The daily Alaskan., 1912-09-20
'OlyMPlAN GAMES
The Famous Contests In the
 Days of Ancient Greece.
MORE IMPORTANT THAN WAR.
Battles Night se Forgotten. but Tine Was Reskensd and Events psted
 From the Yssrs cf the olympisds. The Fivesold Contest. the pentsshicn.

 by 2eus In honor of his success over Chronos in his struggle for the sov- ereignty of heaven. The more general belief among Greek writers, though. was that these famous games were instituted ny the ldsean Hercules, the eldest Of the Ave brothers 10 whom Rhea conhded zeas after his birth. These games were held every fifth year. because. according to this story, ,he brothers were five In number. The games were therefore four years apart.
 Tho first of the games, according Co this tradition. vas simply foot race, Is which Hercules and his four broth CTS were the oniy contestants. This straichtaway foot race continued to te the only Olympic game tIll the fourteenth olympiad. when a second contest. the double course. was Intro ,inccd-i C.. to the end of the course and back again. In the eighteenth olympiad they added wrestling and the pentathion. 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 pcntathlon was hyefold con trst in leapinr, throwing the discus or quoit. wrestling and hurting the fave lin. All contaStauts were admitted first to the leaping contest, and those who crossed certain space were al lowed to hurl the javelin. The four most successful in this took part in foot race. The last man In the race dropped ont. and the best three threw the Quoit. Again the least successful retired. and the better wrestler of the remaining two won the prize.
 The pancratinm was rough and tumble fight Almost any method of throttling an opponent and compelling him to acknowledge himself vanquish- cd 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- niad. when the Greeks. desiring to do greater honor to the gods for their de feat of the Perslans. extended the games to fin i've days.
 All Greece regarded the month dur inC which the games were held as a holiday. Business of every kind was at a standStiIi. and even hostile armies dishanded 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- ple have reckoued 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 flight 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 fourtt year of that olympiad in which Euryb otus. the Athenian. won the prize in the course" While a war might be for gotten. an Olympiad would never be.
 Those who were victors were ac- corded the most eNtravagant honors. 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.
 It is not surprising that, when victo- " meant so much. dishonorable means were sometimes employed to 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 Co heavy penalties ln money and often scuurged as well.
 It does not seem. however, that de. liberate wounding of an adversary In contest was much deprecated, since Paussnias mentions one man who. though an inferior wrestler. won sew eral contests by breaking the fingers of his antagonist. but he who killed his opponent lost the prize. and the dead body was crowned victor
 The cause of the decay of the game was that the glory and the substantial rewards which followed victory final ly became too great At last there became classes of men who dli noth- ing else but prepare for the games, and cOntending became profession. Kings and nobles tben withdrew, snd their example was followed by the better class of Greek youth. with the result that the games were finally neglected until. when they were prohibited by an eiict by the Emperor Theodoslus. in A. D. s94. few people objected to their loss
 Long before this the games had be- come notorious by their brutality. and foreigners were allowed to compete. Bribery was frequent, and the Roman