How Peaceful Were the Olympics Really?

Around 776 B.C.E. the Olympic Games were made to honor the Greek Gods. These games were meant to break the daily term oil on a national scale. These events were betrayed as peaceful but in actuality they were full of politics and power struggle. The games themselves somewhat supported the power and politics craze.

These times were viewed as a scared period of peace. Even if they were at war, a truce would be called in order for the games to take place. The image of the Olympics was far from the actual drama of it. It is filled with games such as 200-yard sprint, mile and a half foot race, discus throw, long jump, wrestling, and boxing. All of these games draw a power sense out from humans in general. This writer first thought was complete shock. People did not complete to claim a certain title or to get paid. They competed to become closer to the Gods and to be treated as a God. Once they won in a certain area, they were given “Gifts” such as amphoras filled with olive oil or garlands consisting of wild olives. Then, this writer thought about the concept of a gift. If a person who only knows that individual from the Olympics as a powerful individual and then gives gifts to that person based solo on that fact. They are basically treating that individual as a God. All of this draws in political aspects. The winners are praised and there praise is passed on to the place they represented in the Olympics. This shows that their country is better and stronger than all of the individuals that represented other countries. Only men were allowed to be in the Olympics which were a political scheme to show that men were stronger and better than woman in many different ways. Women were resilient in the fact that they held the same games that men played in the Olympics just on a less official scale. Games such as wrestling which followed strict rules such as no biting or finger breaking was permitted. They allowed hair pulling and finger bending. This surprised me because despite the constant suppression from men they still found a way around the strict rules of the time. When all events came to an end, it prompted a sense of personal excellence and pride throughout so in fact the Olympics were not about a time of peace at all. This writer thinks it was about showing who the best of the best was. The Olympics must have been full of narcissist and conceited people who constantly required praise from others.

In general, this surprised me a great deal. This writer did not realize how clouded the image of the Olympics really was. The fact that it was to show off how powerful a country was instead of “just for fun” amazed me completely. When this writer thinks about this in today’s respect, this writer can draw similar themes of power and politics.

Fiero, Gloria K. “Minoan Civilization.” The Humanistic Tradition: the First Civilizations and the Classical Legacy. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 89. Print.


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