Past vs. Present

1. Please read http://ow.ly/156BA and write a blog post comparing the Ancient Greek Olympics to the Games this coming weekend!

The first Olympic Games were introduced in Ancient Greece.  In the past, the games were thought of as means of getting men fit, rather than a competition to see who the best in sports was.  During the first 13 Olympic Games, the only game was the stadion race, which was a running race.  In 724 B.C., the dialous, a longer stadion race, was introduced followed by the dolichos.  All of these events were simply progressions of the stadion race.  The main focus of the running events was to show who was worthy of being a soldier and who wasn't.  Boxing, wrestling, pancration, pentathlon, and the horse-and-chariot race were also competitive events included in the Ancient Olympic Games.  The Greeks believe that the Games should have been performed in the nude, or with limited clothing. Women did not compete in events, and it was even disputable if they could watch or not.  If you were an unmarried, pure virgin you were permitted to watch the games.  Though it seems that women were thought of as weaker than males, women had their own games that they competed in.  Unmarried women sometimes found husbands while watching the games.  The heavy weight men were considered with a special awe.

The Olympics that will be beginning this week are much different than the Olympics in Ancient Greece.  Today, there are two different types of games, summer and winter.  The Olympics come around every four years, and women are allowed to compete in the same events as men.  The Olympics have expanded their games to team sports such as soccer and basketball.  The Olympics nowadays are performed fully clothed, if they weren't, they probably would not be aired on television.  Although the heavy weight men are praised for their outstanding abilities, they are not considered with special awe.  The Games in present times are also more civilized and controlled than they were back then.  Back then, a man named, "Cleomedes, a fifth-century Olympic boxing champion, killed an opponent at the Olympics, was disqualified, went mad and smashed up a school" (Instone).  In today's Games, a man like this would be controlled and more civilized; he would know better than to do such an act.

"Bringing Sustainable Solutions to the Olympics!."Archive for the ‘Interesting’ Category. Web. 9 Feb 2010. <http://cyanpdx.com/blog/category/interesting/>.

Instone, Dr. Stephen. "The Olympics: Ancient versus Modern." Ancient history in-depth. 05 Nov 2009. BBC, Web. 9 Feb 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greek_olympics_01.shtml>.