-
- About 2,300 years ago, a zealous fan scratched "Akrotatos
is beautiful" into the walls of a stadium's entrance tunnel. Or maybe
it was the athlete himself, memorializing his own accomplishments.
-
- www.nemea.org This block shows the name Telestas, a
boxing champion at Olympia. Above it is written: 'I win!'
-
- The rest of the graffiti is "basically people writing
their names and occasional comments about others," says Stephen Miller,
a University of California-Berkeley classics professor who has directed
excavations at ancient Nemea, located on the Greek mainland west of Corinth,
for the past 26 years.
-
- Famed in mythology as the place were Hercules slew a
lion known for its impenetrable skin, the site is one of the four, including
Delphi, Isthmia and Olympia, that hosted the ancient precursor to today's
Olympics: the Panhellenic Games.
-
- The tunnel at Nemea has shed new light on the tunnel
at Olympia. The Nemean tunnel dates to the Greeks, while the tunnel at
Olympia had been thought to be a Roman addition. A more recent theory:
Romans only remodeled the Olympian tunnel. The Nemean tunnel has also spurred
an interest in finding a similar structure at Isthmia.
-
- The original games around the 5th century B.C. lasted
for five days with ten events:
-
- RUNNING In the beginning, the only event PENTATHLON
Jumping, running, javelin, discus and wrestling JUMPING Similar to long
jump, but accompanied by flute music DISCUS One of the Greeks' favorite
events JAVELIN Two events, target and distance BOXING WRESTLING PANCRATION
A combination of boxing and wrestling CHARIOT RACING HORSE RACING
-
- Miller's work at Nemea has not only added to the base
of knowledge of the games, but he is also leading the charge in bringing
the spirit of the ancient games back to life. "Most of us believe
in the notion of the games, but we can't participate," he said.
-
- So in 1994, when the excavation of the stadium was almost
complete, he decided to hold games at Nemea. In 1996, his Society for the
Revival of the Nemean Games hosted the first games at Nemea in over 2,000
years. This past June, 762 people from 45 countries participated in the
second modern Nemean Games.
-
- Shoeless - but Dressed
-
- In keeping with tradition, athletes run in bare feet
and place their toes in the same grooves that ancient runners used to mark
their starting position. The athletes do, however, wear togas unlike the
Greeks, who competed in the nude.
-
- Ancient Nemea's main building is a limestone, Doric-style
Temple of Zeus, where sacrifices would be made prior to the start of the
games. This was the most solidly built building; the rest of the site,
according to Miller, "was lightly constructed, and would just get
a whitewash every two years."
-
- www.nemea.org The Nemean tunnel is about 120 feet long
and dates to approximately 320 B.C.
-
- Constructed solely for the games, in off years Nemea
would have been something like "a state fair during the winter,"
said Miller. The stadium complex includes a running surface of packed yellow
clay, rough stadium seating carved out of the bedrock and the tunnel that
leads to a locker room where athletes would undress, oil up and prepare
mentally for the competition.
-
- One of the main differences between the games today and
the ancient games, according to Miller, is that in "the games at Nemea
competition was individual and the winner " there was only one winner,
no second or third places " was determined by objective criteria."
Judges saw who ran or threw the javelin the farthest, "there was no
point system involved, no subjective idea of who won."
-
- While figuring out who won may have been different, the
atmosphere outside the games was very similar to what a spectator might
experience today.
-
- www.nemea.org The stadium, seen from the northwest,
is carved into a natural depression between two hills.
-
- "People came from all over the [Greek world],"
says Miller. At the time, the Greek world extended as far as Asia, Africa
and Sicily. The games offered a place for cultural exchange and booths
where hawkers sold souvenirs, and artists could offer to immortalize a
victor in stone or poem. The celebrated ancient historian Herodotus is
said to have gained a wide audience for his Histories by reciting portions
of the work at the games.
-
- But along with the more commercial aspects of the games
was religion. They began with a sacrifice to Zeus and the athletes took
an oath to compete with honor and respect for the rules. The games signaled
a true coming together of the Greek world and warring sects agreed to a
truce for their duration.
-
- It was a time for the Greeks to display their arete,
or virtue and excellence; a concept primarily associated with winning athletes
that could be applied to all people.
-
-
- www.nemea.org Coins found at the stadium pointed to
cheering sections for rival city states. Argives gathered on the east
side while, Corinthians were on the west.
-
- Miller, who is currently overseeing restoration of the
Temple of Zeus, hopes "to have the whole façade up" by
the time of the games in 2004." Those games will begin " two
weeks before the modern Olympics in Athens " with the second full
moon after the summer solstice (July 31).
-
- The date is true to the timing of the original games,
and in keeping with Miller's goal of allowing athletes of all abilities
to experience the spirit of the ancient games.
.
-
-
- MainPage
http://www.rense.com
-
-
-
- This
Site Served by TheHostPros
|