Article by Neil Faulkner, author A Visitor’s Guide to the Ancient Olympics.
The modern Olympics purport to be a reconstruction of the ancient. In fact, the modern Olympics are exactly that: MODERN. Since they were founded in 1896, they have reflected the changing contemporary society in which they are embedded.
The relationship between ancient and modern is the usual one of pick and re-mix. Much of the ancient tradition is simply discarded as useless or impossible in a modern context – like running naked, slaughtering a hundred oxen, or not letting women into the stadium. On the other hand, certain events, like the pentathlon, are lifted straight out of the ancient programme.
The bits picked out are then mixed with other bits that have nothing to do with the ancient world at all. The resulting concoction is a fine example of ‘invented tradition’. Awarding medals, crediting second and third positions, and playing national anthems, for example, are all modern. Ancient Olympians were crowned with wild olive, got nothing if they came second, and regarded victory as an offering to god, not to nation.
Among the abiding myths is that of amateurism. In the early days of the modern Olympics, this was an obsession and caused a series of rows. Attempts to define ‘amateurism’ in order to judge who qualified to participate resembled the more arcane discussions of medieval theologians. Arguments were often triggered by success in the medal ratings.
In fact, all top-level sport is professional, and always has been. Most ancient Olympians were aristocrats because only ‘the leisured classes’ had the necessary time and resources to devote to training and competition.
Champions invariably became very rich men. They may have left Olympia with only an olive crown, but they could expect ample reward for their efforts at home, and they could earn generous prizes thereafter by appearing at any of some hundreds of local sports festivals.
City-state rivalry ensured heavy investment in athletic training facilities and sponsorship. The results could be spectacular.
Ancient Kroton is perhaps history’s only example of a ‘sportocracy’ – a state ruled by sports fanatics – and in this case the entire city seems to have been turned into a factory-farm turning out athletic hulks, such that this one Greek city (among 1,000 or so at the time) won the men’s short sprint 12 times out of 27 between 588 and 484 BC.
It is the same today. A recent equivalent of Kroton was East Germany. This small state, carrying the flag for Cold War Stalinism, sometimes managed a higher medals count than the mighty US during the 1970s.
About the Author
Dr Neil Faulkner was the editor of Military History Matters and codirector of the Great Arab Revolt Project. He was the author of fifteen books, including Empire and Jihad, Lawrence of Arabia’s War and A Radical History of the World.
About the Book
A Visitor’s Guide to the Ancient Olympics
Neil Faulkner
“Into and around his descriptions of the Olympic events Faulkner contrives to weave very skilfully indeed a rich texture of social, economic, political – in a word, cultural – history. Yale University Press have produced an attractively illustrated volume in a handy, pocketable format.”—Paul Cartledge, BBC History
