Morris tribune., 1912-09-13
LYMPIAN GAMES
The Famous Contests In the
Days of Ancient Greece.
MORE IMPORTANT THAN WAR.

DaCCISS wight DC TOT9oLIStly puC iHlS
Was Reckoned and Events Dated
From the Years of the OIympiads.
The Fivefod Contest, the PentathIon.
According to tradition, the oldest of
all Olympian games were established
by Zeus in honor of his success over
Chronos in his struggle for the SOW
ereignty of heaven. The more general
belief among Greek writer's, though,
was that these famous games were
instituted by the Idaean Hercules, the
eldest of the five brothers to whom
Rhea confided Zeus after his birth.
These games were held every fifth
year, because. according to this story.
the brothers were five in number. The
games were therefore four years
apart.
The first of the games. according to
this tradition, was simply a foot race,
in which Hercules and his four broth
ers we're the only contestants. This
straightaway foot race continued to
be the only Olympic game till the
fourteenth Olympiad, when a second
contest, the double course, was intro
duced-i. g., to the end of the course
and back again. In the eighteenth
Olympiad they added wrestling and
the pentathlon. Twenty five. years later
boxing was made part of the exer-
else. and four horse races, the pancrat
ium and riding races were introduced.
The pentathlon was fvefold con-
test in leaping, throwing the discus or
IQuoit. wrestling and hurting the jave-
lin. All contestants were admitted
first to the leaping contest, and those
who crossed a certain space were al
lowed to hurl the javelin. The four
most successful in this took part in a
foot race. The last man in the race
dropped out, and the best three threw
the quot. Again the least successful
retired, and the better wrestler of the
remaining two won the prize.
The pancratium was a rough and
tumble fight. Almost any method of
thro ttling an opponent and compelling
him to acknowledge himself vanquish-
ed was permitted Wrestling. boxing.
hugging. choking and even the deIib-
crate breaking Of bones were allowed.
The prizes in the Olympian contests
were merely wreathS from the wild
olive trees abundant in the locality.
and the games all took place on one
day until the twenty-seventh Olym-
piad. when the Greeks, desiring to do
greater honor to the gods for their de-
feat of the Persians. extended the
games to fill five days.
All Greece regarded the month dur
ing which the games were held as a
holiday. Business Of every kind was
at standstilI and even hostile armies
disbanded and attended the games as
friendly rivals. The Importance Of the
games may be gathered from the fact
that the Greeks reckOned their time
according to the games, just as all peO-
pie have reckOned it from the events
which seemed to them the most i'm
pOrtant
The Christians refer all time to the
beginning Of the Christian era, so the
MOhammedans to the fight Of their
prophet and Romans to the year Of the
founding of their city. But the Greek
historians used to speak like this:
This battle was fought in the fourth
i year of that Olympiad in which Euryb
Otus, the Athenian, won the prize in
the course" While war might be for
gotten. an Olympiad would never be.
Those who were victors we're ac-
Il 10 vf1saTy inf
Their enthusiastic countrymen would
; escort them home with unbounded de-
light, and they were given the highest
: seats of honor at every public festiv,
ity. Poets of the highest merit sang
their praises. The cities in which they
resided erected statues to their honor
1t is not surprising that when victo
~ meant so much. dishonorabIe
means were sometimes employed t.
secure it. Every attempt, however
was made to prevent foul play, and as
unfairness was regarded as sacrilege
the games being religious ceremonies
the guilty ones were not only con
demned by all those whose praise they
sought, but they were subjected be
sides to heavy penalties in money anC
often scOurged as we'll
1t does not seem, however, that de
liberate wOunding of an adversary in
contest was much deprecated. sine
Pausanias mentions one man who
though an Inferior wrestler, won sew
eral contests by breaking the finger
Of his antagonist. but he who killed hi
opponent lost the prize. and the deat
body was crowned victor.
The cause of the decay of the gam
was that the glory and the substantia
rewards which followed victory fna
ly became too great At last ther
became classes Of men who did moth
ing else but prepare for the games. an
contending became profession. King
and mobiles then withdrew. and thei
example was followed by the bette