THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12484, 21 April 1906, Page 7

THE OLYMPIC GAMES.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT GREEK FESTIVAL. (srKCI.U.I.T WRITTEN 1011 "Till: PRESS.") The Olympic Games, first revived aftiT a lapse of nearly litfoen c<'ntiiric«, id 1 •?.!'<■>. in Athviw, began in tliiit city (intv la ft Monday. The ancient games did lwl, indeed, take place (it Athejii-. Of a cjtKisi-religiou* character, they were held not in Attica. but at Olympia, in El is, soino two him Urorl miles from Athens, iv the pcnint.n.ix which lie-.- to the south ot the Gulf or Corinth. Their influence upon the political anS? social development, ot ancient Greece was paramount. The Greeks were never un:tTlii' ancient Greeks were never united politically sik one nation. Hut there was ever a. spirit of kinship alivo iimoiig-st them. Herodotus telLs us that there, were throo things common to the Gre«>ks which, in spite of their diffrrencru, mndo them to lee I a.s one people: blood relationship or a common descent, common religion and language, and Lastly, similar manners and customs. But tho third of tht-se. rather than the Irast, was tho mast important. Nothing 60 much fostered the I'au-Hel-lenic Kpirit as tho Olympic Games, What at first was a more village bond, bouame, under the patronage of Sparta, tho bond of union for all branches of tho Dorio raoo. ProlMibly no institution excrcLs<xl a greater inflnenoo in. moulding the. national cliaracter, and producing that unique type of physical and intellectual beouty which wo i>eo reflected in Greek art and literature than the public contests of Greece. pood idea of tho extraordinary influcncd which tho games had upon tho ancient Greek* can bo obteinecl from observing tho effect which their resumption had upon modern Greeks in 1806. Tho revival of the festival in that, year drew together multitudes of Greeks from abroad,, and led to a lively awakening of th© national tentimejit, hitherto depressed by the misfortunes of tho Kingdom. A secret society, known as tho Ethniko Hotooria, began to develop prodigious activity, enrolling members from every rank in lifo and establishing branches in all parts of tho Hellenic world. This society has liad a very important Influence upon tho recent political history of Greece.

Tlie games at Olympia, then, were, in historical times, a Pan-Hellenic institution. They were the central expression of tho Greek ideas that the body of man has a glory as well as his intellect and his spirit, and that the body and mind should alike bo disciplined," as the harmonious development of both was the best way in which men could bo honoured to Zeus. The origin of tho games is lost in the mists of antiquity. Pausanias, who wrote in the second century of our era, about a thousand years after the unbroken tradition of the Olympiads began, and to whom wo owe, from his "Description of Greece," most of our knowledge of tlie games, fells the following story: "With regard to tho Olympic games," he says, "tho Elean antiquaries say that Cronus reigned in heaven, and that c temple waa made for him at Olympia by the men of that ago, who were named tlie Golden Race; tliat when Zeus was born, Rhea committed the safe-keeping of the child to tlie Iclsean Dactyls or Curetes, as they are also called j that the Dactyls came from Ida in Crete, and their names were Hercules, Paeonaeus, Epiincdes. Jasius and Idas- and thai': in sport Hercules, as the eldest, set his brethren to run a race, and crowned the victor with a branch of wild olive, of which they had such am abundance that they slept on heaps of its fresh green leaves. . . The Idtean Hercules is therefore reputed to havo been the first to arrange the games, and to have given, them the name Olympic." Various legends were current as' to tlie part taken by the god- in the oanitests. Zeus, it is said, wrestled at Olympia with Crams for his kingdom. Apollo, they relate outran Hermes, and in boxing vanquished Ares, and that is why the flutes played tho Pythian air, while the competitors in tho pent nth him were leaping, because that air was sacred to Apollo, and the god himself had woiii Olympic crowns. Homer contains tho earliest record of Greek games in the twenty-third Iliad, where he relates tho story of these* which took place at the funeral of Patrcchiß.

Whatever may havo been the origin of the games, however, it is certain that the first historical record of tho festival is its revival by Iphitus, King of Elis, who, with tho assistance of Lycurgus, the Spartan law-giver, celebrated the games somewhere between tho yeara 881 B.C. and 828 B.C.—-the authorities are not agreed as to tiho exact date. Hut it was not until 776 8.C., when Goroehis won the foot race, that the unbroken record of Olympiads, or periods ol four years elapsing between .-nicce**wve coVebratdous of the garnet, began to Ik> reckoned, and Timaeus, of Sicily, wiii» the fust writer to arrawge events sy.s-ematicaiiv according to this, the ntest ro.uowr.ed chronological system of the Grecki-. in the third century before our era. Pausnnias gives a complete list of the games played at the Olympian IVs-rival from tti!> Olympiad of Coroebus onward. But let. it l K \ u:ide:>.tcod, these garnet--, of which there are twenty-four, ■were m-vcr all exhibited at one festival. Some fell into disuse, others were cf late importation, when the festival had lirc".>me corrupt and lir.d ceased to prusfKfis the significance which in it*, be? it ♦law characterised it; othe-.s, acain, were o'l.iy introduced to h-» immediate!-,-abolished. Eighteen of the events were f>r men. the other six for boy-,. They were as to'lows:— 1. The Droinos, or foot race, the only contest during tho first tliirtten Olympiads. 2. The diaulos, or foot race in which the stadium was traw:-.-:l twice, introduced in the fourteenth Olympiad. 3. 'Ilie doh'chos, a still longer foot race, fust introduced in the fifteenth Olympiad. 1. Wrestling, introduced in the eighteenth Olympiad. ">. Th.) Pentathlon—iivo exercises, a.s th<* name indicates: leaping, quoitIhmwing. running, wrestling, and jav.-lh-thrnwing. 0. Boxin>g, introduced in the t-.v.*:i,ty-third Olympiad. 7. The chariot race, introduced in the twentytilth Olympiad. 8. The Pancration— l'.iioi.!'_; and wrewt-ling—introduced in the thirty-third Olympiad. 9. The horse rare, intivdnced in the th'rtvthird OS-uq/ad. 10. The foot race for hcys—O;viiii- ad 37. 11. Wres-tliim for bays -Olym pad 37. V 2. Tlr.' Pentathlon lor bov<---01vmpia'.l 'i*. but immediately abol:.-:K:l. I"". Boxing for ley.*-"--o|yinp: ad -! 1. 11. The hv lace in heavy armour, te trail' men lor war— Olympiad (.;.*>. Lj. Tie." chuf.m rate fox mules —Olympiad 70, abolished in

Olympiad 84. 10. The hoove race wirh n.a re.*--Olympiad 84, abolished in Olympiad 8-1. 17. Tlie chariot race with two full-grown horse-.—Oivmpiad V'i. 18. The contest, of Heralds— Olympiad oti. 10. Tlie contest of trumpeter,—Olympiad Oil _0. The chariot face for four teals—Olympiad 00. '21. The chariot race f or two f(':al—Olympiad 1-8. 22. Tho horse race with f».;ii.— Olympiad 131. 23. The Pancratic-a Kr 1> i\s—Olympiad I_. 21. The ho:v*> rue,: for boyo. l-'iom tho above list, and the date. ol the introduction of the various contests, it i.s easy to sec how the fct-uval became more and more one in which only iic)i men could take part, and t> deduce how gradually these noble game.. became degraded until they reached ti.e ignoble level of the Roman Aniphithe'll re. and were dually abolished, after nearly twelve ccntur-et,, by Thoodoius 11.. in the tilth century ol' our era. The only prize awarded to the vis.tor in tho footrace—and he was the hero of the fct-tivu!—was a garland of wi d olive. The garland, I'mdtr tell* u~, was cut with a golden sickle trom tie Kallistephanos. the sacred tree brought by Hercules "'from the dark fountains of Ister, in the land of the Hyperboreans, to be a slicker common to .'ill men. and a crown of noble deeds." The tree was planted on the right, behind the temple of Olympian Zeus, the finest specimen of architecture in Greece, destroyed by Gothic or Christian zeal in the fifth century. Hut if this garland was the only official prize, it would i.c idle to deny that there we r e other rewards of great material value. the heralds proclaimed the name of the victor, his parentage, and hin country. Tho Hellanodicae, or judges, crowned him publicly, and placed in his hand the branch of palm which lueseiis had held. He marched in the sacred revel to tho temple of Zeus, and his friends and admirers showered flowers and costly gifts upon him. His statue iv.i-i erected at Olympia. his name was canonised in the calendar. If he were an Athenian, by the law of Solon. he received 500 drachma? and free, rations for life. If a Spartan, he occupied the place of honour in battle. A Pindar, a Sinionides, or a Euripides sang his praise, a Phidias or a Praxiteles carved his image. During tho festival the truce of God wan proclaimed all over Greece by tlie heralds. Warfare stopped, and saf-.-ty was ensured during tho sacred month. It is related how the Spoitans chew* to risk the liberties of Greece when tho Persians were at the gates of Pylic rather than march during tho holy days. Only puro Hellenes wero allowed to compete, and tho competitors had to swear on oath that they were of pure descent, of unblemished character, and that they had undergone ten months of vigorous training. Laying their hands on the bleeding victim offered in sacrifice to the God, they swore that they were duly qualified, and that they would use no guilo or fraud in the contests. Women wero not admitted to witness tho games. They were not permitted, indeed, under pain of being hurled from Mount Tynaeum, to crows the Aipheus, running try Olympia, during the sacred inoniu. Tho festival ended with processions and sacrifice*., and a banquet was given in the Piytaneium to the victors by the JOleans. Owing to the Pan-Hellenic character of tlie festival, its occurrence afforded in those days tho most favourable opportunity for authors to mako their compositions known. It is said that Herodotus read his history at tho festival, and it is known that the sophist Hippias, tho orator Lytias, and hosts of other authors, adopted this means of publishing their works. There were other games in Greece besides tlie Olynipic, but these overshadowed tho others. The Olympic Games were tho great national and religious festival of the Hellenes.