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The first Olympics games are usually given the start year
of 776 BCE, but they probably began even sooner. The ancient Greeks
loved competitions of all sorts, especially sporting competitions. The
Olympics were not the only games held in ancient Greece, but they were the
most popular.
The following is a humorous look at five ancient
Greek city-states. In truth, the Greeks did take the games quite seriously.
Nearly all the ancient Greek cities sent teams to participate in the ancient
Greek Olympics. If two or more Greek city-states happen to be at war with
each other when the game date arrived, war was halted for the duration of
the games. Everyone wanted their city-state to win!
It's around 480 BCE
You are an Olympian contestant,
representing your city-state at the Olympic games!
How would you behave?
Meet Your
Fellow Olympians
You
are a Spartan!
Be proud! You have endured unbelievable pain
and hardship to become a superior Spartan soldier and citizen! Taken away
from your parents at age 7, you lived a harsh and often brutal life in the
soldiers barracks. You were beaten by older children who started fights to
help make you tough and strong. You were often were whipped in front of
groups of other Spartans, including your parents, but never cried out in
pain.
You were given very little food, but encouraged to steal food,
instead. If caught stealing, you were beaten. To avoid severe pain,
you learned to be cunning, to lie, to cheat, to steal, and how to get away
with it!
Some of you are members of the Spartan secret police and enjoy
spying on slaves. If you find a slave who is showing signs of leadership,
you have orders to kill them immediately. You are fierce, capable, and
proud of your strength. You know you are superior and are delighted to be
Spartan!
Spartan
Goals and Behavior at the Olympics: Win at all costs. Lie,
cheat, do whatever it takes. If you can't win, at least beat your
archrival, those silly citizens of Athens. You are the proud and fierce
Spartans! Plot secretly with other Greek
city-states to sabotage any Athenian chance at victory. Cheer only for
your fellow Spartans at each event. Lie, cheat, steal, but do not get
caught, because that is the Spartan way. Good luck at the games.
You are an
Athenian! Be
courteous. You have been superbly educated in the arts and the sciences,
and trained to be extremely productive and capable in times of peace or
war. You are an achiever. Until age 6 or 7, you were
taught at home by your mother, or by a male slave.
From age 7-14, you
attended a day school in the neighborhood where you memorized Homeric
poetry and learned to play that magnificent instrument, the lyre. You
learned drama, public speaking, reading, writing, math, and perhaps even
how to play the flute. You attended four years of higher school, and
learned more about math and science and government. At 18, you attended
military school for two additional years!
You are proud to be an Athenian!
Famed for its literature, poetry, drama, theatre, schools,
buildings, government, and intellectual superiority, you have no doubt
that your polis, Athens, is clearly the shining star of all the
Greek city-states.
Athenian
Goals and Behavior at the Olympics: You
know your archrival, those horrible Spartans, will do anything to win,
even lie and cheat, but you are Athenians - you would never stoop to such
boorish behavior. Cooperate with your fellow Athenians to defeat those
brutish Spartans, and do your personal best! You are Athenians, the clever, creative, courteous
representatives of that shining example of all that is fine and noble, the
polis of Athens. Good luck in the games!
You
are a Corinthian!
As a coastal city-state, you have a glorious
history as a cultural and trade center. Although your schools are not as
fine, perhaps, as those of Athens, you have been educated in the arts and
the sciences. As a child, you were taught at home by
your mother, or by a male slave.
From age 7-14, you attended a day
school near your home where you memorized poetry and studied drama, public
speaking, reading, writing, math, and the flute. You attended a higher
school, if your parents could afford it. You also went to military
school for at least two years.
Your polis is famous for its bronze
statues, pottery, and vase painters. You are creative problem-solvers. To
solve the problem of foreign money pouring into your coastal polis,
your city-state created it's own coinage, forcing traders to convert their
coin at your banks. (For a fee!) To solve your problem of unemployment,
you created a huge and successful public works program. Literature,
culture, art, and businesses thrive in your city-state. You are proud to
be a practical, productive Corinthian!
Corinthian
Goals and Behavior at the Olympics:
If you can't win, help Argos and Megara to defeat those vain
Athenians, and those animals, the Spartans. Do what it takes, but be
honest about it. You cheer the winner of each event. You greet your fellow Corinthians with warmth and good sportsmanship
whenever you see them. You are proud of your abilities, your achievements, your honesty, and your
obviously superior city-state. Good luck in the games!
You are an Argive!
You have been educated in the arts and the
sciences, and trained to be productive and capable in times of peace or
war. You have much of which to be proud.
Although
your close neighbor, Corinth, is on the coastline, your polis is
located on a plain, where the weather tends to be hot and dry in the
summer, and cold and wet in the winter. Your soil is not especially
fertile, and you must fight the elements to grow food.
In spite of this
hardship, your magnificent stone sculptures of athletes, rippling with
muscle, are the envy of many a Greek city-state. You are famous for your
wonderful musicians and poets. Drama reached new heights in your polis.
Plays are performed in open-air theatres, drawing crowds of 20,000 or more
Argive citizens!
Unfortunately, you have a problem. When Athens and Sparta
asked your polis to send supplies and troops to fight the Persians,
after the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, you refused. For this
decision, you are held in disgrace by the other Greek city-states.
Argive
Goals and Behavior at the Olympics: Your goal is to
reverse the negative reputation you currently hold in the ancient Greek
world. You will have to work hard to convince other city-states that your
athletes, soldiers, scholars, orators, architects, poets, dancers, and
artists are as fine, if not superior, to the other city-states. You cheer
Argive victories, and win as many events as you can. Your goal is to make
sure that Athens and Sparta don't win at all. (Your plan is to throw your
support to Corinth or Megara toward the end of the competition if it
appears you can not win.) You are Argives, hard-working, honest, loyal,
clever, creative, courteous representatives of Argos, and of her glorious
past. Good luck in the games!
You are a Megarian!
Be proud that you are a Greek and come from such a respected
city-state as Megara. As a coastal city-state, your history is
similar to Corinth's, your neighbor. You believe your schools are as fine
as those of Athens, although you have no doubt that any Athenian would
disagree. You have been trained in the arts and the sciences. As a child,
you were taught at home by your mother, or by a male
slave.
From age 7-14, you attended a day school near your home where you
memorized poetry and studied drama, public speaking, reading, writing,
science, poetry, the flute, the lyre, and a great deal of mathematics.
Like most Megarians, you love money and have been trained to be an
excellent accountant. You attended a higher school, and went to military
school. Your polis is famous for its glorious textiles, which are
the envy of other Greek city-states. You have, of course, your own
coinage, an idea you copied from Corinth.
Literature, culture, art, and
businesses thrive in your city-state. You believe you offer your citizens
even more freedom than Athens. (After the Peloponnesian War, Athens'
famous philosopher, Plato, moved to Megara, where he remained for 10
years, so perhaps you are right! You also founded the city of Byzantium,
also called Constantinople, now called Istanbul, way back in 630 BCE.) You
are proud of your city-state's past and present achievements, and proud to
be a Megarian!
Megarian
Goals and Behavior at the Olympics: If
you can't win, help Argos and Corinth to defeat those boastful Athenians
and those militant fanatics, the Spartans. If it comes down to Athens or
Sparta, cheer for Sparta, loudly. (They might be militant, but those are
good friends to have in time of war! Besides, you are tired of hearing
about wonderful Athens.) You are Megarians, proud of your history, your flourishing
businesses, your world famous textiles, your freedoms, your schools,
your coastal advantage - your rich and vibrant city-state, Megara. Good
luck in the games!
More
About the Ancient Greek Olympics
The
Olympic Games & Flashmovie
Story
of the Olympic Games (British Museum)
Ancient
Olympics compared to Modern Olympics
Ancient
Olympic Games
Olympic
Event Match Up Game
Go
for the Gold - It's Greek to Me Game
Citizens
of Athens & Citizens of Sparta
The
ancient city-state of Olympia - home of the Ancient Olympics
To learn more about
Ancient Greece,
click
on Apollo
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