THE
WORLD OF THE GREEKS
Games and Festivals
SHEFTON MUSEUM
Greeks
Index
Festivals like this could occur many times each year. Most were just important in a particular city, but some were much bigger and more famous. The Olympic Games was a festival in honour of Zeus, and was held at Olympia - an important shrine of Zeus. They took place every four years and contestants came from all over Greece and even beyond it to compete in the games. There were competitions for runners and jumpers but there were also wrestling contests and chariot races.
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Olympia: the stadium |
Events included races on one, two and twelve lengths of the track, long jump, and throwing the discus and javelin. The only prize was a crown of laurel leaves, but the Olympic Games were the most important ones in Greece, so competition was fierce. The events took place in a special stadium which was part of the shrine of Zeus. The track was 192m long (a modern running track is 400m).
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Athlete training |
This picture is from the inside of a cup. It shows a athlete training (or maybe competing) in the long-jump, with weights. Greek long jumpers jumped from a standing start and used hand weights to balance themselves. He holds a small weight in each hand and is swinging them forwards, preparing to jump. All Greek athletes trained and competed naked like this. They covered themselves in oil while they were training, then cleaned themselves afterwards by scraping this off with a bronze scraper (a strigil) like this one below.
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A bronze strigil |
Sports were important because all young Greek men had to be able to fight to defend their city, so they all had to be fit and to do military training. Military exercises and training for sports took place on a special training ground. This was called a gymnasium, but it was not indoors like a modern gym. In most cities, it was just an open space with some trees for shade and a well or fountain so that the athletes had water to wash in. Later, gymnasia were surrounded by walls, but the training still took place in the open courtyard in the centre.
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Women athletes |
In most cities, only men did athletic training or entered games. At Olympia, married women were not even allowed into the stadium to watch the games. At Sparta, girls were expected to do athletic training until they grew up. Women sometimes did compete but only in special contests. At Olympia, there was a smaller festival in honour of the goddess Hera. This included a running race for girls. There are also pictures of women doing some sort of athletic training. They are part of a large mosaic decorating a rich villa in Sicily.
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Parthenon |
The Olympic Games were the most famous games in ancient Greece, but there were lots of other important festivals. We know quite a lot about the festival of Athena at Athens (the Panathenaia). This was held every year, but there was a special festival once every four years. There was a big procession from the city to a Temple of Athena on the Acropolis. When the procession reached the temple, its leaders presented a new robe for the statue of Athena to the priests.
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Girl with offering basket |
This girl is setting out for the Panathenaic procession. One of the important parts of the procession was a group of Athenian girls who carried the new robe and baskets of offerings to the temple. The girl has her basket balanced on her head.
Greek festivals did not just include sports contests. The Panathenaic festival also had an important contest for singers, poets and playwrights. The prizes were a special shape of amphora, called a Panathenaic amphora. Festivals with contests for plays and poets were just as important to the Greeks as ones with sports contests.