It was important that they came together in such events to reinforce their common Hellenic identity because for the most part they resided in a geography that was more conducive to isolation. As the games grew in fame over time, so did the sanctuary at Olympia. The grounds of the Altis became adorned with offerings by wealthy individuals and event winners, and states constructed treasuries to shelter their votive offerings.
The treasuries were built mostly during the Archaic era at the foot of Mt. Kronion, and the only monumental building was the temple of Hera which was built in BCE. Nested among the trees in an unobtrusive manner were smaller buildings like the Bouleuterion and the Prytaneion. Other features of the sacred grove included the altar of Zeus, the Hippodameion, the tomb of Pelops, the stadion, and the hippodromos.
In BCE the sanctuary saw a flurry of building and renovating activity, and the temple of Zeus was erected shortly thereafter dedicated in BCE , during a time when Olympia reached its zenith. The temple of Zeus was adorned with some of the best examples of Greek art of the early Classical Era, bestowed with sculptures in-the-round on its pediments and deep reliefs on the metopes.
The famous sculptor, Pheidias was the creator of the gold and ivory statue of Zeus which was appeared seated on a throne inside the temple. This statue was included in the seven wonders of the world. The snow-covered Alps sparkled in the sunlight that bathed the winter resort of Chamonix, France, on January 25, There are two layers to every water polo match: the graceful athleticism above the water, and the rough play and cheap shots hidden beneath the surface. The Melbourne Olympics were a lot like a game of water polo.
The Olympic Games aim to help build a better, more peaceful world through sports. But in the year history of the modern Games, the quadrennial international competitions have been marred by geopolitical drama, resulting in cancellations, bans and boycotts.
Some Games, such Singer Tina Turner was the main draw at the opening ceremony in San Francisco for the first Gay Games in , but city supervisor Doris Ward may have received the biggest reaction from the crowd. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Forgotten Games. Winter Olympics Technology. Michael Phelps Shatters Olympic Record. Flashback: The Winter Olympics. Winter Olympics History The Winter Olympics are an international sports competition held every four years.
Winter Olympics Technology With icy conditions, slick surfaces and freezing temperatures, technological innovation is especially important for the athletes and organizers of the Winter Olympics. Curiously, this act of aggression against the gods abiding in the sky is described at an earlier point in this same text as an attack against the gods who abide on Mount Olympus We see at work here an interaction between a later post-Mycenaean model that pictures the divine abode as the sky and an earlier Mycenaean model that pictures this same abode as a mountain.
The Giants fail, of course, and the futility of their attempt to reach the abode of the gods in the sky is even actualized in this story by the very idea that it takes three of the highest mountains, piled one on top of the other, to reach the sky. Highest mountains where? In the Homeric text at Odyssey The whole region of Thessaly itself, bounded on its east side by the coastline of the Aegean Sea, was shielded from access along that coastline by these three mountains Olympus and Ossa and Pelion, one next to the other, from north to south.
And here it is relevant for me to recall what is said by Herodotus 7. As we saw there, Herodotus thinks of Thessaly as the actual location of Mount Olympus. But there is more to it. As Herodotus also says again, 7. The mountain ranges of Olympus and Ossa are split by a narrow pass, through which the river Peneios flows into the sea, from west to east.
In describing the routes contemplated by Xerxes as leader of the massive forces that were about to invade mainland Greece, Herodotus yet again, 7. There we saw that the city of Pisa, once the capital of a state called Pisatis, was situated between two mountains called Olympus and Ossa Strabo 8. And now I can add another relevant fact: over time, the political existence of Pisa as a city and of the Pisatis as a state was obliterated by a deadly rival, the neighboring state of Elis, and this obliteration resulted in a takeover, by Elis, of a sacred site called Olympia, which had once been under the control of Pisa.
And here I have finally reached a point where my exercise in connecting the dots has led from Olympus all the way to Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics. I postpone for a future posting my further comments on the loss of Olympia by Pisa—and on the eventual obliteration of this city along with the entire state of Pisatis.
For now it is enough for me to emphasize that the sacred site known as Olympia used to be under the control of Pisa before it came under the control of Elis. Before I conclude for now, I highlight here one more reference, also stemming from the fifth century BCE, to the connection of Pisa with Olympia, site of the Olympics. This reference shows that the city of Pisa, which as we have seen is linked with its own Mount Olympus, is also linked with the Olympian gods.
As we read in Herodotus 2. Also living there, on and off, are other gods, and the canonical number for all these gods, Zeus included, is twelve. Dow, S. Fifty Years of Sathers. Matzouranis, D. Nagy, G. Homer the Preclassic. Printed Online version. Berkeley and Los Angeles. Fearn, 41— The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours. Cambridge, MA. Classical Inquiries. Nilsson, M. The Mycenaean Origins of Greek Mythology. Sather Classical Lectures 8. Paperback edition, with new introduction and bibliography by E.
Original publication Privitera, G. Sale, W. Schironi, F.
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