Preview

Greek Prevalence Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
803 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Greek Prevalence Essay
Greek Prevalence: Sports Since ancient times Greece has been one of the most influential cultures to ever grace the Earth. Whether it be entertainment, education, or philosophy, Greece has had a big impact throughout history. They were pioneers and one of the greatest things they did pioneer were the olympics which are still prevalent to this day, and it is not excluded to certain people; It is something people from all countries and cultures can take pride in. When talking about a tradition that has lasted centuries even millennials it is best to start at the origin to dissect why it is so important in today’s world. The olympics originated from the thought of honoring the Olympic God Zeus through a public showing of physical prowess and …show more content…
Each sport had its own level of brutality; Many people died taking part in these sports, but one of the most known games was the pancration which mixed boxing and wrestling in a full out no-holds-barred match. The only ways a winner could be declared is if he raised his hand in defeat or someone lay unconscious on the ground. For the first years of the Olympics, only freeborn males could take part in the games as well as the slaves who were exclusively allowed to compete in the horse races. Women were not allowed to view the events in the audience much less compete in them. Also, for awhile Greeks were the only people allowed to compete or attend the Olympics until later on Romans were granted entry into The Games. The Games were also a great place for the Greeks to show off their arts. Their great architecture and sculpture were put on display for everyone to see. Some poets even wrote odes for the winners of competitions. That wasn’t the only thing winners were rewarded with though. They also received wreaths, olive leaves, an abundance of material gifts, holes were cut into walls surrounding their home cities, and they even were titled as heroes by everyone. And artistic champions received olive wreaths and high

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Greeks affected sports in western civilization also. Myron's famous sculpture, the Discus Thrower (doc.8) is an example of a kind of sport in ancient Greek times that resemble the modern day javelin mixed with Frisbee. Greece was the first civilization to fuse sports and make it into a tradition. Greece was the hosts of the first Olympics, the sports that this involved were running, wrestling, boxing, javelin, and many more sports. In modern day western…

    • 382 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In 1892, Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympic movement with intentions of unifying the world as one. When he spoke to the athletic society of France, he knew that something amazing was going to come out of bringing the Olympics back to life (Document 1). Although he could have some unknown selfish motive for starting the Olympics again, he is a reliable source. When the games had only been going for a few years in 1908, a mere two percent of the athletes participating were women, one of which being a British archer names Sybil Newall (Document 2). Coubertin’s original goal being to unite people across the world was successful because the percentage of women athletes grew to 29 percent in 1992 (Document 8). Women’s perspective also changed about the Olympics. Hassiba Boulmerka, an Algerian female competitor, discussed how winning in the Olympics gave her self confidence and pride to her country. The Olympics also united countries together for friendly competition, as show from a quote by Bob Matthias, an American competitor, who discussed the intense rivalry between the USA and the USSR (Document 4). Not only did the Olympic games unite genders from within a nation, but also it united both genders with the people of the world.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Olympics Apwh

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There were many factors that helped shape the Olympic Games from 1892 to 2002. Originally, Olympic Games were conducted in Ancient Greece in hopes of uniting its city-states Athens and Sparta and to promote peace through sports activity. When Olympic Games were resurrected in 1892, they had the same goal of promoting peace in the world. Over time factors such as nationalism, The Cold War, changes in global economy and a rise in feminism facilitated changes in the Olympic Games. However, a great additional document to add would be a personal letter from one of the German athletes or a bar graph before the world wars had taken place.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another reflection of the Olympics is the state of the economy. If you read document 5, it talks about a major from Japan wanted the 1964 games to be held in his country. Ryutaro Azuma wanted the games to be held in Tokyo because he believed that it would help the economy and the trades in Japan get stronger. It worked well and in document 7 you can see that Japan is one of the countries, as well as the United States, that gets selected to be one of nine of the sponsors for the 1988 Olympic Games. To be able to become a sponsor, your country has to be able to avail itself of an opportunity to display its industrial and economic power to a worldwide televised…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1936 Nazi Olympics

    • 630 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Olympics throughout history have been a monumental stepping stone into greatness. The Olympics have been recorded all the back into mythological times. The first Olympiad of the modern day was held in Athens, Greece in 1896 (Addis Pg.2). Since the modern Olympics, most countries have participated in or have heard of it. Every game is different but the most politically different games were the games of 1936, hosted in Berlin, Germany.…

    • 630 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    An athlete stands alone, the crowd cheering; finally all of their hard work has paid off, and the stars align to send a bright beam of glory and honor for the winning athlete to soak in. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, on April 6, 1896. However, the ancient Olympic Games were established during the Geometric period (900-700 BCE), and were greatly influenced by the Dorians, one of the four major ethnic groups of Greece. The Dorians were extremely vigorous, warlike, and they possessed a highly developed sense of competition. Perhaps this is the reason that athletics was founded upon their influence on Greek society.…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Olympic Games were held in Athens near Mount Olympus. The Games were originally created to honor Zeus. It has many different events, most of them still played today in Track & Field. The winners became celebrities.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It amazes me how much the stories, fables, and accounts of Greek mythology has shaped an important vital part of many people's lives including my own. Many professional athletes start his Olympic athletes and progress in certain areas become our role models and influential persons that many young people aspire to become. The Greek gods excelled in some sort of the way that eventually turned into an Olympic event, such as running, jumping, and throwing. The reason why Greek mythology is important to me is how it shaped and influenced the sports of today and many of my interests and hobbies. The possibility of having a neutral competition that only required skill and physical attributes without political or religious overtones to determine the success of countries is much better than having bloodshed and wars.…

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Greek civilization, in many ways, was the most advanced population of it's time. The Greeks have created a great stir in modern day values, events, and philosophy, and they were just getting warmed up. The question, "What did the Greeks contribute to modern society", was posed, and I will begin to answer. The Greeks created a vast religious system, filled with heroes, gods, villains, monsters, and more. This has fascinated us, and has even influenced some of our brands of clothing, Nike for example (Nike being the goddess of victory). Speaking of Nike, the Olympic games were held in celebration of her, and was often seen as the main event. She was held in the hand of the statue of Athena during the games, and the olive wreaths were actually…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Olympics has always been a memorable sporting event to be a part of, whether you’re an athlete or a spectator. For those who are not familiar with the event, the Olympics is an event where multiple sports are played out by thousands of athletes from around the world of at least 200 countries. The event is held every 4 years in the summer. Today, the Olympics has expanded into various events for everyone to adapt such as from creating the winter games for winter games to the Paralympic games for athletes with disability. A lot of historical things have happened in the Olympics from Women being allowed to compete in the games to the USA’s miracle on ice moment.…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ancient Olympics Changes

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages

    As the Games grew more sports were added to gain more participants. As stated before in the first games the only sport that was competed in was the 192 meter foot race called the strade. As the Olympics started to become more popular, sports like the diaulos, a longer there and back race, the dolichos, which is a even longer race, boxing, wrestling, and the Pancration, a race that combines all types of physical attacks used in combat, were also incorporated. Horse-chariot racing and mule racing were also added along with many others. Since the Games were considered such a big event, many city-states would send their athletes to compete to display their power and attain glory for their…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Olympics Essay

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The first Olympics are thought to have been traced all the way back to 776 BC. In origin, The Olympic games were a tribute to the gods like Zuce. These games took place on the Plains of Olympia. Back then there was only one game, the Stadion. This was a foot race that resembles the modern 200M races. The games were clearly much smaller in contras to our current 25+ events for just summer Olympics alone. Now the Olympics are hosted in country’s all around the world, changing the location every time the games are held.…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The value of the awards were also very important to not only the athletes but their families and the people of Greece. Winners in the olympics became very widely known and praised for winning. Now the olympics unite different cultures and promotes peace and unity throughout the…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greek History

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Greeks' history began around 700 B.C. with festivals honoring their many gods. One god, Dionysus, was honored with an unusual festival called the City Dionysia. The revelry-filled festival was led by drunken men dressed up in rough goat skins (because goats were thought sexually potent) who would sing and play in choruses to welcome Dionysus. Tribes competed against one another in performances, and the best show would have the honor of winning the contest. Of the four festivals in Athens (each reflecting seasonal changes), plays were only presented at one festival--City Dionysia. Historians believe that the Greeks patterned their celebrations after the traditional Egyptian pageants honoring Osiris.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This was another way in which the Olympic Games shifted in emphasis away from the city-state. If Demetrius of Corinth won the running race, then he was celebrated as Demetrius and not Demetrius of Corinth. This was to make sure that battlefield prejudices didn't spill onto the Olympic athletic fields. The ancient Olympic Games were primarily a part of a religious festival in honour of Zeus, the father of the Greek gods and goddesses.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays