Ancient Olympics and Cheating

Cheating and corruption is not the prerogative of modern man only! It was prevalent during the ancient Olympics too, except that it wasn’t as widespread as it is now in our society. In the wake of recent match-fixing in the 2012 London Olympics, this subject gains more importance, so let’s see how such things were dealt in the Ancient Olympics.

There weren’t too many occasions and opportunities of cheating as there weren’t too many events. However, one of the ways of cheating was applying oil in certain parts of the body during the wrestling bouts. Oil was banned during such events. Some other ways of cheating were shifting loyalties to another city-state other than the one they belong to. One was always supposed to represent his own city-state. But since victory was supposed to bring benevolence by the gods, many city-states tried to bribe the athletes from other states to owe allegiance to their states. Purposeful false start during the race was another way of cheating.

During the reign of the Romans, corruption was supposed to have reached its climax. Emperor Nero (of the fiddle-fame) is supposed to have bribed the judges to include poetry-reading in the schedule of the Games! The judges were also supposed to have declared him the victor in the chariot race, which he had not even completed! There are many such cases of corruption.

One of the first recorded cases of corruption involved a boxer who was supposed to have bribed three of his opponents to lose. He along with the others was fined heavily for the crime.

A vase design depicting the whipping of athletes who were caught cheating

One of the punishments for such crimes was collection of heavy fine, which was used to make bronze statues of Zeus (known as Zanes), on which the details of the crimes were inscribed. Athletes prior to the games would walk past these Zanes to remind them of abstaining from such acts. There were also instances of flogging the culprits who were caught cheating. Sometimes along with the contestants, their trainers and their city-states were also fined for such acts of cheating.

16 of survived Bases of Zanes, on which the Bronze statues were installed

Cheating was seen as something much beyond just a crime. The Ancient Olympics were religious games and prior to the games, each athlete was supposed to take an oath at the altar of Zeus. Breaking a rule was seen as an act of transgression and an insult to their gods, who were supposed to be the divine audience. Such acts were not tolerated and thus the severity of punishment.

Over time, with more games being introduced, such acts have given way to more modern and innovative methods of cheating. Today you have consuming of power-enhancing drugs, feigning genders and sometimes the judges being in cahoots with the athletes, the latest being fixing of matches. However, in the modern times, the fines are not very hefty, except for banning the athlete and revoking the medals, if won. However, public outcry and international shame is heaped on the athlete and his/her coach.

Ancient Olympic Games and Women

To begin with, women were not allowed to participate in the ancient Olympic Games. There is no documented reason for the same but the following are some of the probable reasons –

The Olympic Games were conceived as games which were played by men and something manly. Women in those days were confined to indoors and household activities. Women did not venture into anything that was a man’s domain, like governance, administration, teaching, etc. Basically all outdoor activities were meant for men. Also, women were expected to be beautiful, buxom and voluptuous in the then world of men. Participating in such games would mean training, and training would give then a muscular look, which was not something that women were meant to be. Even if this seems chauvinistic, let us understand the fact that this was a different time and feminism or equality of the sexes was not an established concept.

Another aspect was that these games tested ones military and heroic skills, which again was not a domain of females. Further, it is said that many athletes would stay away from home to undergo special training for months ahead of the games (some say for about ten months prior to the Games), something a women could not afford due to her household, foremost of which was the child bearing and rearing responsibilities.

The other reason could be that the participants, i.e. men were to participate in the nude. The Greeks worshiped beauty and seeing a male in his raw athletic form was not considered to be voyeuristic, but an act of appreciation of the perfection of body-sculpting. Besides, nudity was not quite a taboo in those days.  Women viewing men in such a form and that too in public would not be considered virtuous for women, and thus they were kept out of it.

There is an interesting story about why even the trainers were supposed to be in the nude during the games in the stadium. According to this story, a mother named Kallipateira (or Pherenike), from a well known family of athletes accompanied her son to the Games dressed as a trainer. However, when she was trying to get out of the trainers area, her private parts were exposed and it was revealed that she was a woman. From that day onwards, even the trainers had to be in the nude. However, what is surprising was that the woman was not punished and she was allowed to go. According to the custom, women were not supposed to be anywhere close to the stadium and if any woman was caught witnessing the games, then she would be killed by throwing her off the cliff of Mt. Typaion!

Priestess of Demeter

However, to all the above, there was an exception. Only one lady was allowed to witness the games and that was the Priestess of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Many scholars feel that this was to ensure that the rituals were carried out properly as the cult of Demeter is supposed to predate the Olympics and thus the significance of the Priestess.

Besides women, many slaves and foreigners were kept out of the games. This probably goes on to show that women were second class citizens and the games were only for free Greek males. However, I would like to re-iterate once again that the concepts of feminism were unknown to them, till at least the Romans took over, who initiated many changes in the format of the Games.

Finally, it is said that the women had their own games, which were held in the honour of Hera, Zeus’s consort, known as the ‘Heraia Games’ and took place in the non-Olympiad years.

To conclude, I don’t want to get into the fairness of the reasons of keeping women out of the Olympics, but one must not see everything ancient from the prism of modernity. The past had its own thought process and justifications and that should be respected for the times. What is important is that the anomaly (as we see it today) was corrected in due course of time, and women now participate in large numbers. To quote Times of India, dated 27/07/12, “4847 Women athletes, the highest number in any Olympics, are participating in the 2012 London Olympics. Nearly every participating country has women in its team”. This amounts to close to 48.5% of the total number of athletes participating this time – that’s a good score for equality!

So cheer up ladies, you are making up well for all the lost time!!

Next we will read about another aspect of the Olympic Games.

Olympic Games – Mythical Origins

Last week, we read about the Ancient Olympics. Today we will read about the mythical origins of the Olympics.

There are a number of versions of the origin of the games, and let us go through some of them briefly.

One of the main versions is related to Pelops and King Oenamaus of Pisa or Olympia. Pelops was a handsome youth, who had learnt chariot racing from none other than Poseidon, the god of seas (and who was in love with Pelops). Pelops fell in love with the Hippodamia, the daughter of King Oenamaus. To marry his daughter, the suitor had to defeat the King in a chariot race and the loser would be put to death, and the King had already executed twelve suitors. (Many say that the King did not want anybody to marry his daughter as he himself was in love with her! However, another version says that he was aware of a prophesy, that his son-in-law would kill him). But Pelops was determined to win, by hook or by crook. So he invoked Poseidon and reminding him of his love for him, sought his help. Poseidon gave him a chariot with winged horses. However, Pelops was still not sure, so he bribed Oenamaus’s charioteer, who while preparing his chariot the night before the race, inserted wax linchpins instead of bronze ones in the axle of the chariots wheels.

During the race, just as Oenamaus was catching up Pelops, the wheels flew off and the chariot crashed, killing the King. Pelops then wed Hippodamia and became the King of Pisa. The games were held in commemoration of his victory over King Oenamaus. Some say that the games were held to thank the gods for helping Pelops, while some even say that the games were held as funeral games in the memory of King Oenamaus. (Please note that this myth does not just end here, but we will not go beyond the establishment of the Games)

Another version credits the origin of the Games to Hercules. Hercules was the son of Zeus and his mortal lover Alcmene. Due to some twists of destiny, Hercules was subjected to twelve labours, which were not only tough but also near impossible (giving rise to the well known phrase ‘herculean task’). As part of his fifth labour, Hercules was supposed to clean the Augeian Stables in a single day. Augeias was the King of Elis and he had thousands of cattle in his enormous stables which were not cleaned for ages. To complete this task in a single day was near impossible, so the King had agreed to part with one tenth of his cattle as a price for the cleaning. Hercules diverted the course of two rivers, Alpheius and Peneius to flow through the stables and cleaned the stables in no time. King Augeias however refused to honour his bargain and Hercules after completing his twelve labours waged a war on Elis and killed Augeias. Hercules is supposed to have instituted the Olympic Games in honour of his father Zeus. It is said that it was Hercules who taught men to wrestle and it was he who measured the length of the race by placing one foot in front of the other, six hundred times, measuring the length of the first footrace and also ascertaining the length of the stadium which was built for the Games. Hercules is also supposed to have planted the sacred olive tree which was later used for making the crown of the Olympic victors.

Yet another myth says that it was Zeus himself who had started the Games to celebrate his victory over Cronus. In the first games held, only the Gods had participated and Apollo was credited with most of the wins in the games. Apollo is also supposed to be the first victor of the first Olympic Games due to his blazing speed and great archery skills. These games of the gods were supposed to be the predecessor of the ancient Olympic Games. Zeus is supposed to have hurled his thunderbolt identifying the location of Olympia in Southern Greece, where a temple was built in honour of Zeus, which does not exist anymore.

All these myths only go on to lend credence to the divinity associated with the Ancient Games.

Next we will read about Women in Ancient Olympics.

Olympic Games

The world will usher in the next Olympics being held in London later today. As we all know that the Olympics were first held in Greece, and anything Greek, has to have its origin in Greek mythology. Before we look at the mythical origins of the Olympics, let us understand the Olympics as they were, which is better known as the Ancient Olympic Games as against the present format of the Games which we refer to as the Modern Olympics.

The Ancient Olympics were first held in 776 BC as per the available documented records. They were held in a city by the name of Olympia, a district in Southern Greece and were held every four years which began around the Summer Solstice. This four year period was referred to as Olympiad and was also used as a reference point for many important events in the Greek calendar.

The games were not just a set of games, but also a religious event for the people then. A temple dedicated to Zeus, the King of all gods, at the site of the games had a huge 42 feet high, gold and ivory idol of Zeus, which was also a part of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. During the games, no city-state could go for wars or even execute criminals. Part of the activities during the ancient games was altar rituals and sacrifices in honour of gods. In the middle of the games, about 100 oxen were sacrificed in honour of Zeus in an extravagant ritual known as the ‘hecatombe’.

The Ancient Games did not have too many events, except for a few races, jumps, discus and javelin throws, wrestling and boxing and horse-riding and chariot races. In all events, there was only one winner and his prize was a crown of leaves, olive or laurel leaves. Participating and winning in the Olympics was considered to be very prestigious. Many of the victors were treated like heroes and were accorded a very high status and some were taken care of and fed by the state for the rest of their lives. A victor could have his statue erected and even have poems written on him. They not only brought fame to themselves and their families, but also to their ‘poleis’ or city-states. Besides this, the participants were also trying to impress and win favour of some god or the other.

The Games were stopped by Theodosius in AD 393, after an existence of more than a thousand years, as he was a champion of Christianity and wanted to impose the same as the state religion. Part of his religious imposition meant bringing an end to such games which were held in honour of Greek Gods. The site of Olympia where the Games were held was destroyed in an earthquake in the 6^th Century AD. The Games were later reinstated in 1896 in the city of Athens.

Next, we will see the mythical origins of the Olympic Games.