So being that the 2020 AD
(CE) summer Olympic Games are actually taking place this summer of 2021 AD (CE)
because of COVID. I felt it important to drop some Olympic knowledge on
everyone being I’m such the sports fan and history whiz.
Our modern Western
societies on the continents of Europe, North America, and South America are
derived from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Carthage, and ancient Rome.
Out of all of these there
is none more revered than ancient Greece. Every city functioned like its own
nation. There wasn’t a unified Greece. Every city state had its own laws,
culture, and unique way of doing things. While there were many city states (at least
1,000), Athens, Sparta, and Macedonia were the 3 most important. Sparta created
the foundations of Western military culture. They literally ate, slept, and
breathed martial arts, military strategy, and unadulterated ass kicking 24/7.
Every day of the year. Their laws would not permit them to do anything else
once so ever. Athens had an army just like Sparta did, except Athens was way
more of a naval power. Spartan society thought fighting on land was more manly
than the sea. But the main thing that separated Sparta, and Athens was the fact
that Athenians had way more freedom than Spartans. So therefore, Athens is the
birthplace of democracy, philosophy, science, etc.. All the great teachers of
the ancient world were from a city within Greece, and/or traveled to Athens.
Now the only time that the
various cities would not quarrel amongst themselves was when they traveled to
the city of Olympia, which is named after the Olympian ancient Greek gods that
reside on Mount Olympus. Why did they travel to Olympia every 4 years between
776 BC (BCE) and 393 AD (CE)? To help those non-historical people, we are in
2021 AD (CE). The original ancient Greek Olympics.
The ancient Greek Olympics
were very different from our modern Olympics. All the events were open to any
male of any social class over 5 days. Women could not compete, but the loophole
was any rider who won a chariot race was not awarded victory, but the owner of
the chariot was. And women could own a stable of horse chariots in ancient
Greece. They competed naked. False start in a track and field race caused the
men to be subject to capital punishment. These 2 are my own personal favorites
being a martial arts historian. The Spartans were not allowed to compete in the
Pankration events because they had no impulse control. They were brought up in
a strictly kill, or be killed world. Pankration is the unarmed mixed martial
art of the ancient Greek city states. It’s a combination of Boxing, and
Freestyle Wrestling. My other favorite fact is that when the ancient Persians
invaded Greece in 480 BC (BCE), the Olympics were so revered by the Greeks that
they could not form the closest thing to a coalition to protect their land
because all the soldiers were preparing for the Olympics. That’s the classic
example everybody thinks of when discussing the history of the Olympics. And
finally, there were no point systems, or medals. The victor of each event
received an olive wreath.
The modern Olympics the way
we think of them did not begin until 1896 AD (CE). The summer takes place every
4 years, while winter is every 2 years. They still continue to try to be a
vehicle to bring peace amongst the sociopolitical squabbles of all 196 to 250
unified nations on this Earth, depending on your definition of a country. And
before I forget, let me end with this important tidbit for everybody to take
under consideration… From 1896 AD (CE) to the 1970s AD (CE) only amateur
athletes could compete. It wasn’t until the 1980s AD (CE) that professional
athletes began to compete.
In this day and age of
technology, where you can program which events you want to watch, instead of
having to watch whatever is live.
Here’s what I’ll be
watching over the next 17 days:
Archery
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Fencing
Judo
Karate
Modern Pentathlon
Shooting
Soccer
Tae Kwon Do
Track and Field
Wrestling
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Fencing
Judo
Karate
Modern Pentathlon
Shooting
Soccer
Tae Kwon Do
Track and Field
Wrestling
The only Winter Olympic
sport I watch:
Ice Hockey
