3 ancient Olympics traditions we need to bring back!
And a couple best left in the past...
The Olympics have been a blast this year, after a rocky start and a controversial opening ceremony. I for one have enjoyed seeing many of the great sports that capture the essence of the Ancient Greek festival. Yet I can’t help thinking there are a few things that could make a return… and a few I’m very glad are stuck in the past!
Time to Bring Back?
1. Peace In Their Time
The Olympic Truce was a truly uncommon thing in a time of constant warfare in Ancient Greece. Though we think of the area as some sort of homogenous land, Greece was in fact an area almost constantly in turmoil on a small or large scale. As a result, it was necessary for all the competing city states to agree to a truce around the time of the Olympic Games, to ensure that participants could arrive there safely. It was sensible and pragmatic - no one would want to compete if they risked life and limb just travelling there.
Though the UN has attempted to bring back the spirit of the Truce since the 1990s, it cannot possibly be said that there has been any end to hostilities around the world while the event was ongoing. This would have been the most incredible stage to finally see a cease fire in places like war-torn Palestine, but the senseless killing has continued. It’s hard to watch a nation compete in these games with so much blood on their hands.
2. Fully Encumbered
So many athletic competitors these days have state of the art equipment to allow them to run faster, jump higher and the third thing in the motto, whatever that is. But in the ancient Olympics one of the events was specifically the opposite of this Hoplitodromos, a race which required competitors to run in full military gear. This meant the shield, the greaves and the helmet - no easy thing to do given these were made of some heavy materials!
How great would it be to see athletes forced to run the 100m sprint in something equally bulky and encumbering? I for one would love nothing more than to see them run a lap with 4 shopping bags in each hand (two trips is for weaklings!)
3. Fast and Furious
One original Olympic sport that hasn’t lasted is the high energy thrill of the chariot race. The two and four horse races were perhaps not the grand spectacle of the Roman types run at the Circus Maximus, but rather a true test of speed and survival. They didn’t have saddles or stirrups, so even completing the race was not a guarantee. And they even had the ‘walking’ equivalent for a time, where they would trot mares around the track pulling a cart. Funnily, it never quite caught on.
Now here I do have to give a shout out to my favourite demonstration sport to make it to the Winter Olympics, Skijoring, which appeared once in 1928. It’s essentially water skiing on land, being pulled by a team of dogs or horses instead of a boat. Now surely we can find a way to do this in the Summer ones; rollerblading + horses??
Thank Zeus We Left Behind…
1. The Naked Truth
It’s no secret that a lot of competition took place in the nude back in the day. Apart from a few sports which involve a bit more grappling, it may not have made much of a difference. Obviously the less-endowed may well have had an advantage in the aerodynamics department… but it just isn’t going to make a return today. As funny as it sounds, it’s certainly one thing I’m glad they’ve left in the past.
2. Boys Club
Of course, when we talk about the ancient games we must not forget that it was a complete sausage fest - visually and metaphorically. There were no female events at the ancient Olympics, nor did women ever try to sneakily participate - the nude part really made that one too difficult. The only women we really know that might have been involved probably helped with raising the horses.
As a New Zealander, I’m especially proud of the ladies who take part in the Olympics - not least because we’d hardly have any Gold medals without them! 2024 has been a real moment for our ladies on the water, in the velodrome and on the golf course. So let’s keep the spirit alive and cheer those ladies on! (No matter what old Scroogey McPotter says in her Scottish mansion…)
What’s been your favourite moment of the Olympics? Any special nods to the ancient world you enjoyed?