William Sterling

As the Olympic Games return to London it is time to reflect on their origin in Ancient Greece. Other Greek cities held games and the class included a visit to the British Museum.

Using images from sculpture and pottery and the descriptions by ancient authors, we looked at the origins of the Olympic Games and how they developed over the centuries and also at games at other places in Greece such as Athens, Corinth and Delphi. We looked at all the contests and how they differed from their modern versions but also at the lives of the athletes involved in the games and what it meant to win or lose or to be found cheating.

The games covered in the course included running, running in armour, discus, javelin, jumping with weights, boxing, wrestling, the pankration and equestrian events. At some games (such as Delphi and Athens) there were also music, poetry and painting competitions. The history of the Olympic Games from 776 BC to 393 AD was looked at showing how different games were added over time. The differences between the four Panhellenic games, at which the prizes were wreaths only, and other games such as the Panathenaic games, at which the prizes were multiple amphorae of valuable olive oil, were examined to judge the status of the athletes. The names of some of the athletes have survived and their stories were examined. We also looked at the Heraen games for women but these were much smaller and less well recorded than the games for men.

This course is at the City Lit and British Museum.

The handouts from the course are below.

Greek Games Glossary

THE OLYMPIC GAMES FROM PAUSANIAS

FOR DIAGORAS OF RHODES

I shall post useful spreadsheets at a later date.