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The third day of the ancient Olympics began with a long procession to the altar of Zeus, followed by the ritual sacrifice of a herd of oxen. Then in the afternoon the boys’ events, footracing, wrestling and boxing took place.
Read the previous installment in this exclusive series
These events were open to anyone who had passed his twelfth but not his eighteenth birthday, which must have been a difficult task to police in a world without birth certificates.
The penalty for a woman found at the ancient Olympics – competitor or spectator – was death. Apparently there was some religious reason precluding women from sacred Olympia at Games time.
One woman, Callipatira, achieved fame and a place in legend because of her participation in the ancient Games.
Callipatira was the daughter of a famous champion, Diagoras.
In one Games he won the boxing title, while his eldest son won the pankration and his youngest son won the boys’ boxing crown. The boys carried their father on their shoulders and the crowd showered them with flowers. It is recorded that Diagoras was told that he would never get any closer to heaven than this, so why not die?
Callipatira, who lived in Rhodes, had a brilliant athletic son entered for the boxing, trained by his father. As the games approached her husband died, so Callipatira decided to go in his place as the boy’s trainer. She clipped her hair short, flattened her bosom, wore a large robe and entered the arena.
The boy fought well and won.
In the excitement of the boy’s crowning with the olive laurels she jumped up to embrace him. Unfortunately the hem of her robe caught under the bench and the robe was ripped free.
There in the middle of the arena stood a naked woman!
The crowd went wild. They jeered and shouted – “Death,” but she stood her ground looking straight at her son, laurel wreath on his head, blood on his fists. Then calmly the son bent down, picked up the robe and placed it around his mother. The mood of the crowd changed. They admired her courage and amid acclaim, Callipatira was allowed to go free.
From then on, trainers as well as contestants were required to be naked.
The fourth day at Olympia was the glamour day including all foot racing, men’s boxing, wrestling and pankration events.
Events started early just after sunrise, with the long race (dolichos) – about 5000 metres. The race was held early, in honour of Apollo, the sun god. It is not known what times were run, as the Greeks had no equivalent of the stop watch, even though they had water clocks and sand clocks that recorded long periods of time.
After the long race came a dash of about 400 metres, roughly the length of the stadium and back. There is evidence that some form of starting blocks existed. The race began at a line of limestone slabs incised with shallow, parallel grooves 16 centimetres apart. The runners stood, leaning slightly forward with the balls of their feet in the grooves. Tension must have been great because false starters” were whipped on the spot.
The next event was the high spot of the whole pageant – the sprint. The race was one length on a straight course, about 200 metres. It was run on soft sand, in bare feet. The winner achieved instant fame as each Olympic contest was named after the fastest person present. Homer coined the adjective “swift-footed” after one of the winners.
Greek cities and villages heaped special honours on the winner of the sprint. Aristophanes said: “Nothing gets riches like contests in music and athletics.”
In 412 BC, the winning sprinter, Exaenetus, was welcomed home in grand style. Three hundred citizens greeted him outside the city gates. The citizens formed an honour guard around him and led him in procession with flower-wreathed chariots through every street of the city until they came to the city centre, where the mayor pronounced Exaenetus exempt from taxation for the rest of his life.
Like today the sprinters were the prima donnas of the Games. At one Olympiad a sprinter, Eubotas, arrived with a life-size bronze statue of himself. He won and became the only Olympic champion to dedicate his own monument on the day he won.
Then there is the story with a difference – of Astylus. He was from the village of Crotona. Though he was honoured there, the village was too poor to give many tangible rewards to their champion. Therefore Astylus shifted to the court of the wealthy city of Syracuse. The citizens back in Crotona were so upset they pulled down his statue and turned his former town house into a public toilet.