The Petal paper. [volume] (Petal, Miss.) 1953-19??, 1956-11-01
TIKI 8 rnp'c>

Above all things under the sun,
King Oenomaus of Pisa, in Ellis,
Greese, loved his horses best.
Next to them he loved his daugh-
ter - but even her he named
Hippodamia, the "Horse Tanner"
He was extremely reluctant to
see her wed. Some said that was
understandable enough, since an
oracle had declared he would be
slain by his future son-in-law.
Oenomus hit upon a scheme for
insuring her spinsterhood, and
it had the merit of indulging his
passion for his steeds. He deere
ed that each claimant for Hip
podamia's hand must vie with
him in a chariot-race, the course
of which ran from the plain of
Olympia, in Ellis, northeast to
the Isthmus of Ornith The sutton,
driving with Hippodamia by his
side, was given a half-hour's head
start; if the King overlook him,
he must expect to be transfixed
by the Kings spear. Oenomauss
mares were the swifest in the
world, the offspring of the wind
Despite Hippodamia's beauty not
many suitors came to bid for her
hand.
When the hero Pelops arrived
as a wooer, the first sight that
greeted him was that of the thir
teen luckless heads of suitors who
had lost the race, now nailed to
the place portals. Wiley Pelops
first prayed for aid to Poseidon,
god of the sea, of whom he was
a favorite. He was soon rewarded
with a winged golden chariot;
next, he suborned Myrtilus, the
Kings character to betray Oen-
omaus, promising him half the
kingdom in exchange for his
assistance Hippodamia, who fell
in love with Felops at once, is
rpeorted to have conspired Wits
Myrtilus too. He obligingly re
moved the linchpins from the
Kings chariot. During the race,
the chariot broke down, Oen-
omaus was thrown from it, and
killed.
Pelops rewarded Myrtilus by
hurting him from cliff into the
sea.
Legend has it that it was to
celebrate this highly unethical
victory of Pelops that the noble
Olympic Games were first insti-
tuted. Of course, there are other,
less dramatic stories, of which
the most popular was that Her
acleS had won a foot-race at
Olympia in competition with his
four brothers, and that he there
fore established such a festival
to celebrate it.
Beyond the fact that they were
held on the plain of Olympia, on
the western shore of the Pelopon-
nesus, " the Island of Pelops", the
earlier Games are lost in the
mists of conjecture. The Greek
autonomies were a quarrelsome
lot, but their dissensions were
suspended for the sake of the
Olymics. The Games became the
chief symbol of unity among
them. Despite the Importance of
the Aegean Sea and the east
coast, Olympia on the west turn
ed out to be an ideal location; it
was closer to the western colo
MES, and indeed there were no
more enthusiastic participants in
the Olympic Games than the
Sicilians and the Greeks from
Italy.
During the month of the Games
all warfare in Greece ceased, and
the precincts of Olympia were
held sacred. Only those of pure
Hellenic stock could participate;
slaves were excluded from the
grounds; barbarians might be
spectators. Anyone guilty of an
offense to the gods was disquali-
fled; otherwise any free Greek
man, rich or poor, coul d
enter the lists. No women were
allowed in Olympia during the
games, except the Priestess of
| Demeter. Once, a woman did
enter the stadium in disguise; but
she was pardoned because her
father, son, and brothers were
all victors. But women were al
lowed to send chariots to the
races, and several times their
horses won.
The first Olympic Game to be
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