The Olympic Games – A Brief (And Bizarre) History
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of modern-day Olympics. With so much drama, so much romance, so much pizzazz, it is hard to imagine this world-wide spectacle being anything less than perfect. But you don’t have to dig too deeply to discover a humble and oft-times peculiar origin. Truly, it has taken several decades of Hollywood magic to produce the polished sports event we take for granted today.
According to Roman legend, the original Olympic Games were founded by none other than Heracles, the super human son of Zeus, no doubt as an opportunity to demonstrate his god like strength in front of the ladies. An alternative legend tells the story of Pelops, a Greek romantic, and father of the Olympics. In a desperate attempt to win the hand of his bride, Hippodamia, Pelops challenged her father, the King of Pisa, to a chariot race. To give himself the edge, Pelops replaced the king’s linchpin with one made of wax, which melted during the race, throwing the king from his chariot and killing him. Upon winning the race, the girl, and the entire empire, Pelops declared this the first Olympic Games – forever instilling the qualities of cheating and deception upon the games.
The ancient Olympics had their own version of celebrity appearances, including Homer, Socrates, Aristotle and Hippocrates. Even Plato got in on the games, winning not one but two gold medals in the pankration event.The original “games” really only entailed one game, a 192 meter dash known as “the stade” – which was run entirely in the nude (once again giving Heracles an excuse to strut his stuff). In fact, the word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnos”, which literally means “school for naked exercise”. Later additions to the