Homer's Iliad, continues to haunt us because of its origins: one woman's beauty, a visiting prince's passion, and a love that ended in tragedy. Laden with doom, yet surprising in its moments of innocence and beauty, Helen of Troy is an exquisite page-turner with a cast of irresistible, legendary characters—Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Menelaus, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, as well as Helen and Paris themselves. With a wealth of material that reproduces the Age of Bronze in all its glory, it brings to life a war that we have all learned about but never before experienced.
Download or read book The Ancient Greek Olympics written by Richard Woff and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the history, traditions, and competitive events connected with the Olympic games held in ancient Greece.
Download or read book Ancient Olympic Games written by Haydn Middleton and published by Heinemann-Raintree Library. This book was released on 2008 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What did Nike mean to the ancient Greeks? Which Roman emperor won Olympic prizes for singing and acting? Who became the first Olympic champion? Find the answers to these questions and more as you read about the early Games, from ancient Greece through the Roman Empire.
Download or read book Sport and Society in Ancient Greece written by Mark Golden and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-09-10 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sport and Society in Ancient Greece provides a concise and readable introduction to ancient Greek sport. It covers such topics as the links between sport, religion and warfare, the origins and history of the Olympic games, and the spirit of competition among the Greeks. Its main focus, however, is on Greek sport as an arena for the creation and expression of difference among individuals and groups. Sport not only identified winners and losers. It also drew boundaries between groups (Greeks and barbarians, boys and men, males and females) and offered a field for debate on the relative worth of athletic and equestrian competition. The book includes guides to the ancient evidence and to modern scholarship on the subject.
Download or read book The Pan Hellenic Games in Ancient Greece written by Charles River and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-19 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes excerpts of ancient accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."- Epictetus "Many are the sights to be seen in Greece, and many are the wonders to be heard; but on nothing does Heaven bestow more care than on the Eleusinian rites and the Olympic games." - Pausanias The Pan-Hellenic Games is the collective term for the four major sports festivals held in ancient Greece. These include the Olympic Games, held in honor of Zeus at Olympia every four years; the Pythian Games in honor of Apollo, held at Delphi every four years; the Nemean Games, held to celebrate Zeus and Heracles at Nemea near Corinth every two years; and the Isthmian Games, honoring Poseidon at Isthmia every two years. The Olympiad, a period of four years, was one of the main ways the Greeks measured time. The Olympic Games were used as a starting point, effectively year one of the cycle. The Nemean and Isthmian Games were both held in different months in year two, followed by the Pythian Games in year three, and the Nemean and Isthmian Games again in year four. The cycle then repeated itself, with the Olympic Games starting the sequence again. Being structured in this way ensured that individual athletes could participate in all of the games. Competitors came from all over the Greek world, including the Greek colonies, as well as Asia Minor and Spain, and the only main issue seems to be the expense, competitors had to be relatively affluent to afford training, transportation, lodgings, and other costs associated with taking part. Women and non-Greeks were mostly prohibited from participation, except on extremely rare occasions when an exception was made as. Perhaps the most famous was when the Roman Emperor Nero was allowed to participate in the OlympicsThe main events at all of the games were chariot racing, wrestling, boxing, the pankration, the stadion, various other foot races, and the pentathlon. With the exception of the chariot race, all of the events were performed in the nude. While they are still well-known, the Olympic Games of ancient Greece are more relevant today than most people know, and the ways in which athletic sports pervade contemporary culture is comparable only to the spirit of athleticism in Hellenic Greece. Today, a large section of the media industry is devoted exclusively to sports, and in some nations, sports even figures as a critical component of their identity. In America, the Super Bowl could be considered a holiday of sorts, and of course, today's Olympic Games capture the attention of millions and millions of people around the world for two weeks. The Olympic Games were all these things and then some. It was a ritualized spectacle of great cultural importance in Greece, as well as an international communion that celebrated both diversity and unity, but most importantly, it was an ode to the strength of the human body and a paean to the vigor of the human spirit. For over a thousand years, from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE, competitors and spectators traveled from all over Europe and Asia Minor to attend the legendary contests, bringing with them not only their passion for athletics but also their poetry, music, arts, and ideas. The ancient historian Strabo captured the spirit well when he described the Olympics: "[T]he glory of the temple persisted ... on account both of the festal assembly and of the Olympian Games, in which the prize was a crown and which were regarded as sacred, the greatest games in the world. The temple was adorned by its numerous offerings, which were dedicated there from all parts of Greece."
Download or read book Games for the Gods written by John Herrmann and published by MFA Publications. This book was released on 2004 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, proudly presents the original Olympics in all their sweaty, heroic glory. Like today, sports were a vital part of daily life in ancient Greece. "Games for the Gods" unearths the original traditions of athletics, highlighting both the fascinating similarities and the jarring differences between the ancient ways and our own. We might not be used to such Classical customs as associating athletic festivals with certain gods, seeing our athletes compete in the nude, or having them indulge in dirty fighting as accepted practice (then again...), but the excitement of competition, admiration for athletic skill, and adoration of champions--as well as several of the sports--are just as familiar to fans today as they were to the ancients. The Greek Games here come to life in a series of texts that explore the Olympics then and now, the origins of the games and various athletic events, and the ways in which the contests were prepared for and the victors honoured. With stunning illustrations of over 140 sculptures, vases, and coins, as well as photographs of modern athletes, "Games for the Gods" is a unique celebration of the Olympic spirit through the ages.
Download or read book Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece written by Panos Valavanēs and published by J. Paul Getty Museum. This book was released on 2004 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As religious rituals, rites of passage, and celebrations of the body, athletics were deeply woven into the fabric of ancient Greek life. Modeled after physical exercises and competitions that existed in earlier Near Eastern cultures, hundreds of athletic contests were held throughout the ancient Greek world. In the eighth century B.C., the games held at Olympia began to surpass all others in their fame and glory and gave rise to a sporting tradition that engages and enthralls the world to this day. Published to coincide with the return of the Olympics to Greece in 2004, this thoroughly researched book studies sport in ancient Greece over a span of a millennium and a half-from the earliest mentions of athletics in Homer's Iliad and other literary sources, through the Classical age, and into the Hellenistic, Roman, and late antique periods. With more than five hundred illustrations, the book tours the monumental stadiums, bathhouses, temples, and other structures built to host the athletic events and to house the wealth of art created to pay tribute to the athletes, gods, and heroes of the games.
Download or read book Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks written by Edward Marwick Plummer and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Visitor s Guide to the Ancient Olympics written by Neil Faulkner and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essential handbook for the 21st-century citizen seeking a lively guided tour of the ancient Greek Olympics. Travel back to the heyday of the city-state and classical Greek civilization. Enter this distant, alien, but still familiar culture and discover what the Greeks did and didn’t do during five thrilling days in August, 388 B.C. In the Olympic Stadium there were no stands, no shade—and no women allowed. Visitors sat on a grassy bank in the searing heat of midsummer to watch naked athletes compete in footraces, the pentathlon, horse and chariot races, and three combat sports—wrestling, boxing, and pankration, everyone's favorite competition, with virtually no rules and considerable blood and pain. This colorfully illustrated volume offers a complete tour of the Olympic site exactly as athletes and spectators found it. The book evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of the crowded encampment; introduces the various attendees (from champions and charlatans to aristocrats and prostitutes); and explains the numerous exotic religious rituals. Uniquely detailed and precise, this guide offers an unparalleled opportunity to travel in time, back to the excitement of ancient Olympia. “Splendidly captures the excitement, the razzmatazz, the intensity, glamour and squalor of the ancient Olympics. Packed with anecdotes and intriguing facts, the careful scholarship behind this wonderful little book is presented with gusto.”—Philip Matyszak, author of Ancient Athens on Five Drachmas a Day “Ultimately the ancient Olympics were more of an epic frat party full of booze and sex than a prestigious sporting competition, and Faulkner paints that picture well.”—Moira E. McLaughlin, The Washington Post
Download or read book The Ancient Olympic Games written by Judith Swaddling and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over one thousand years between 776 B.C. and A.D. 395, princes, statesmen, and famous athletes gathered every four years at Olympia in western Greece to compete for the olive crowns of the ancient Olympic Games. Judith Swaddling traces the mythological and religious origins of the games and describes the events, religious ceremony, and celebrations that were an essential part of the Olympic festival. The book also features a large, detailed model of the site of ancient Olympia, where, alongside religious and civic buildings, there grew an elaborate sports complex with a stadium for 40,000 spectators, indoor and outdoor training facilities, hot and cold baths, a swimming pool, and a race course. For this revised edition, three new chapters have been added, covering the diet and medical treatment of athletes; sponsorship, patronage, and propaganda; and revivals of the games. Superbly illustrated with vases, sculpture, and other works of ancient art, and with new views of the site, the new edition of this indispensable account of Ancient Olympia and the games now includes color reproduction for over half the illustrations, as well as many additional pictures.
Download or read book Ancient Olympics written by Jackie Gaff and published by Heinemann-Raintree Library. This book was released on 2003 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an overview of how the Olympics began in ancient Greece and a look at each day's festivities.
