The Ancient Greek Olympics

The Ancient Greek Olympics

Author: Richard Woff

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9780195215816

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Describes the history, traditions, and competitive events connected with the Olympic games held in ancient Greece.


A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics

A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics

Author: Neil Faulkner

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2012-04-24

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0300159072

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A guide to the ancient Olympics features a program of events, transportation options as provided by passenger ferry and ox cart, accommodations, and dining options, all as they would have appeared in 338 BC in the spectacle's early days.


The Ancient Olympic Games

The Ancient Olympic Games

Author: Judith Swaddling

Publisher:

Published: 1980

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For over one thousand years between 776 B.C. and A.D. 395, princes, statesmen, and famous athletes gathered every four years at Olympia in western Greece to compete for the olive crowns of the ancient Olympic Games. Judith Swaddling traces the mythological and religious origins of the games and describes the events, religious ceremony, and celebrations that were an essential part of the Olympic festival. The book also features a large, detailed model of the site of ancient Olympia, where, alongside religious and civic buildings, there grew an elaborate sports complex with a stadium for 40,000 spectators, indoor and outdoor training facilities, hot and cold baths, a swimming pool, and a race course. This fascinating description of Ancient Olympia and the Games is superbly illustrated with vases, sculpture and other works of art, views of the site and photographs of the unique model.


The Ancient Olympics

The Ancient Olympics

Author: Nigel Spivey

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2012-06-14

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0191655414

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The word 'athletics' is derived from the Greek verb 'to struggle for a prize'. After reading this book, no one will see the Olympics as a graceful display of Greek beauty again, but as war by other means. Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were - fierce contests between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. Victory was almost worth dying for, and a number of athletes did just that. Many more resorted to cheating and bribery. Contested always bitterly and often bloodily, the ancient Olympics were not an idealistic celebration of unity, but a clash of military powers in an arena not far removed from the battlefield.


Olympia

Olympia

Author: Robin Waterfield

Publisher: Landmark Library

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9781786691910

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the northwestern corner of the great peninsula of the Peloponnese, close to the meeting point of the Cladeus and Alpheus rivers, lies a peaceful river valley overlooked by the steep-sided Hill of Cronus. Here, between the eighth century BCE and the fourth century CE, rival athletes competed for glory in the ancient Olympic Games. Every four years, and from every corner of the Mediterranean world - from Samos to Syracuse and from Sparta to Smyrna - they descended on this quiet corner of southern Greece sacred to Zeus, seeking to excel in disciplines as diverse as sprinting, boxing, wrestling, trumpet blowing and chariot and mulecart racing. The victors of these ancient games may have been awarded crowns of olive leaves in recognition of their achievements, but these original Olympics were no idealistic celebration of the classical aesthetic of grace and beauty shared by all of the participating Greek city-states, but often a bitterly contested struggle between political rivals. Robin Waterfield paints a vivid picture of the reality of the ancient Olympic Games; describes the events in which competitors took part; explores their purpose, rituals and politics; and charts the vicissitudes of their remarkable thousand-year history.


Ancient Greek Athletics

Ancient Greek Athletics

Author: Stephen Gaylord Miller

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 9780300115291

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Presenting a survey of sports in ancient Greece, this work describes ancient sporting events and games. It considers the role of women and amateurs in ancient athletics, and explores the impact of these games on art, literature and politics.


Welcome to the Ancient Olympics!

Welcome to the Ancient Olympics!

Author: Jane Bingham

Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree Library

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9781410928894

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This title discusses topics such as the ancient Olympic events, what the stadium looked like and ancient Olympic ceremonies.


Olympic Victor Lists and Ancient Greek History

Olympic Victor Lists and Ancient Greek History

Author: Paul Christesen

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-10-22

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 1139466232

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is a comprehensive examination of Olympic victor lists. The origins, development, content, and structure of Olympic victor lists are explored and explained, and a number of important questions, such as the source and reliability of the year of 776 for the first Olympics, are addressed.


The Naked Olympics

The Naked Olympics

Author: Tony Perrottet

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2004-06-08

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 081296991X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What was it like to attend the ancient Olympic Games? With the summer Olympics’ return to Athens, Tony Perrottet delves into the ancient world and lets the Greek Games begin again. The acclaimed author of Pagan Holiday brings attitude, erudition, and humor to the fascinating story of the original Olympic festival, tracking the event day by day to re-create the experience in all its compelling spectacle. Using firsthand reports and little-known sources—including an actual Handbook for a Sports Coach used by the Greeks—The Naked Olympics creates a vivid picture of an extravaganza performed before as many as forty thousand people, featuring contests as timeless as the javelin throw and as exotic as the chariot race. Peeling away the layers of myth, Perrottet lays bare the ancient sporting experience—including the round-the-clock bacchanal inside the tents of the Olympic Village, the all-male nude workouts under the statue of Eros, and history’s first corruption scandals involving athletes. Featuring sometimes scandalous cameos by sports enthusiasts Plato, Socrates, and Herodotus, The Naked Olympics offers essential insight into today’s Games and an unforgettable guide to the world’s first and most influential athletic festival. "Just in time for the modern Olympic games to return to Greece this summer for the first time in more than a century, Tony Perrottet offers up a diverting primer on the Olympics of the ancient kind….Well researched; his sources are as solid as sources come. It's also well writen….Perhaps no book of the season will show us so briefly and entertainingly just how complete is our inheritance from the Greeks, vulgarity and all." --The Washington Post