It is now just a matter of days before we see the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in China, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (or for those who don’t like Roman numerals, the Games of the 29th Olympiad.) This lends us the perfect opportunity to present a list of fascinating facts about the Ancient Olympics - held in Olympia, Greece.
1. No one actually knows what the origins were of the very first games. One myth suggests that Heracles (the divine son of the god Zeus) ran a race in Olympia and decreed that it be repeated every four years.
2. The olympic games were one of two central rituals in Ancient Greece. The other was the Eleusinian Mysteries - initiation ceremonies for people joining the cult of Demeter and Persephone.
3. The Statue of Zeus - the father of the Gods and one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, was housed in a temple at Olympia - the site of the Ancient Olympics.
4. An Olympiad (a period of 4 years which refers to the time between two games) was used as a measure of years by the Ancient Greeks in much the same way as we now use AD and BC. This idea was devised by the historian Ephorus. Previously, every Greek state used its own different method of time measurement which led to a great deal of confusion.
5. The only event at the first olympics was the Stadion race - a race of around 190 meters (measured after the feet of Zeus). The race was named after the building in which the race took place (the source of the English word “stadium”. The stadion race is pictured above.
6. Unlike the modern starting position, racers (of whom 20 would take place) started in a fully erect standing position with their arms stretched in front of them. If there was a tie, the race would be re-run.
7. The winner of the first recorded Olympic Games (the first gold medalist in a sense) was Coroebus of Elis - a baker from Eleia (the region in which Olympia was found). He won in 776 BC. Instead of winning a gold medal - as is now the norm - he received an olive branch - more a symbol than a prize. The town still exists today with around 150 citizens.
8. It is believed that the Greek tradition of athletic nudity started at the games in 720 BC, and it was most likely introduced by the Spartans or Megarian Orsippus. It is from this practice that we have our word “gymnasium” - derived from the Greek word “gymnos” meaning “naked”. Competing naked was meant as a tribute to the gods and to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body.
9. While the competitors were naked during the games, it is possible that some wore a kynodesme: a thin leather strip tied tightly around the part of the foreskin that extended beyond the glans (to prevent the glans from showing). It was then tied around the waist to expose the scrotum, or to the base of the penis making it appear to curl upwards. Not all athletes wore the kynodesme. Pictured above is an athlete wearing the kynodesme - the picture is attributed to Triptolemos (480 BC).
10. During the games, all of Greece was under a truce (ekecheiria) - there could be no use of capital punishment, and no wars or battles. This was in order to ensure the safety of competitors and spectators on the way to Olympia. While this was generally adhered to, at least one account exists of a possible breach by the Spartan army, which resulted in a large fine and a ban from attending the games that year.
11. The Olympic Games were part of 4 games - held in order so that there would be one set of games each year. The other three were the Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games, but the Olympic games were the most important.
12. Although the first games were “international” in a sense (in that all Greek City States were allowed to enter), only men who spoke Greek could compete. Eventually members of the Greek colonies were also able to enter.
13. The last running race added to the Ancient Games (after the addition of two longer distance races) was the hoplitodromos - in which competitors would run 400 or 800 yards in full armor with shields and a helmet or greaves (leg armor). This was introduced in 520 BC. Runners would often trip over each other or stumble on shields dropped by other competitors. In the image above we see athletes competing in the hoplitodromos - in far more an orderly fashion than was likely.
14. In its heyday, the games lasted 5 days. The first three were for the sporting events, with the other two days being used for rituals and celebration. On the final day, all participants attended a feast in which 100 oxen (killed on the first day as a sacrifice to Zeus) were eaten. Certainly very different from the secular opening ceremony we will see this week, or, in fact, all olympic opening ceremonies from modern times.
15. As part of the move to making Christianity the official religion, the ancient Olympic Games were finally suppressed by either Theodosius I in AD 393 or his grandson Theodosius II in AD 435. They would not return until 1896. They were held in Athens, Greece.
译文:
古代奥林匹克——15个令人震惊的事实
不久之后我们就能看到中国北京奥林匹克运动会，第二十九届奥林匹克运动会的开幕式了。这给了我们一个绝佳的机会去提供一份关于在希腊奥林匹亚举行的古代奥运会的清单——那些令人震惊的事实。
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事实 1～5
1. 没人确切地知道第一场比赛的起源。一个神话提出赫拉克勒斯（宙斯那神圣的儿子）在奥林匹亚参加一个比赛并且命令每隔四年重复一次。
2. 奥利匹克运动会是古希腊最重要的两个仪式之一。另外一个是依洛西斯秘密仪式——让人们加入崇拜得墨忒耳（掌农业，结婚，丰饶之女神）和珀尔塞福涅（宙斯之女，被冥王劫持娶作冥后）行列的初始仪式。
3. 宙斯神像——众神之父并且是世界七大奇迹之一的宙斯神像被收藏在奥林匹亚的一座神殿里。如今是古代奥利匹克的遗迹。
4. 奥林匹亚（指每两届比赛间的那四年时光）常常被古希腊人用于度量时间，就像如今我们使用公元前和公园一般。这个概念由历史学家Ephors提出。先前，每个古希腊城邦用它们不同的方法进行时间度量，这带来了很大的困扰。
5. 在第一届奥利匹克运动会中唯一的项目便是斯泰德（Stadion）——190米左右的赛跑。比赛以赛场名命名（英语单词stadium的词源）。斯泰德比赛的图片在上方贴出。
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事实 6～10
6. 不似现代起跑方式，选手（20人时会出现）伸展他们的胳膊，以一个完全直立的站立方式作为起跑姿势。如果打成平局，那么比赛就会重跑。
7. 第一届被记载的奥林匹克运动会的胜者（某种意义上的第一枚金牌）是艾里斯的Coroebus——一个来自Eleia（奥林匹亚建立的那片区域）的面包师。他在公元前776年夺冠。他收到了一根橄榄枝，以现代的标准来说，这代替了金牌。收到橄榄枝，比起奖励来，这更是一种象征。这个小镇至今都存在，村里大约有150个村民。
8. 有人相信有关运动员裸露的传统始于公元前720年的比赛，并且这很有可能是由斯巴达人或麦加拉学派成员，亦或是奥尔斯普斯人开始的。从这种惯例中，我们得出了“gymnasium”这个单词是源于一个意思为裸露的古希腊单词“gymons”，裸露的竞争被人们寄予为称赞诸神以及鼓励人们愉悦的欣赏男性的身体。
9. 当参赛者裸露的进行比赛，一些人穿一条束身皮带（kynodeseme）是允许的。那是一条细细的皮袋，紧紧地系在部分包皮上，并延长到龟头（防止露出龟头）。它还系在腰部去显露阴囊或是基本上使阴茎看起来蜷曲向上。不是所有的运动员穿束身皮带。上方的图片展示的是一个穿着束身皮带的运动员——这幅图认为是特里普托勒摩斯（公元前480年）。
10.在比赛期间所有的希腊城邦都在停战协议下（奥林匹克休战），那里会没有死刑，没有战争。这是为了确保运动员和观众们在去奥林匹亚路上的安全。当时，这是被普遍地接受。但至少，有一个显示由斯巴达军队创造的有可能违约的记录，结果却是大量的罚款和禁止参加当年的奥林匹克运动会。
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事实11～15
11.奥林匹克运动会肯能有4个比赛，按次序，这样可以每年举办一个比赛。其余三个是Pythian, Nemean,和Isthmian，但无论如何，奥林匹克运动会永远是最重要的。
12.第一届运动会也是国际性的。从某种意义上说（那时所有希腊城邦都允许参加）只有说希腊语的男人才能参加，最终希腊殖民地的成员也能够参加。
13.最后一个被加入古代比赛项目的跑比赛（在两个长距离跑都加入后）是行军赛跑，那些参赛者要身着完整的盔甲，有盾牌和头盔或者腿甲跑400或者800码。这个项目于公元前520年引进，运动员时常可以绊倒他人或是被竞争对手丢下的盾牌所绊倒。上方的图，是有关运动员参加行军赛跑——比它看起来更加有秩序。
14.在最鼎盛的时候，比赛持续五天，头三天是体育比赛，剩余的两天习惯用于仪式和庆典。在最后一天，所有的参与者将参加一个宴会享用一百头牛（在第一天作为宙斯的祭品被杀）。当然这与我们这周即将看到的现代开幕式大大不同，或者说，事实上与所有的现代奥林匹克开幕式都不同。
15.当基督教渐渐成为正式的信仰，古代奥林匹克运动会追中被迪奥多西一世于公元393年或迪奥多西一世的孙子迪奥多西二世于公元435年所禁止。奥林匹克运动会知道1896年才回归，它在希腊雅典举行。