THE PANHELLENIC GAMES

Ceremonies in honor of the gods, generally took place during course of closely-organized religious events known as festivals. The festivals were held in commemoration of some important mythical tradition, and would involve processions, sacrifices, athletic contests and competitions in various branches of the art. Each city arranged a whole series of festivals of a purely local nature, but there were four major events during which all the Greeks joined in honoring their greatest gods. These festivals, described as Panhellenic, were: the Olympics, the Pythian Games, the Isthmian Games and the Nemean Games.

THE OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympic Games were dedicated to Zeus, greatest of the gods, and were held every four years at his sanctuary in Olympia. According to tradition, they were founded either by Heracles, by Zeus himself or by Pelops when he was victorious in the chariot race against Oenomaus. Iphitus, king of Elea, was traditionally held to have reorganized the Games and introduced the sacred truce, that is, the ban of fighting among the Greek cities for as long as the Games lasted. Official records of the winners of the games begun in 776 BC, by which time the renown of the festival had spread to the whole of the Peloponnese. Little by little, the event attracted the interests of all the Greeks. All Greek citizens were entitle to attend and compete, but there was a strict ban on women.
To begin with, the festival lasted a single day, later occupying two, three and ultimately five days.
Responsibility for organizing the events was in the hands of special officials called Hellanodicae, who supervised the training of the athletes and made sure that the rules of the competition were complied with.

On the first day, there were sacrifices to the gods and the athletes took their oaths. The remaining days were given over to the events, the most important of which were the foot race, the diaulus(a foot race two stades in length), the dolichus(four stades), the pentathlon(running, wrestling, jumping, the discus and the javelin), boxing, the pancratium (a blend of boxing and wrestling), the chariot race, the horse race and the race for armed warriors. On the last day of the Games, the winners were crowned, receiving the prize of the cotinus, that is, a wreath made of an olive branch, and of sums of money. The names of the victors were inscribed on stone pillars and poets would write hymns to celebrate their triumphs, while once they returned home their city would receive them as heroes and honor them for the rest of their lives.

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