David Terry
There are many people who are fascinated to know where, when, how and why the ancient Olympic Games came into existence. Some of these questions appear easy to answer. For example, it is commonly believed that they originated at Olympia, in southern Greece in 776 BC.1 Recent Research, however, suggest that this date is not historical.2 Two other questions I pose are equally difficult to answer with any certainty.
We shall look at the history and geography of Greece over the period 1700-700 BC as a background to Olympic origins. Excavations at Olympia will help to determine chronological happenings. The Dorian invasion of the Peloponnese of southern Greece is interesting for its link with Olympia's early history and will give us clues. Ancient Greek writers both help and confuse an understanding of the truth of Olympic origins so we must be careful with our choice of information and its interpretation. Parallels with other Greek games or festivals are sometimes helpful towards a solution and Greek myth and legend show insight of the religious origins - if fact can be extracted from fiction.3
Olympia stands on the river Alpheios in the north west Peloponnese about 20 kilometres from the sea. The earliest evidence of habitation at Olympia is of six apsidal shaped houses, dated by the archaeologist Alfred Mallwitz, to about 1700 BC.4 Who were the people who lived in these houses? Happily there are some clues. There have been several invasions of immigrants from north of the Balkan peninsular between 2000 and 1100 BC, the Dorian invasion being the last of these. It is interesting to learn of a tribe of Ionians who migrated from northern Greece perhaps about 1700 BC into the Alpheios valley. This migration is confirmed by the Alpheios river being previously known as the river Ion and of several ancient sacred places of that name in the neighbourhood.5
The people who lived in the vicinity of Olympia prior to the Dorian invasion, resided in twelve Mycenaean settlements along a 20 kilometre stretch of the Alpheios river in about 1150 BC.6 The tribe living there may have been the Pisatans, who organised the Olympic Games some hundreds of years later. The religion they practised was matriachal and involved the sacrifice of animals, and perhaps even humans, to Gaia, goddess of mother earth.7 There is said to have been a cave at the foot of Mount Cronus, which rises steeply from the later sacred precincts of Olympia. An oracle or prediction, secret to the recipient was said to be given here. Located nearby was an altar in the shape of a mound. It was here that the local tribe gathered to sacrifice to their gods at times of crop sowing and harvest.8
Mycenaean sculptures and funeral vases, known as kraters, show evidence of chariot racing, running and boxing. A 13th century Mycenaean vase found in Cyprus shows boxing, running and nudity.9 Homer describes funeral and celebratory games in the Iliad and Odyssey respectively which some believe to belong to the late Mycenaean period.10 These sports appear to have little to do with the current Mycenaean religion of Greece. Such sporting events may have been adopted after 1500 BC, from sporting practices in Crete. The Mycenaeans did have much contact with Cretans at that time though sport seems to have been the prerogative of the ruling class, perhaps of the Mycenaean cities which were located mostly on the eastern side of Greece.11
North west Greece was invaded by the Aitolian tribe as part of the Dorian invasion or migration. The Aitolians were living in the general area of the north bank of the Gulf of Patras and probably had experienced the sporting ethos of the eastern Mycenaeans. Led by Oxylus, the Aitolians crossed the gulf during the Dorian invasion, defeated the Epians and captured Elis, which is probably now Amalias, situated on the river Peneus.12 The invaders eventually called themselves Eleans and were probably a later phase of the Dorian invasion. It was some time after their first settlement in the Peneus valley that they expanded westwards and southwards to reach the Alpheios valley and Olympia where they took control of the Olympic Games.13
We know something of Olympia for the period 900 - 700 BC thanks to the work of archaeologists. They found fourteen thousand votive offerings of Argive or Arcadian manufacture at Olympia together with bronze figurines of gods, charioteers and ceramic figures, some of which were made in Asia Minor.14 The small tripod cauldrons were probably votive offerings to the gods, but have also been identified as sporting prizes in Homer's works.15 Yet even after 100 years of excavations at Olympia, the absolute dates of these objects are highly controversial.
We can now ask the question, was it the Eleans who reached Olympia soon after 900 BC, and instigated a new order there, which lead to the establishment of the Olympic Games? Unfortunately, our best source, Homer, makes no mention of the Dorian invasion in his works, which have been dated to about 750 BC for the Iliad and 725 BC for the Odyssey.16 We are therefore left with the possibility of i) Homer's works being composed before the Dorian invasion or ii) the so-called Dorian Invasion being a legend of later mythologists.
To add more controversy, some researchers have questioned whether the dark ages of Greece, say 1150 - 900 BC, really existed at all. We must understand that Greek dating is dependent on Egyptian chronology by linking historical points of contact between the two nations.17 If we remove 250 years from Greek history we find better harmony between the last of the Mycenaeans and the new regime.
The old religion of Gaia, goddess of mother earth, had little to do with sport in a direct sense. On the other hand the new religion, probably introduced by the Dorian tribes after 900 BC, did. We need to look at the attributes of two gods, Zeus and Hera and a legendary king of Pisa called Pelops.
In the course of religious change we can identify Hera, the goddess of vegetation, women and marriage. Hera was popular with the Dorians of Argos and appears to have replaced Geia of the old religion at Olympia.18 A temple to Hera is the first known sacred building at Olympia. It was constructed about 600 BC, with the accumulation of donations to the sanctuary.19 In the late 6th century we hear of foot races for girls dedicated to Hera.20
Mythology tells us King Pelops gained his kingship of Pisa by means of a chariot race to win the hand of the daughter of the previous king. He lived in a matriarchal society where royal decent was in the female line.21 Pelops gave his name to the Peloponnese and had precedence over Zeus at sacrifices which supposes he arrived at Olympia before Zeus.22
Zeus was considered the father of a family of gods. The Greeks believed he lived on top of the highest mountain in Greece called Mount Olympus with Hera as his wife and a family of gods, and together they were called the twelve Olympians.23 Homer mentions nine of them in his day.24 It is almost certain that Olympia achieved its name through this association with Zeus and Mount Olympus, replacing a previous name, probably Pisa.
Who were the population of Olympia and the Alpheios valley in the 9th century BC? Archaeological evidence suggests that only six of the previous twelve Mycenaean settlements were populated at the time of the Dorian invasion.25 Some Mycenaeans of the Argolid area had fled into the mountains of Arcadia, which bounded Olympia to the east, at the time of the Dorian invasion.26 There was a trade route across Arcadia from Argos to Olympia and this may have been the route Hera and Pelops had travelled to their new home.27 Of course, there were the invading Eleans who may have brought the god Zeus with them to Olympia.
There appears to have been a new order of things at Olympia shortly before 700 BC. The digging of some 200 wells indicate a larger number of people attended the festival at Olympia. At the same time some thousands of votive offerings were broken and put to one side. Offerings of armour were being made instead.28 Had control of the Sanctuary passed into the hands of others? This seems most likely. The tribute of armour, together with games victors of the first 11 Olympiads came from the Peloponnese and suggests a regional Games.29 The fame of Olympia had spread throughout the Peloponnese. The festival was being supported by all the tribal states in southern Greece under the influence of Sparta. The exception being Argos and Corinth who had resisted integration with Sparta. From a geographical point of view Olympia was both neutral and central to the Spartan controlled areas of Sparta, Messinia, Arcadia, Elis and Achea.30
There is a problem in determining the precise date for the founding of the Olympic Games, a difficulty that writers both ancient and modern have found.31 The traditional date of 776 BC is widely accepted, but on what criteria there is no certainty. Festivals or Games in Greece have commonly been held at intervals of one year, but also two, four or eight years have been recorded. There is good reason to believe that the two and four-yearly festivals are sub-divisions of an eight year cycle.
The Greeks calculated time by the lunar month and the Olympics were held at alternative intervals of 49 and 50 lunar months in historical times, which added together, make eight solar years.32 We shall presently see that cases can be made for both annual and eight-yearly games in the pre-historical period.
Springtime fertility and late summer harvest festivals occurred on an annual basis in Greece. The eight-yearly festivals are thought to be commemorative and can be linked to the 8th century Greek Calendar. The four sacred games, Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian and Nemean, are all said to have been founded to commemorate dead heroes in celebratory funeral games.33 Formerly there were three eight-yearly festivals at Delphi, two of which were reorganised into the Pythian four-yearly Games. Also of interest, there were eight-yearly Games at both Thebes and Lycaeus.
Apart from an annual Pisatan festival, there is also reference to the smaller and larger festivals at Olympia. From this we can infer that the smaller is annual and the larger four-yearly or eight-yearly.34 There is no eight-yearly festival recorded for Olympia, but surely there was one at an early period?
The importance of the Olympic Games to the Greeks was such that they started numbering them. The historian Thucydides, about 420 BC, is the first person known to use the numbering of the Olympiads when he headed chapters in a book with relevant numbers.35 Some 20 years later, Hippias of Elis compiled a list of victors from the earliest times.36 Aristotle and others added to it. The list is chronological in terms of numbered Olympiads and relates to a commencement year of 776 BC, if the four-year interval given by the poet Pindar in 476 BC is applied.37 But the concept of equating years to numbered Olympiads is a modern one. The ancient writer, Strabo, objected to the antiquity of the Games on the grounds that they were not mentioned by Homer.38
The Olympic victors list is the oldest known chronological list in Greece. The next oldest is that of the Spartan kings which commenced in 757 or 756 BC,39 and who are believed to have served an eight-years term. The tribes had their memorisers, which gives this date some validity. Olympia had its priests in historical times, but is unlikely to have permanently appointed ones before Hera's temple was built in the late 7th century B.C.
We know from the existing Olympic victor lists that the first 11 Games were regional which presupposes they were preceded by local ones.40 There was a major reorganisation shortly before 700 BC, as demonstrated by the archaeologists, and another in 680 BC when the Games were extended from one to two days.41 The digging of wells indicates greater numbers of people attending the Games. Assuming the Games before 680 BC were annual, we have a starting point for the regional Games at 704 BC 42 which provides some sort of agreement with the facts. The Games prior to 704 BC would have been local. The most recent study on the controversial subject suggest on grounds of archaeology and literal criticism that the origins of the Olmpic Games should be down-dated and synchronised with the origins of the other pan-Hellenic Games, all of which were only founded in the early 6th century BC.43
The Greek calendar was controlled by the priests of the Delphic Oracle, who harmonised the lunar with the solar calendar. The calendar first appears to have been based on eight years.44 Although a four year cycle was introduced at Delphi for the Pythian Games in 586 B.C. The four-year cycle was probably introduced at Olympia in 680 B.C when chariot racing was introduced. If the Games had grown to the extent of becoming a problem to organise on an annual basis, a four-yearly local custom may have been followed.
Philostatatus, the ancient sophist, suggests that the origin of the Games was based upon a race that was run by young men to the altar of Pelops or Zeus. The former altar is more likely as Pelops was the hero god of the Pisatans the early inhabitants.45 This would perpetuate the former marriage custom of racing for a bride, which is interesting, as marriage is the common factor between Zeus, Hera and Pelops. It has been put forward by several modern writers that the earliest running course terminated at the altar, although the ground sloped away at this place. It is unlikely that the slope would have worried the runners in the early days of the Games, before the race course was moved away from the altar. It is also significant to note that the earliest Isthmian running course at Isthmia near Corinth finished within a few steps of the altar. 46
The Greeks were competitive people, a feature which emerges in their many festivals where there were competitions for athletic sports of military connotation. The stade was the normal distance armies stood apart from each other before confrontation. Foot soldiers needed to run or charge at the enemy over a stade distance to make contact, and once engaged, they might need to strike and grapple with an opponent. Javelin and stone throwers needed to much less than a stade from the enemy to make contact with their missiles. All these activities have connections with athletics in Homer's works, that is, javelin and discus throwing, running, boxing and wrestling.47
There was another side to their competitiveness, the creative arts of dance, music etc. Did not the poet Hesiod win a choral competition around 700 BC?48 As the Gods became humanised after the Dorian invasion, the competitiveness was expressed in these festivals and games according to cultural, background. Among the Dorians it was athletic endeavour that developed strongly, while the Athenians in their sphere of influence supported more the creative arts.49
To conclude the only question about the site of Olympia is whether it was formerly Pisa, or more likely, an outpost of the Pisatian community.
As to why the Games came into being arises from the combination of the early deities at Olympia and the humanising of them. The added ingredient was competition in athletics. Here was a practical way to venerate the gods. If a god was a kind of superior human, then what better way to delight him than with deploying superior athletes.
As to how this all came about we rely on what the archaeologists tell us and the ancient writers relate or infer. Having established the myth of Pelops at Olympia, there was the excuse to perpetuate a foot race which the records show as being the only event for the first 13 Olympiads. The games of Pelops became famous. He gave his name to the Peloponnese and the Games became regional within the Peloponnese. To become wholly national they had to be endorsed by the Greek father of Gods, Zeus, who lived on top of mount Olympus, hence the Olympic Games was so named.The annual Pisatan festival probably began in Mycenaean times or earlier when the veneration at a watering place was in vogue, that is the Alpheios river. Our evidence of the 9th century BC suggests a revival of activity specifically at Olympia. The best estimate by the Greeks themselves for the creation of the Games was 776 BC. If the Games became regional by 704 BC, then a developing period of 72 years as a local Games from 776 BC is not unreasonable. Sometime in the early 7th century they must have been known as Olympic. Such conjecture of dates allows for Homer not being aware of them in the second half of the 8th century B.C. and who is to argue with Homer?
Notes
1 Benny J Peiser: The Crime of Hippias. Zur Kontroverse um die Olympionikenliste. In: STADION. International Journal of the History of Sport XVI,1 (1990), pp. 37-65.
2 Michael Sakellariou, Prof. Of Ancient Greek History at the Université de Lyon accepts the first Olympic Games occurred in 776 B.C; see The Formation of the Greek World p 60 in History of the Hellenic World: The Archaic Period, 1971, Ekdotike Athenon, Athens.
3 For the Dorian invasion see History of the Hellenic World: Prehistory and Protohistory by George A Chrstopoulos, Ekdotike Athenon, Athens; Compare the history of the Pythian Games with those of the Olympic; For the Olympic Games see Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals by E Norman Gardiner, 1910, MacMillan & Co., London and for the Pythian Games see Delphi by Peter Hoyle, 1967, Cassell & Co, London. For Olympic Myth and Legend see Pausanias Guide to Greece, translated and annotated by Peter Levi, 1971, 2 Vols. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, U.K.
4 Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia by Alfred Mallwitz pp 79-109 in The Archaeology of the Olympics by Wendy J Raschke, 1988, Univ. of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, USA - being the papers delivered at international symposium "The Archaeology of the Olympics" at U.C.LA, Los Angeles, 5-6 April 1984.
5 A group of Ionians migrated from north west Thessaly after 1900 B.C. and settled in the vicinity of Olympia, south of the Alpheios river, which was then known as the river Ion. Linguistic and Ethnic Groups in Prehistoric Greece by Prof. Michael B Sakellariou p 375 in History of the Hellenic World: Prehistory and Protohistory by George A Christopoulos, 1974, Ekdotike Athenon, Athens.
6 Ibid. p 217.
7 Geia, or Ge was the personification of the earth and probably a mother goddess in origin and is refereed to by the Geek poet Hesiod c 700 B.C.; see Pocket Guide: The Greek and Roman Gods by Jennifer Laing, 1982, David & Charles, North Pomfret, Vermont, USA p 6, p 20.
8 The sanctuary cave of Geia had an altar and professed an oracle. It was located in the hillside behind the Sicyonian Treasurery building. Olympia the Great Centre of Ancient Greek Civilisation by Cleanthis Palaeologos in the Report of the Fifteenth Session of the International Olympic Academy at Olympia 1975, 1976, Athens. p 57. Pausanias 1.5.5.
9 The Eternal Olympics by Nicolaos Yalouris, 1979, Ekdotike Athenon, Athens, p22.
10 See the carefully translated excerpts in; Funeral Games for Patroclus, Iliad XXIII 256-897 and After Dinner Games in Phaeacia, Odyssey VIII 97-384 and An Impromptu Boxing Match, Odyssey XVIII 66-101 in Sources For The History of Greek Athletics by Rachel Sargent Robinson, 1955, privately published, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
11 The Late Minoan Period c 1500-1100 B.C. pp 26-37 which give economic and social evidence in Cretan Cults and Festivals by R.F. Willetts, 1962, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London; Pre-Classical From Crete to Archaic Greece by John Boardman, 1967, Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondswoth, Middlesex, U.K., pp 26-28 which gives art evidence.
12 Pausanias Guide to Greece, pp 203-204, V.4.1.
13 This may have been as late at the 8thor 7th century B.C.; The State of Elis and the Sanctuary of Olympia by Dr. Nichlaos Yalouris, p 86 of the Report of the Tenth Session of the International Olympic Academy at Olympia, 1970, Athens 1970.
14 Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia, pp 79-109.
15 See Iliad XXXIII. 256 et al.
16 Stephen G Miller, Professor of Classical Archaeology, in his book Arete, 1991, Univ. of California Press gives the dates ca. 750 B.C and ca. 725 B.C as the possible dates for the Iliad and Odyssey respectively; p 1 & p 14.
17 For an in-depth discussion regarding lost centuries see Centuries of Darkness by Peter James, 1991, Jonathan Cape, London. Professor Manolis Andronicos of the University of Thessalonike notes that Greek literature disappeared between 1200 and 750 B.C and Greek Cypriot literature 1100-700 B.C. in his chapter on Geometric Art 1050-700 B.C. published in History of the Hellenic World: The Archaic Period, p 206. The Dorian invasion or migration which appears to have happened is waves did not take more than 100 years to achieve. A problem is the few number of pottery sherds found during the Greek dark ages.
18 A Pocket Guide: The Greek and Roman Gods, p 35. Perhaps Hera is just another name for Geia?
19 Tradition has it that the Temple of Hera was first constructed about 668 B.C., Olympia by Ludwig Dress, 1968, Pall Mall Press Ltd., London p 112.
20 Pausanias V.16.
21 Pelops succeeded to the kingship of Pisa by defeating king Oenomaus in a chariot race and as a prize won the hand of his daughter Hippodamia. Ibid p 15.
23 Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals, p 38
24 The story of Zeus can be read in The Twelve Olympians by Charles Seltman, 1952, Max Parrish, London, pp 37-53.
25 Ibid p 13.
26 History of the Hellenic World: Prehistory and Protohistory, p 299.
27 The mountainous Arcadia was a refuge from the invading Dorians. The Birth of Greek Civilization by Pavec Oliva, 1981, Orbis, London, p 44
28 Among the dedications excavated at Olympia were thousands of small tripods dating from the 10th to 8th centuries B.C. of Argive or Arcadian manufacture. First Olympic Games of 776 B.C. by Hugh M Lee p 111 in Archaeology of the Olympics.
29 Cult and Competitions at Olympia, pp 81-85.
30 At the time the dedications of small tripods and ceramics stopped armour and weapons replaces them. Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia, p 103
31 The fame of Olympia appears to have been advanced under Spartan influence. Olympia was in a neutral location with cooler weather than most other parts of Greece. It was more or less central to the states of Elis, Lakonika, Messenia, Arkadia and Achaia, (a Spartan alliance) who provided its early competitors. The other two Peloponisian states, Corinth and Argos where then in conflict with the Spartans.
32 For Strabo see Lempriere's Classical Dictionary by John Lemprière, 1994 (revised edition), Bracken Books, London p 410 (Strabo 8); For Mallwitz see Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia, p 96; For Lee see The First Olympic Games of 776 B.C. p 110. Also On the Authenticy of the Olympic Register by J.P. Mahaffy p 164ff in the Journal of Hellinic Studies, volume 2, 1881; Die Entstehung der Olymionikenlisten by A Körte in Herms 39 p224ff 1904; Olympia und Seine Spiele im Wandel der Zeiten by H.V. Hermann in Gymnasium 80, 1973 p 173ff; Olympia in der Politik der griechischen Staatenwelt by A Hönle, 1972, Bebenhauen p 6ff.
33 Sisto Favre claims, without supporting authority, the 49 or 50 lunar month 4 year cycle was is use in the matriarchal period as kings were tested for their virility and athletic fitness every four years. Palingenesis of the Olympic Spirit by Sisto Favre in the Report of the Fifth Session of the International Academy, Olympia, 1965, p 18
34 The four crown games were originally dedicated to four dead heroes and later rededicated as follows: Olympic - Pelops then Zeus, Pythian - Apollo no change, Isthmian - Melikertes-Palaimon and Nemian - Opheltes-Archemoros.
35 There was an annual festival to Zeus at Olympia (Pisa). Olympia p 24 (Anecdotae Graecae. p 95 of the Siebenkees edition) Also mention ed is a Great Olympics. Olympia p 24 (Lucian, Herodotus sive Aetion 1)
36 Thucydides 5,49,3,8, lived 470-391 B.C.
37 The Olympic Games by Moses. I. Finlay and H.W. Pleket, 1976, Chatto and Windus Ltd., London p 12.
38 The Extant Odes of Pindar: Translated into English by Ernest Myers, 1874, MacMillan & Co., London p 40 (11th Olympic Ode)
39 Dating by Olympiads by Nicolaos D Papachadiz p 18 in History of the Hellenic World: The Archaic Period.
40 There were 7 winners from Messenia, 3 from Elis and I from Achaia. The Eternal Olympics, p 289.
41 Cult and Competition at Olympia, p 98-99.
42 Ibid, p p 101.
43 Benny J Peiser: Das Dunkle Zeitalter Olympias. Kritische Untersuchung der historischen, archäologischen und naturgeschichtlichen Probleme der griechischen Achsenzeit am Beispiel der Olympischen Spiele(=European University Studies, Archaeology, vol. 45) Frankfurt, Berlin, Bern, New York, Paris, Wien: Peter Lang Verlag"].
44 The priests controlled the oracle from its establishment in the 8th century. It was based upon a year of 354 days or 12 lunar months. After 8 years, 3 months was added to harmonise with solar year. The establishment of a System of Chronology by Nicholaos Papachadzis in History of the Hellenic World: The Archaic Period p 19. The Pythian Games at Delphi adopted a 4 year cycle in 586 or 582 B.C. which supposes the 49 and 50 month lunar 4 year cycles had come into operation at that time.
45 Philosratus Gymnastics 5. p 214 in Sources For The History of Greek Athletics. See note 46.
46 The stade race is reported by Philostratus, circa A.D. 230 to have finished at the altar. The winner having the right to light the sacred fire. Philostratus , Gymnastics, 5. It is not clear whether it is the altar of Pelops or that of Zeus. Pelops is to be preferred as he had a competitive background among the Pisatans while Zeus is more strongly connected to the Eleans who followed the Pisatans in the Olympic tradition
47 In Cult and Competition Locations at Olympia. p 95. Mallwiz writes of a 5 metre change in level between the Metroon and the altar of Zeus, but runners terminating at Pelops' altar would have had a smoother course to run over.
48 See Iliad, chariot racing 270-652, boxing 653-696, wrestling 696-733, running 734-796, discus 830-845 and javelin 883-897.
49 Hesiod won a prize of a tripod for a hymn he sung at the funeral games of king Amphidamas at Chalteis about 700 B.C . Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals, p 31, Hesiod Op. 654.
50 Creative Games were held at Athens, Corinth and Boitia.