While the hierarchy of the Church in Greece was actually asking the faithful to
participate as volunteers in the 2004 Athens Olympics, the neo-pagans were
accusing Christians of having supposedly put an end to a…..sublime Olympic
ideal, centuries ago...... Just
how “sublime” was this institution?
*********************
A few months ago I was attending
a Divine Liturgy when the priest surprised us with an announcement that
he read, issued by the hierarchy of the Church of Greece. The
announcement was prompting the faithful to offer their voluntary
services – no less – for the….. 2004 Athens Olympics (!!!)
At that very moment, I stopped to
ask myself: What do Christians have to do with exhibitions that involve
the igniting of a “sacred flame” and rituals of priestesses belonging to
the ancient Hellenes’ idolatrous religion?
Of course The hierarchy was
striving to show that the Church always supports the athletic ideal, and
even more so, because the Church has recently been accused of having put
an end to the Olympics centuries ago. The hierarchy chose to make a
political move for the sake of giving a good impression and also to not
displease those who still harbored nostalgia for such events….
Naturally the modern Olympics
bear no resemblance to the ancient ones that the Church had ended for
their pagan barbarity; We would therefore like to take the opportunity
to remind our readers in this article what the Olympics meant to the
civilization of ancient times. What, indeed, was that famous “Olympic
ideal” that we are constantly reminded of by the various “factors” who
are embroiled in these events? And what –finally– were
the actual reasons that made the ancient Christians discontinue this
barbarity?
Opinions
on the Olympics by ancient citizens
There are those who speak of the
Olympic ideal that was discontinued by the “evil Christians”. However,
the truth of the matter is far different. In order to secure a
self-indulgent lifestyle, the professional athletes did not hesitate to
resort to all sorts of illegal and dishonorable acts. They “sold and
purchased the victories” (πωλείν
τε και
ωνείσθαι τα
νίκας) at Olympia; some, for the sake of
making money and others, in order to avoid perilous confrontations. This
profiteering was even promoted by the athletes’ trainers, who “made
provisions for their personal profit” (προνοούντες
του εαυτών
κέρδους) [see Philostratos: Gymnastikos (Φιλόστρατος:
Γυμναστικός), p.43].
According to Galen, in his work
“Exhortative, on the arts” [ Γαληνός:
Προτρεπτικός επί
τας τέχνας ] pages
9-14, the athletic art cultivated deception. Tough physical training did
not render anyone more powerful than the creatures of the animal world;
people should be honored for their achievements in the civilized arts.
“Only the best among people should be deserving of divine honor, not for
doing well in contests, but for the benefit acquired from the arts” (
τών ανθρώπων
γαρ αρίστους
θεία αξιωθήναι
τιμή, ουχ
ότι καλώς
έδρασαν εν
τοις αγώσιν,
αλλά δια
την από
τών τεχνών
ευεργεσίαν ). All natural riches are either
spiritual or physical. No other category of riches exists. Athletes
never dream of such riches; they have no logic. They continuously
accumulate flesh and blood and they preserve their spirit lifeless, like
the animals. “Because, by constantly incrementing masses of flesh and
blood, it is as though they have extinguished their soul in a large
mire, (rendering it)
unable to understand anything with precision, only mindless, and similar
to the reasonless animals” ( Σαρκών
γαρ αεί
και αίματος
αθροίζοντες πλήθος,
ως εν
βορβόρω πολλώ
την ψυχήν
εαυτών έχουσιν
κατασβεσμένην, ουδέν
ακριβώς νοήσαι
δυναμένην, αλλ'
άνουν, ομοίως
τοις αλόγοις
ζώοις ). Galen reminds us of Hippocrates’
words, that: “health implies a control over food and labor. Measure is
required everywhere.” And he says that on the contrary, there is no
state more unstable than that of athletes’ health: “…for they say that
everything in excess is hostile to nature” ( παν
γαρ, φησί,
το πολύ
τη φύσει
πολέμιον ). Galen compares the life of
athletes to that of pigs; the difference being that pigs are not forced
to toil or eat: “…so that their way of life is regarded as the behaviour
of swine…” ( ώστε εοικέναι τον βίον αυτών υών διαγωγή
).
A
huge pecuniary
bazaar
Pindar’s hymns honoring Olympic
victors were regarded by everyone as a commodity for sale. Those who
were unsuccessful in the Olympics and other games usually returned to
their homeland completely humiliated and despised. They would hide in
narrow sidestreets in order to avoid their enemies, on account of their
failure. “…making themselves invisible to enemies, in secluded places,
having being struck by misfortune…” ( κατά λαύρας δ'
εχθρών απάοροι πτώσσοντι, συμφορά δεδαγμένοι ), in
Pythionikes (Πυθιονίκες 8). In exchange
for a generous sum of money, Pindar would even laud tyrants such as
Hieron of
Syracuse
and
Theron of Akragas,
who had “won” the contests by paying off their opponents as well as the
judges. In 488 b.C., Hieron was the “winner” of the equestrian events at
Delphi, also in 476 b.C. at Olympia, without any personal involvement in
the contests, and yet Pindar exalted him as one who “reaps virtues”
[Olympic Victors (Ολυμπιονίκες) 1, vs.17-20 ].
In fact, Pindar even lauds victors of the brutal, no-holds-barred
“Pancration” wrestling contest, as in the case of
Pytheas at Nemea
[Olympic Victors (Ολυμπιονίκες), 1].
In 372 b.C. (at the 102nd
Olympiad), one of the judges, Troilus, actually participated in a
chariot race when it was forbidden for judges to participate in the
events themselves (Pausanias: Travelling around Hellas (Ελλάδος
περιήγησις), VΙ, 1,
51). He was naturally declared an Olympic champion and his statue was
erected at the sacred Altis of Olympia. Two other judges had proclaimed
Eumolpos an Olympic victor, following a secret agreement. However this
was discovered and they were obliged by the Representative Body of the
games to pay a fine (Pausanias, Travelling around Hellas (Ελλάδος
περιήγησις), VΙ, 3,
7). According to Plutarch, (On relenting - Περί
δυσωπίας 17, 535c), the judges would grant
victory wreaths after submitting to bribery and other immoral
transactions, to persons who were irrelevant to the contests.
Many athletes would bribe their
opponents in order to become Olympic champions themselves. In 388 b.C.
(at the 98th
Olympiad), Eupolos the pugilist from Thessaly bribed his three opponents
(Pausanias: Travelling around Hellas (Ελλάδος
περιήγησις), V, 21, 5). One of them who had
taken the bribe was also a victor of previous Olympics.
As Philostratos writes, one could
freely sell the victory wreath and just as freely buy it. “As for the
wreath of Apollo or of Poseidon, they were bestowed by permission and
were purchased by permission.” ( στέφος δε Απόλλωνος
ή Ποσειδώνος άδεια μεν αποδίδοσθαι, άδεια δε ωνείσθαι ) [see
Philostratos: Gymnastikos
(Φιλόστρατος: Γυμναστικός), p.45].
There are many more examples of
bribery between athletes that we could mention, WHICH WERE EITHER
PERCEIVED AT THE TIME OR HAPPENED TO BE PRESERVED TO THIS DAY.
Let us now examine a few other
details.
Let us
examine the sale and purchase of athletes
Four years after Astylos’ (an
athlete from Croton) victory at Olympia in 488 b.C., Hieron, the tyrant
of Syracuse purchased him so that he would participate in the next
Olympics as a Syracusian. Thus, in 484 b.C., his victory was for
Syracuse. (Pausanias VI 13,1). The Cretan Sotades was the winner of the
“dolichos” race during the 99th
Olympiad. In the next Olympiad, he was purchased by the City of Ephesus
and appeared in Olympia as an Ephesian athlete (Pausanias VI 18,6).
Olympic champions were “used” by
cities as diplomats, as colonialists and as generals. Statues of them
were erected, not only in their home towns, but also in Olympia, in lieu
of an advertisement. (Pausanias VI 1 - 18).
According to Philostratos, the
athletes of his time (3rd
century A.D.) wallowed in luxury and prestige. They accepted bribes
because they needed money to support their squandering lifestyle; others
bribed their co-athletes simply because they were not in a position to
achieve victory. “For some of them also applied themselves to a personal
glory by taking from many, while others are purchased, who do not desire
victory with pains, on account of a carefree lifestyle..”
( Οι μεν γαρ και αποδίδονται την εαυτών εύκλειαν, δι'
οίμαι, το πολλών δείσθαι, οι δε ωνούνται το μη ξυν πόνω νικάν δια το
αβρώς δαιτάσθαι [see Philostratos:
Gymnastikos (Φιλόστρατος: Γυμναστικός),
p.45].
The guise
of the contests
On a coin of Verria there is a
man holding a whip, representing the assistant of a contest organizer.
Coins from Pergamus and Lydia likewise bore scenes of flagellators
whipping ill-natured athletes.
In the 5th
century b.C. (456 και 452) wrestling contests,
Leoniscos from Messina had found it impossible to throw down his
opponent and so resorted to grabbing his fingers and crushing them, as a
result of which, his opponent suffered so many fractures that he was
forced to abandon the contest. In this manner, he had managed to be
twice proclaimed Olympic champion. His statue was however erected in the
city of Regium, given that a sign was discovered in Olympia which
forbade the crushing of opponents’ fingers (Pausanias, Travelling around
Hellas (Ελλάδος περιήγησις
VI, 4,30).
Loukianos mentions in his
revealing work titled “Anacharsis, or, on gymnastics” (Ανάχαρσις,
ή περί
γυμνασίων
):
“Tell me Solon, why are Athenian
youths making a habit of these obscenities? They tussle with each other,
they trip each other over, they try to strangle one another by squeezing
their neck, they twirl the other’s body around, they sink in the mud and
they roll around in it like pigs. They push each other and they lower
their heads and attack each other like rams. Look! That one there has
grabbed the other by the legs and has tossed him to the ground and has
fallen on top of him and is pushing him into the mud. Now he has wrapped
his legs around the other’s waist, he is passing his arm under his neck
and is squeezing the poor fellow who is beating him on the shoulder,
begging him, I’m sure, to avoid being strangled completely.” [Anacharsis,
or, on gymnastics (Ανάχαρσις,
ή περί
γυμνασίων ), 1].
Let us
take a look at Pugilism (boxing)
Apollodorus the story-writer
refers to Hercules who used to crush his opponents’ ribs: a “heroic”
model for Olympic athletes…
An inscription that was
discovered on the island of Thera (Santorini)
says that pugilism “is won with blood”.
Artemidorus writes of pugilism
that “…contests with punches are dangerous for everyone. They not only
are a disgrace, they also cause calamities. The face is disfigured and
blood flows abundantly.”
During the Minoan era, the
“gloves” worn by pugilists were reinforced with hard coatings, while in
a mural of Thera one can see that a protective helmet was worn by the
fighters, around 1500 b.C..
In Homeric times, pugilism was
seen as a catastrophic contest – an indication of what was going on in
ancient Greece. Odysseus confronts the beggar Iros in Ithaca; he punches
him below the ear, splinters the bones, thus flooding Iros’ mouth with
blood. (Homer: Odyssey
vs.95-98)
From the 4th
century onward, instead of the bare fists that were customary until then
for pugilism, the fingers began to be bound – supposedly to safeguard
the fingers. Philostratos mentions that the four fingers were bound with
a small leather strap. Later on however, they would wrap the entire fist
with straps made from ox hide, designed to inflict more severe blows to
their opponents. [see Philostratos: Gymnastikos (Φιλόστρατος:
Γυμναστικός), p.10].
In Roman times, pugilists wore
leather “gloves” reinforced with pellets of iron and lead. This item was
known as “caestus”. (Pausanias, Travelling around Hellas (Ελλάδος
περιήγησις Η, 48).
Plato also refers to the pellets
in pugilists’ “gloves”, which had replaced the leather straps. [Plato:
Laws (Πλάτων: Νόμοι
830Β, and Pausanias: Travelling around Hellas
(Ελλάδος περιήγησις,
2, VI, 23). Also used from the 3rd
century onwards were the “spiked straps” (ιμάντες
οξείς), which had metallic spikes attached to
the leather straps. They were named “myrmiges” (μύρμηγκες
=ants), because they were
used to inflict ant-shaped punctures, just like the Roman kind and were
followed by slaughter. “…a spiked strap was upon the wrist of each hand”
(Ιμάς οξύς
επί τω
καρπώ τής
χειρός εκατέρας)….
“…This form of murder provoked pain that was attributed to the
unquenchable menace of pugilism, irritating the fighter who would
furiously swing his arms about wrapped with myrmiges, thus aggravating
his thirst to kill…” ( Πυγμαχίης δ' ώδινε φόνου
διψώσαν απειλήν ιγνιστόρους μύρμηκας εμαίνετο χερσίν ελίσσων. Πυγμάχου
δ' ώδινε
φόνου διψώσαν
απειλήν ). Thick straps with metallic spikes
were also wrapped around the arms up to the elbow, turning it into a
deadly bludgeon. In the 6th
century b.C. Pausanias mentions that they no longer used the “spiked
straps”, but the “gentle” ones (μειλίχες)
which only inflicted wounds and caused fractures (Pausanias, Travelling
around Hellas (Ελλάδος περιήγησις VIII, 40,3).
Eurydamas from Cyrene won a
pugilist contest, but all his teeth had meantime been broken by his
opponent. In order to hide this, he had swallowed all of them. [Aelianus,
Miscellaneous History (Αιλιανός,
Ποικίλη Ιστορία,
10,19)].
In 496 b.C., the pugilist
Cleomedes from Astypalaia island had killed Iccus from Epidaurus. He had
struck a blow to his opponent’s ribs which caused an opening in the
flesh; he then plunged his hand into the opening and ripped out his
lung. Given that this victory was not recognized, he returned to his
island, went into a school where 60 children were attending class,
smashed the pillar that was supporting the roof, bringing down the
entire building and causing the death of all the students. The
Astypalaians went to consult the Oracle at Delphi and received the
following reply: “Cleomedes is the last of the heroes. Honor him with
sacrifices, for he is not a mortal.” (Pausanias, Travelling around
Hellas (Ελλάδος περιήγησις
V, 2, 6-8 and Eusebius: Evangelical Preparation, V, 32).
The patron “god” of Pugilism was
Apollo and it was for this reason that he also given the title of
“Pugilist” (Πύκτης) (Homer: Iliad 23, v.660).
Let us
take a look at the “Pancration”
The “Pancration” (=no
holds barred) was not
a marginal sport of the Olympics. In Olympia, the Pancration was
regarded as “the most beautiful of contests” and statues of those
barbaric athletes were made, honoring their bestiality. [Philostratos,
Images (Φιλόστρατος, Εικόνες, 2)].
During a Pancration bout between
two Lacedemonians, the one had grabbed his opponent by the neck, swung
him around and tossed him to the ground; however, he managed to bite the
attacker’s arm. His attacker then shouted “You Laconian! You bite like
women do!” “No” replied the other, “I bite like lions do!” [Plutarch,
Laconic Maxims (Πλούταρχος αποφθέγματα
Λακωνικά, 234,44)].
The Athenian cynic philosopher
Dymonax was overwhelmed when he saw a Pancration fighter bite like a
lion. [Loukianos: Dymonax (Λουκιανός
Δημώναξ 49)].
On two ancient vases there are
representations of Pancration fighters, poking out the eyes of their
opponents with their finger. (K.Simopoulos: “Olympiads - Myth, fraud and
barbarity”, page 97).
In wrestling matches, as in the
Pancration, even strangulation of the opponent was allowed. Any kind of
savagery was legitimate: fractures, crushing of hands, feet, ribs, even
spines. And this was supposedly “athletic education” and an “athletic
ideal”……..
Pancration fights first appeared
in 648 b.C. (33rd
Olympiad) and 200 b.C. (145th
Olympiad) and were later taught to children. Just imagine parents
actually sending their children to be mutilated by such a barbaric
sport! [see Philostratos: Gymnastikos (Φιλόστρατος:
Γυμναστικός), p.45]. Everything was permitted:
dislocating joints, breaking bones, strangling, causing death by all
possible means. Kicking knees and groins was customary, as discerned in
pottery of that era. As early as the 6th
century b.C., one could press the opponent’s face into the sand, forcing
him to either swallow it or inhale it… (Loukianos: “Anacharsis, or, on
gymnastics” (Ανάχαρσις, ή
περί γυμνασίων, 3)
The first consequence of a
Pancration encounter was –according to Philostratos– the distortion of
arms and legs. [Philostratos, Images (Φιλόστρατος,
Εικόνες, Ι 6,
ΙΙ 6)]. The final results were the
strangulation of the opponent – a sight that greatly enthused the
spectators. The inhabitants of Ilis, Philostratos tells us, actually
lauded strangulation during the Pancration. [Philostratos, Images (Φιλόστρατος,
Εικόνες, ΙΙ 6)].
Loukianos writes the following:
“They stand up, throw themselves against each other and beat each other
with arms and legs. One poor fellow spat out his broken teeth, as his
mouth was filled with blood and sand after having received a blow to his
chin. The overlord sees these calamities, but does not give the command
to stop the event or abolish it. On the contrary, he exhorts the
Pancration contestants and praises the one who has struck the final
deadly blow.” (Loukianos: “Anacharsis, or, on gymnastics” (Ανάχαρσις,
ή περί γυμνασίων, 3).
The Pancration fighters of
Lacedaemon would mangle their opponents with tooth and nail; they would
blind them by wrenching out their eyeballs [Philostratos, Images (Φιλόστρατος,
Εικόνες, ΙΙ 6)].
The sophist Julius Polydeukis (2nd
century A.D.) writes that the terms “pancration” and “pancratist”
signified strangulation, choking, kicks and punches.” (Polydeukis,
Onomastikon, 3, 150).
Arrachion, whose statue was
erected in the marketplace of the city of Figaleia, had been immobilized
in a match by an opponent pancratist and was trapped between the other’s
legs while attempting to choke him by squeezing his hands around his
neck. Arrachion succeeded in crushing one of the toes of his opponent,
but died immediately after. (Pausanias, Travelling around Hellas (Ελλάδος
περιήγησις VIII, 40,2).
In another instance, the two
opponent pancratists – Kreugas of Epidamnos and Damoxenus of Syracuse –
had agreed after a prolonged, victor-less match, to strike down the one
who would remain standing and motionless. Kreugas struck a blow to
Damoxenus’ head, without any dangerous consequences. Damoxenus struck
Kreugas’ side with fingers outstretched; he pierced his flesh and then
ripped out the bowels with his hands. Kreugas died immediately. (Pausanias,
Travelling around Hellas (Ελλάδος
περιήγησις VIII, 40).
I don’t think much more needs to
be said….
(The information in this article was taken from the exceptional book
by Kyriakos Simopoulos, “The Olympiads: Myth, Fraud and Barbarity”,
Stahe Publications. Athens 1998).
