ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES

• These are anagrams of the various contests.Can you find them?

.linjave

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

losdaiv_ _ _ _ _ _ _

datoisn_ _ _ _ _ _ _

ritorachaec_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

pujm_ _ _ _

• Which of these take place in modern times?1. ..................................................................................................................2. ................................................................................................................3. ................................................................................................................4. ................................................................................................................5. ................................................................................................................

xobngi_ _ _ _ _ _

raorhcese_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

scusid_ _ _ _ _ _

slihodos_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

stlerwngi_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

• What has impressed you most about the

Olympic Games? Would you like to

describe it?

To remember:

✔ The pankration was acombination of wrestling andboxing.

✔ Milo from Croton was crownedOlympic victor seven times.

✔ Kallipateira was the mother, wifeand sister of Olympic victors. Inorder to watch the Games, shedisguised herself as a man.

✔ The ancient Olympic Gamesstarted in 776 B.C.

✔ Long jump, javelin, running, discusand wrestling make up the ancientpentathlon.

✔ In the chariot-races the winner’swreath was given to the owner ofthe horse, not to the driver of thechariot.

Panhellenic Games in ancient times

The most important games in antiquity were the Games at Olympia. But there wereother games too, like the Pythian, the Nemean and the Isthmian. Every athlete’sdream was to be crowned victor in all these games and be called “periodonikes” for this achievement.

Olympic Games

In honour ofZeusPlace:OlympiaPrize:A wreath of wild olive (kotinos)

Pythian Games

In honour of ApolloPlace:DelphiPrize:A wreath of laurel

• Use natural materials to make wreaths for the victors of all the panhellenicgames.

I s thmian Games

In honour ofPoseidonPlace:Isthmus of CorinthPrize:A wreath of pine

Nemean Games

In honour of ZeusPlace:NemeaPrize:A wreath of wild celery

The journey made by the ancient athlete

Diagoras, Milo and Pythagoras have decided to take part in the OlympicGames. Each one starts from his own city, but they visit other sanctuaries on the way.

• How would you plan the journey made by Diagoras the Rhodian via Isthmia,Milo from Croton via Nemea, and Pythagoras the Thasian via Delphi, toOlympia? Plan the journeys in ancient as well as in modern times. How longwould each journey take now and then? What would the conditions of thejourneys be like then and now?

• Which places did they pass through, what dangers did they meet, how did they overcome difficulties? Trace their trips on the map.Starting from your own town, what is the shortest way to reach Olympia,passing through two sanctuaries?

ññ

ñ

ñ

ñ ññ

K rotonThasos

AthensDelphi

OlymbicNemea

Podos

• In the table below there are hidden words connected with the ancientgames. Many of these form a zigzag. Can you find them?

TRUCE, ISTHMIA,ALTIS, SPONDOPHOROS, OLYMPIA, RUNNING,WRESTLING,DISCUS, JUMP, KOTINOS, NEMEA, PYTHIA, HERAIA, GYMNASTICS, HERALD,HELLANODIKAI, MUSIC, HERCULES, JAVELIN, ZEUS.

H E R A I A N P Z L H Z E U S

E D I S G Q A I S T H M I A M

L F K C U S F D G S R U C N I

L B J K J A V E X P L N S N G

A L N O U M P L N O K N G O Y

N O D I K A I I O N K I L Q M

H L J W R E S N J D A N Q P N

M Y M P I A T X P O P G Z S A

H E R C U M L E Z P H O R O S

K O T I L Y I N G O E T A R T

A P L N E M E A N M R A L D I

K P E O S T R U J O T Y T T C

I Y A S M T E C E M U S I A S

P T H I A N U X A U I I S N O

M E S I Q K O N L T X C H S E

One of the most beautiful poems that have been written on the OlympicGames is «Light of Olympia» by Takis Doxas.

• Can you read it aloud?• What is the poem’s message? Discuss it with your classmates and your parents.

«The Light of Olympia»

Tell them all to start for Olympia.

Thousands thousands thousands of youthsswars of bodies white black yellow,

to go and cleanse themselves near the Palaistrafrom yesterday from today from tomorrow,

to annoint with oil their souls and mindsand then

to enter from the wide open gate into the Stadiumto contend.

Not in slaughter and firenot with the knife and the iron that burns

not for the destruction of man by mannot for causing new dead new maimed new wretched,

but for boxing and the spearfor jumping the discus the race the wrestling

for the four-horsed chariotfor Virtue,

beside Kastor or AntipatrosDiagoras or Alkibiades

which will unite the ancient world with the presentwith the future with the everlasting

and it will conquor Ares once morefor the last time.

There in the clearing Olympiavigilant day and night weaves for each

A wreath of wild oliveof Greek peace

of Peace of the whole world.

Takis Doxas(extract)

• The Olympic Games are a source of inspiration. Can you write a poem or paint a picture dedicated to the ancient games?