Why did ancient people hold competitions? The ancient olympic games in ancient greece briefly. History of sports development in Russia

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People throughout the history of the development of civilization had to fight for survival. Whether hunting, distributing prey or in war, a person had to have good physical strength and dexterity in order to survive. For example, local tribes living in Australia still use the ancient method of hunting, which involves chasing an animal until it becomes exhausted.

People have always been forced to maintain and improve their physical form and in addition to improve their skills in archery, sword fighting, etc. Each nation had its favorite games. For example, among the American Indians, competitions in lifting weights, throwing a ball at a target, and running were held in high esteem.

The Aztecs, Mayans and some other tribes played a game somewhat reminiscent of modern basketball. Many African tribes held competitions in fencing with sticks, running, etc. Thus, we can safely say that the history of the development of sports has as ancient roots as our entire civilization.

The history of the development of sports in the ancient world

We have already found out that the history of the development of sports has more than one millennium, and now we will talk about this in a little more detail. Archaeologists managed to find traces of sports activities on the territory of states that existed in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Today we can safely say that the first large-scale sports competitions were not the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, but competitions in honor of the Babylonian deity Marduk.

The athletes participating in them competed in several disciplines: belt wrestling, sword fencing, javelin throwing, hunting, archery and chariot racing. In ancient India and Persia, fencing, horseback riding, ball and stick games, and chariot racing were held in high esteem.

Note that India has become the progenitor of such modern sports as polo, field hockey, chess and some others.

For the first time, schools were created in Persia, in which children were taught horse riding, archery, etc. Why not the progenitors of our modern youth sports schools? Scientists have found clay tablets, as well as paintings on the walls of the ancient Egyptian pyramids, which depict more than four hundred different sports that people practiced in those days. Of course, the peak of the history of the development of sports falls on Ancient Greece, in which the first Olympic Games were held.

History of sports development in Russia

• From ancient times to the October Revolution (1917).
• Soviet period.
• Since 1991.

Until the 18th century, due to frequent wars, military physical training was the main priority. We learned about this from various chronicles and epics, which were discovered in the territories of ancient settlements and have come down to us. Scientists date the first image of the fight of Russian wrestlers to 1197.

On the territory of feudal Russia there was no state program for the development of physical culture, and here everything was predetermined by folk amusements, for example, fisticuffs, various types of national martial arts, etc.

Starting from the second half of the 19th century until 1917, a very active stage in the development of physical culture can be distinguished. At this time, not only modern sports disciplines began to develop. But the foundation for the practice of physical education was also laid. It was then that the very progressive system of P. Lesgaft was created. This person was the first in our country who was able to formulate and provide a scientific justification for the main components of human physical education.

He also created the first institution whose task was to train teachers of physical culture. In fact, it was the first university in our country in sports and physical culture. Also, the beginning of the history of the development of sports, we are talking about professional competitions, can be considered 1889. At this time, the first speed skating championship was held.

Two years later, the first competition among cyclists took place. All these events are reflected in official documents. In the same years, private educational institutions for children began to be created, and sports organizations also appeared.
Since 1911, the Russian Olympic Committee began to function. A year earlier, the capital's football, ski and other sports leagues were organized. As a result, domestic athletes began attending international competitions. At the first three Olympic Games, domestic athletes did not take part due to lack of financial resources.

The first Olympics visited by Russian athletes were the games in London, held in 1908. In total, five athletes took part in them, and three of them managed to become Olympic medalists. Four years later, at the 5th Olympic Games, the delegation of domestic athletes was already 178 people. However, due to low readiness, the Russian team could not rise above 15th place in the overall standings. This is largely due to the notorious lack of finance.

After 1917, the Soviet government undertook to actively develop physical culture and sports. Now anyone could do their favorite sport, which was not the case in the days of Tsarist Russia. In 1920, the first institute of physical culture began to work, although it was a very difficult time for the young state.

Of course, developing sports after 1917, the authorities largely relied on the foundation that had already been laid. It should be noted that Vseobuch, which included physical education, had a strong influence on the history of the development of sports in the USSR. The first Soviet sports society was created in 1923 and it was named Dynamo. In those years, physical culture was taught in all educational institutions of the country.

In 1928, the first All-Union Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR took place. It should be noted that the same year the Olympic Games were held in Amsterdam. The bourgeois world was sure that the idea in the USSR was doomed to failure in advance. However, even before the start of the Spartakiad, a record was set - more than seven thousand athletes participated in all-Union competitions, while only a little more than three thousand athletes honored the Olympic Games with their attention.

The first Spartakiad became an important milestone in the history of the development of sports in our country. At the same time, excessive politicization of the development of sports slowed down this process. It was sports in the period of 30-50 years that became the only way for the USSR to prove the superiority of the communist system over capitalism. On the other hand, Soviet athletes won many prestigious international competitions in those years.

Even during the Great Patriotic War, competitions continued to be held. For example, in December 1941, a bandy championship was held, and in 1942, a traditional relay race took place on the Garden Ring. After the victory, the Soviet people craved sporting events. During 1945, more than a hundred records were set, 13 of which turned out to be world records.

After the war, the USSR joined various international sports organizations. The Olympic Committee in the country began to work in 1951. Moreover, at the same time with this event, serious preparations for the Olympic team began, because in 1952 the new Olympic Games were to be held.

On the eve of the 1952 Olympics, everyone gave the victory to the US team in advance, and what was the surprise of the world sports community when American athletes were forced to share their triumph with athletes from the Soviet Union.

Since 1970, the country's leadership decided to change the direction of development of physical culture and sports. Sports experts were sure that it was simply impossible to achieve positive results thanks to only two school physical education lessons during the week. After Russia gained sovereignty in 1991, the modern stage in the history of sports development begins.

On the history of the development of sports in the USSR, see this video:

The ancient Olympic Games were fierce competitions in which athletes shed their blood and even gave their lives for glory and superiority, in order to avoid shame and defeat.

The participants in the games competed naked. Athletes were idealized, not least because of their physical perfection. They were extolled for their fearlessness, endurance and will to fight, bordering on suicide. In bloody fistfights and chariot races, few ever made it to the finish line.

The advent of the Olympic Games

It is no secret that for the ancient Olympians, the main thing was the will. In these competitions there was no place for civility, nobility, amateur sports exercises and modern Olympic ideals.

The first Olympians fought for the prize. Officially, the winner received a symbolic olive wreath, but they returned home as heroes and received unusual gifts.

They fought desperately for something that modern Olympians cannot understand - for immortality.

There was no afterlife in the Greek religion. hope for continuation of life after death could only through fame and valor, immortalized in sculpture and songs. Losing meant complete collapse.

In ancient games there were no silver and bronze medalists, the losers received no honors, they went home to their disappointed mothers, as the ancient Greek poet writes.

Little remains of the ancient Olympic Games. The festivities that once shocked these places cannot be returned. These columns once supported vaults, in whose honor the games were held. The now unremarkable field was the stadium where the competitions were held, 45 thousand Greeks gathered on it.

A tunnel has been preserved in which the steps of the Olympians were heard coming out onto the field. From the top of the triangular column, the winged one, the goddess of victory, the symbol and spirit of the Olympic Games, looked at all this.

The origin can be called prehistoric, people lived here in stone houses around 2800 BC. Around 1000 B.C. Olympia became the temple of the god of thunder and lightning.

How did games come about?

from religious rituals. The first competition was run to the altar of Zeus – ritual offering of energy to god.

The first recorded games took place in 776 BC., they were held every 4 years continuously for 12 centuries.

All citizens could participate. Non-Greeks, whom the Greeks themselves called , were not allowed to participate, women and slaves were also not allowed.

Games were held in August on a full moon. Athletes arrived here 30 days before the opening to train for a month. They were closely followed by judges called.

To those who carefully prepared for the Olympiad, were not lazy and did not do anything reprehensible, the Hellanodics said boldly move forward. But if someone didn't train properly, they should have left.

In those times The whole ancient world came to the Olympics, 100 thousand people camped in fields and olive groves. They arrived here by land and by sea: from Africa, the territory of modern France and the southern coast of modern Russia. Often people came here from city-states that fought with each other: the Greeks were by nature quite quarrelsome.

Games were of great importance and respected, and therefore in honor of Zeus a truce was signed on the sacred disc, which protected all arriving guests for three months. Perhaps due to the fact that it was backed up by fearsome people, the truce was almost never broken: even the most sworn enemies could meet and compete at the Olympics in the world.

But on the first day of the Olympiad there were no competitions, it was a day of religious purification and parting words. The athletes were led to the sanctuary and meeting place. There was also a statue of Zeus with a lightning bolt in his hand.

Under the stern gaze of the god, the priest sacrificed the genitals of a bull, after which athletes swore the Solomonic oath Zeus: Compete fairly and follow the rules.

Everything was serious. The punishment for breaking the rules was severe. In the distance, athletes saw statues of Zeus, called zanes, erected with money received in the form of fines paid by violators of the competition rules.

The victory had to be earned not with money, but with the speed of the legs and the strength of the body - the prescriptions of the Olympiad read. But the crown of the winner was given with considerable blood.

Fist fight

The ancient Greeks admired the beauty and power of sports, but they were attracted by both savagery and violence: they saw this as a metaphor for life.

In Greek, competition sounds like "agon", from which the word agony comes. The concept of struggle is one of the central ones in Greek culture.. In the context of athletics, "agon" meant competition with pain, suffering, and fierce competition.

Without a doubt, in no other sport is there such a fierce struggle as in boxing, which originates in

Fisticuffs entered the program of the games in 688 BC, followed by wrestling and an even more violent sport -. All of them quickly became the favorite sports of the crowd because the risk of injury or even death was extremely high here, and the victims had to propitiate Zeus, because the fights were held in the sacred part of Olympia - in front of the 9-meter altar of Zeus, made from the ashes of sacrificial animals.

Modern boxers would be horrified by the rules of the competition, or rather, from their practical absence: there were no weight limits, there were no rounds, the rivals fought without a break, water, a coach in the corner of the ring and gloves - the fighters were left to their own devices.

They were winding rough leather straps around fists and wrists to increase the impact force. The skin cut into the enemy's flesh. The blows often came to the head, everything was spattered with blood, they fought non-stop until one of the opponents falls.

Starting from 146 BC. The Romans became the hosts of the Olympics. With them, the rivals began to insert three-centimeter metal spikes between the belts - it was more like a knife fight than a fistfight, some almost immediately dropped out of the competition, someone was very successful. Many beginners were slashed by these belt gloves Or rather, even torn to pieces.

To toughen up the fighting, they were held in August afternoons under the scorching Mediterranean sun. Thus, the contestants battled each other with blinding light, dehydration and heat.

How long did the fights last? Four hours or more, until one of the athletes gave up, for this it was enough to lift a finger.

But the defeat was far more humiliating than it is today: many wrestlers would rather die than lose.

The Spartans, fanatical soldiers, were trained to never give up, so they did not participate in fisticuffs, as defeat was a mortal disgrace.

Wrestlers were admired not only for the blows they could inflict on an opponent, but also for the pain they could endure. They valued from a physical and philosophical point of view the ability to withstand pain to such an extent that you will receive blow after blow under the scorching sun, heat, breathing dust - in this they saw virtue.

If the matter went to a draw, or there was a dead point in the duel, the judges could appear climax when the fighters had to exchange open blows. There is a famous story about two fighters getting to this point in a match - Krevg and Damoxena. Each had to deal a blow to the enemy. The first was Damoxenus, he used a karate piercing blow, pierced the opponent's flesh and tore out his intestines. Crewg was posthumously declared the winner., because the judges said that technically Damoxenus had given him not one blow, but five, because he used five fingers to pierce the enemy's body in several places at once.

The ancient fighters did not have the equipment for training, but they were not inferior in physical strength to their modern counterparts.

Pankration - fights without rules

Wrestling matches were almost a deadly battle, but for savagery - low blows and illegal holds- had its own sport, pankration.

Pankration was a very brutal event, it was the most cruel of all ancient competitions. They say about him that this is a mixture of unclean boxing with unclean wrestling: it was allowed to hit, push, choke, break bones - anything, no prohibitions.

Pankration appeared in 648 BC. It had only two rules: don't bite or gouge your eyes, but these prohibitions were not always respected. Competitors fought completely naked, blows to the genitals were forbidden, but even this rule was often violated.

Technique was not important in these ancient fights without rules, very soon they became most popular event at the olympiad.

Pankration was epitome of violence in an ancient sport, it was the most exciting and popular spectacle, and it gives us some idea of ​​the spirit of mankind in those days.

Wrestling is a relatively civilized combat sport.

Wrestling was the only combat sport that can be called relatively civilized by today's standards, but even here the rules were not strict. Simply put, everything was used: a lot of what is forbidden today - chokeholds, breaking bones, tripping - everything was considered a normal technique.

The ancient fighters were well trained and trained in many tricks: throw over the shoulder, vise and various grips. The competition was held in special shallow hole.

There were two types of competitions: lying on the ground and standing. The wrestlers fought either standing on their feet - in this case, any three falls meant defeat, or the rivals fought in slippery mud, where it was difficult for them to stay on their feet. The duel continued, as in wrestling or pankration, until one of the participants gave up. Fights were often akin to torture.

In the 7th century BC e. judges realized the need to introduce ban on pinching fingers but it was often ignored. In the 5th century BC. Antikoziy won two victories in a row, breaking the fingers of his opponents.

Chariot racing is the most dangerous sport

But wrestlers weren't the only ones who risked their bodies and lives in the ancient Olympics.

Long before the advent of the Olympic Games, the Greeks liked to combine sports with sometimes even mortal danger. Bull jumping was a popular sport in the 2000s BC. Acrobats literally took the rushing bull by the horns, performing on his back.

The most dangerous Olympic sport was chariot racing. The chariots competed at the hippodrome, which is now an olive grove: the hippodrome was washed away when around 600 AD. river Altea suddenly changed course.

The racing strip of the hippodrome was about 135 meters long, 44 chariots fit in width, each of which was harnessed by 4 horses.

Tens of thousands of Greeks watched the races, which were real a test of mastery and stamina of nerves. 24 laps of 9 kilometers freely accommodated 160 horses kicking at the start.

The most difficult part of the course was the turn: the chariot had to be turned 180 degrees practically on the spot, i.e. the chariot turned on its own axis. It was at this point that most accidents occurred: chariots overturned, athletes were thrown out, and horses bumped and stumbled over each other.

The degree of danger of racing reached the point of absurdity, mainly due to the lack of dividing lines. The chariots often collided head-on. The poet writes that in one of the races 43 out of 44 chariots crashed, the winner was the only survivor on the field.

Zeus ruled Olympus, but the fate of the chariots rather depended on the god of horses, whose statue looked at the hippodrome. His name was, he inspired fear in the horses, so before the race, the participants tried to appease him.

The only element of order in this racing chaos was brought in at the start. The Greeks came up with an original mechanism to ensure fairness on the field: the bronze eagle of Zeus rose above the crowd, which meant the start of the race.

The chariots were small and had two wheels, they were open at the back, so that the charioteer was not protected in any way.

It was erected by participants almost as prestigious as the Olympic ones. The Greeks praised control and self-control in the midst of violence and chaos. The statue embodies these ideals.

Can women compete? Not as charioteers, but they could field their chariots.

On the pedestal, on which stood the statue of the king's daughter, there is an inscription: " Sparta kings are my fathers and brothers. Having defeated chariots on swift horses, I, kiniska erected this statue. I say with pride: I am the only one of all the women who received this wreath.

kiniska was the first woman to win the Olympics by sending his chariot to the games.

As today, boys were often used as jockeys in the horse races that followed the chariot races. The main thing here was the right combination of unstoppable and control. Jockeys rode on bareback horses driving them with only knees and a whip.

The horses were wild. In 512 B.C. a mare named Wind threw off the jockey, barely breaking into the field, ran without a rider and won the race.

The pentathlon is the most prestigious competition

Olympians trained here in palestra practicing fisticuffs and hand-to-hand combat. At the gymnasium they trained for the most prestigious competition among the ancient Olympic Games - pentathlon.

If the Greeks demonstrated fearlessness and fury in chariot races, then other Olympic ideals were valued in the pentathlon: balance, grace and comprehensive development.

The event was imbued with idealism, the Greeks attached great importance proportions and balance in man. We can see the embodiment of all this in pentathletes.

It was the pentathletes who served model of the ideal body when the ancient sculptors portrayed the gods. The Greeks appreciated correct proportions, the winner in the pentathlon was recognized the main athlete of the games.

He competed in five different competitions: running, jumping, discus throwing, javelin throwing and wrestling. Skill and ability to meet the deadlines were extremely important.

The pentathletes trained for years in the gymnasium in rhythm to the sound of the flute. Competitions in an interesting way differed from modern ones. For example, in javelin throwing, the Greeks used a loop in the middle of the shaft of the spear to enhance the throw. They threw a disc weighing 6 kilograms 800 grams - three times heavier than the modern one. Perhaps that is why they performed such perfect twists and throws that these techniques have survived to this day.

The most intriguing difference is in the long jump: the Greeks were holding loads from 2 to 7 kilograms to increase the momentum and increase the length of the jump.

Holding weights to jump further seems absurd. In fact, you can catch the momentum of the flying cargo and he will literally drag you through the air so that you feel the inertial force on yourself. It really adds length to the jump.

The length is unbelievable: the jump pit was designed to be 15 meters long, which is 6 meters more than the modern world record. Pentathletes, like all Olympians, competed naked.

nude olympiad

From the point of view of modern people nudity is the most amazing aspect ancient olympic games. All competitions were held without clothes: running, discus throwing, wrestling and everything else.

But why the participants began to act naked? History says that this has been the case since the 8th century BC. In 720, a runner named Arsip lost a loincloth during a race. He won and all the runners decided to compete naked. Gradually, this custom spread to other sports.

Modern scholars reject such explanations and point out that nudity and homosexuality were not considered shameful in Greek society. The very word "gymnasium", where the Greeks studied, meant "nudity".

Invented in the 600s BC. These were training facilities. And at the same time, the importance of homosexuality increased, it ceased to be a secret among the Greeks. Perhaps this is partly why nudity was introduced into the games.

Homosexuality was not only not shameful, it was even encouraged, because it is important for a man to marry a virgin and give birth to children. The only way to keep virgins intact was through homosexual relationships. The atmosphere at the Olympics was very electrified, they were the best men of the city-states: they were the most attractive, trained and there was a sexual attraction between them.

As well as between men and women who were allowed to watch nude games. Oddly enough, but married women were strictly forbidden to watch games, even just to cross the river Altis, which skirted the sacred place. Violation of the ban was punishable by death. Women caught on sacred ground were thrown into the abyss that yawned near the temple.

But young virgin girls could watch the games, despite the nakedness of the athletes and the brutality of the spectacle. Unmarried girls were allowed into the stadium because in a way they were ignorant, they needed to get used to the idea that a man would be part of their life. The best prelude was the performance of naked men.

One of the modern researchers said that such an order has developed so that married women do not see what they can no longer have, but teenage girls looked at the best of the best to know what to aim for.

Gerean games

The virgins could compete in their games, called Gereyami in honor of the wife of Zeus. Herey consisted of three races: for girls, teenage girls and young women, one lane in the Olympic stadium, shortened by one sixth in proportion to the female step.

Spartan girls trained from birth on a par with boys, so they were the leaders of the games.

Unlike men, girls did not compete naked: they wore short tunics, chitons, opening right breast.

Women's competitions were a ritual action, something like public demonstration of their strength and spirit before they were subdued by the bonds of marriage, and before they became women, it was a ritual passage.

Women's races were held on the day when men had a rest. It was a day of rituals and feasts that led to the climax of the religious part of the ancient games.

Art in Olympia

But people came to Olympus not only for the sake of games, they literally wanted to see people and show themselves: - here any of them could be found in the crowd. , the world's first professional historian, earned his fame here, reading their writings at the temple of Zeus.

People came to enjoy the works of art that decorated the temple. Those who saw this place for the first time were amazed at its beauty. Once upon a time, there were thousands of masterpieces on the site of these ruins, a "forest of sculptures", as one writer put it.

But only a few of them have survived to our times - those that archaeologists pulled out from under the cobblestones just over a century ago. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the legendary one that stood in the temple and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

This statue took a myriad of gold and ivory. The whole body of Zeus was made of ivory, his throne was made of ivory, ebony and precious stones. Zeus' robe was entirely made of gold - gold foil.

Dozens of gutters in the form of lion heads decorated the temple and surrounded the statue. Outside, around the perimeter of the temple, sculptures depicted scenes from. Bright ornaments on the walls of some buildings of the complex made the temple even more dazzling.

The ruins, surrounded by 182 columns, were once a hotel Leonidio where only the richest people stayed. Of the hundreds of thousands who came to Olympus, only 50 guests could be accommodated here at the same time.

There is no trace left of the altar of Zeus. Once it was located between the temples of Zeus and, it was the main shrine Olympia Animals were sacrificed daily here. This altar in the form of a cone over 9 meters high was famous throughout Ancient Greece. It consisted entirely of the ashes of sacrificial animals. The altar was a symbol of worship to Zeus: the more sacrifices were made to him, the more honors he received, and this is a clear reminder of how many sacrifices were made to his divine essence.

The ashes were mixed with water and pressed into a mold. On the slope of this ashen mound were carved steps, along which the priests climbed to make another sacrificial offering.

At noon on the third day of games sacrifice became a special spectacle: a herd of bulls - a whole hundred - stabbed and burned in honor of Zeus. But in reality, only a small symbolic piece of each animal was given to the god.

They took the most useless animal parts, put them on an altar, and then burned them for the gods. 90% of the carcasses they butchered and cooked, and in the evening everyone got a piece. The meat was handed out to the crowd, it was a whole event.

Running is the first sport

An even bigger event was the next morning: the men's track race. The very first and once only sport was of particular importance to the Greeks, who named each Olympiad after the winners of the cross-country or sprint.

Treadmills practically did not differ from modern ones. There were notches on the starting line in which runners could rest their toes. The distance was about 180 meters long. According to legend, he could run just such a distance in one breath. On both sides, 45,000 roaring spectators sat on the slopes. Many of them camped here and cooked food at night.

Interestingly, even under the August heat, they watched games with their heads uncovered: hats were not allowed in the stadium because they could block someone's view.

Despite the wealth and prestige of the games, on the slopes of the hill never built shops like other stadiums. The Greeks wanted to keep the ancient democratic tradition of sitting on the grass. Only 12 stone thrones in the center were intended for Hellanodic judges. One more place to sit the only married woman who could be present at the stadium- priestess, the goddess of the harvest, who was once worshiped on Olympus before Zeus.

20 runners could compete at the same time in the stadium. The starting positions were drawn by lot, then they were called to the start one at a time. False starts were strictly prohibited: those who took off ahead of time, judges beat with rods.

In the 4th century BC. the Greeks invented the hysplex starting mechanism - wooden starting gate, guaranteeing a fair start.

What was the main difference between ancient races and modern ones? in starting positions. Such an arrangement of runners would have seemed strange to us, but we had to understand how everything was arranged: when the fencing board fell, the hands of the athletes dropped, the body leaned forward, the toes repelled from the depressions in the ground - the starting spurt was very powerful.

It is not known how fast the Greeks ran, they would not record the time, even if they had stopwatches. They never compared competitions with any records. For the Greeks, the idea and the meaning of the sport was in a duel between men, in the struggle and what they called the word "agon".

However, legends about speed survived. One of the statues says that Phlegius from Sparta did not run, but flew over the stadium. His speed was phenomenal, incalculable.

In addition to sprinting, the Greeks competed in double run, i.e. back and forth on a treadmill, as well as in Darikos - here it was necessary to run 20 times along a circular track 3800 meters long.

Ironically famous torch relay race were not included in the program of the Olympic Games, like those that the Greeks considered form of communication, being phenomenal distance runners. Immediately after the victory at Dorikos in 328, an athlete named Augeas ran from Olympus and home 97 kilometers in one day.

The last race of such a day was the most unusual: a grueling test of speed and strength in which Greek infantrymen, called , ran back and forth twice along the stadium track in full gear and equipment. Imagine what it's like to run 400 meters with 20 kilograms of weapons at the highest speed and turn around.

Interestingly, the hoplite race was held at the very end of the Olympiad, it meant end of the olympic truce and a return to hostility and hostilities. It was a reminder that the beauty of games had to come to an end, to be replaced by other important events.

Legends of the ancient Olympic Games

For more than 12 centuries, the best athletes of the ancient world have come to Olympia to compete in games that were the ultimate test of strength and agility.

What did the winners receive? Only a branch cut from an olive tree in the grove behind the Temple of Zeus. But as soon as they returned home, they were showered with gifts: free meals for the rest of your life and a reward for every victory, commensurate with the modern hundred thousand dollars.

Them worshiped like heroes or even the gods, even their sweat was awe-inspiring as a symbol of struggle. Athlete's sweat was an expensive commodity. It was collected along with the dust from the site during the competition, placed in bottles and sold as a magic potion.

A stone has been preserved that keeps the names of the winners of the Olympiad. Unfortunately, the statues of game legends, such as wrestler, winner of 6 olympiads in a row. He was so feared that the opponents immediately dropped out of the game, crushed by his glory. He was said to have superhuman strength. Ancient texts report that once Milo carried an adult bull through the stadium, then butchered it and ate it whole in a day.

Another Olympian was a famous strongman - the champion of pankration in 408 BC. He was known for his exploits outside the stadium: they said that Polidam fought with an adult lion and killed him with his bare hands as well stopped the chariot at full speed, grasping the back with one hand.

Among the runners was the best Leonid Rodossky. He was said to be fast as a god. He has won 3 races in 4 Olympiads in a row. He was revered as a god.

But the main Olympic record belongs to the jumper Fail, who participated in the 110th Olympiad. History says that the jumping pit was 15 meters long, which is unimaginable for us, because modern athletes jump a little more than 9 meters. They said that Fail jumped over that hole and landed at about 17 meters with such force that he broke both of his legs.

But Fail's jump is nothing compared to the time jump of the Olympiad itself. The temple also reflects an outstanding history. This round monument was erected by the king and his son in honor of the victory over the Greeks in 338 BC. They built this memorial in the heart of Olympia to show their strength and power.

So did the Romans a couple of centuries later, placing 21 golden shields around the Temple of Zeus when Greece became a Roman province. Thus, Olympia became the embodiment of Roman grandeur, and the Romans put a lot of effort into maintaining the sanctuary in decent condition: they built an aqueduct that brought water to one of the buildings, in addition, the Romans built baths there and a kind of club for athletes, discovered by German archaeologists only in 1995.

Only the winners of the games could be members of the club. The building was paved with marble tiles, even the walls were covered with it. There is evidence from ancient sources that similar clubs existed. The winning athlete in Olympia was immediately included in the circle of the elite.

The building was built by an emperor who considered himself a god. In 67 he took part in a chariot race. Driving a wagon drawn by 10 horses, Nero lost control and, having broken the chariot, did not finish the race. Nonetheless, he was declared the winner. A year after the emperor's death, this the decision was revised.

End of the ancient Olympic Games

How and when did the tradition of games end?

Until very recently, it was believed that the last Olympiad took place in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I, who was a deeply religious Christian, put an end to all pagan traditions.

30 years later, in 426 AD his son completed what he started, setting fire to the sanctuary and Temple of Zeus.

However, scientists have found evidence that the tradition of games continued for almost a century up to 500 AD. This information was found on marble plaque found at the bottom of an ancient latrine. On it were inscriptions left by the hand of 14 different athletes - winners of the Olympiads. The last inscription belongs to the very end of the 4th century AD. Thus, it should be considered that the history of games should be extended for another 120 years.

The ancient games finally disappeared along with Olympia itself, destroyed by two earthquakes at the beginning of the 5th century. Subsequently, a small Christian village arose on the ruins, the inhabitants of which turned the only surviving building into a church - the workshop of the great sculptor who sculpted the once legendary statue of Zeus.

By the 6th century floods destroyed it along with everything what remained of ancient Olympia, hiding the ruins under an 8-meter layer of dirt and earth for a long 13 centuries.

The first excavations were carried out in 1829. German archaeologists arrived here in 1875 and since then the work has never stopped.

However, excavations were so difficult and costly that the stadium was freed from earth captivity only by the 1960s. The cost of excavating the hippodrome, hidden by groves, is so great that it will probably forever remain underground.

However, the spirit of this place is reborn, as revived in 1896 in the midst of excavations and the Olympic Games themselves. Every 4 years for 12 centuries here lit the olympic flame and this tradition has been revived in modern times. From here, in the hands of the runners, a fire begins its journey, symbolizing the beginning of games, games that will never be able to reach the scope and splendor of the Olympiads of the past.

“There is nothing nobler than the sun,
giving so much light and warmth. So
and people glorify those contests
there is nothing greater than the Olympic Games.”
Pindar

These words of the ancient Greek poet Pindar, written two thousand years ago, have not been forgotten to this day. Not forgotten because the Olympic competitions, held at the dawn of civilization, continue to live in the memory of mankind.

The center of the Olympic world of antiquity was the sacred district of Zeus in Olympia - a grove along the Alpheus River at the confluence of the Kladei stream into it. In this beautiful town of Hellas, traditional all-Greek competitions in honor of the god of thunder were held almost three hundred times. The winds of the Ionian sea disturbed the mighty pines and oaks on the top of Kronos Hill. At its foot there is a protected area, the silence of which was broken every four years by the Olympic celebration.

Beautiful myths and legends were created by human fantasy about the origin of the Olympic Games. One of them says that it was in Olympia that Zeus defeated his father, the god Kron. The prediction that Cronus would be overthrown by his son was justified, just as he himself overthrew his father, Uranus. Fearing the fulfillment of a terrible prediction, Kronos devoured his children, born of his wife, the goddess Rhea. The unfortunate mother, in order to save at least one child, took refuge on the island of Crete, where she secretly gave birth to her son Zeus. The baby was hidden in a cave on Mount Dikte, where he was fed by the goat Amalthea. Young Kuret boys guarded the baby Zeus, and when he began to scream or cry, they loudly rang their weapons or hit their shields with spears so that his cries would not reach the cruel Kron. Having matured, Zeus defeated Cronus and forced him to regurgitate the five swallowed brothers and sisters. He shared dominance over the whole world with the brothers Poseidon and Hades, who had been liberated by him. Zeus received supreme power over the gods and people. Poseidon became the lord of the seas, and Hades became the king of the underworld. In honor of the great victory of Zeus over Cronus, the Olympic celebrations were held.

At the time of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, wars stopped and a truce was concluded, and representatives of the warring policies held peace negotiations in Olympia in order to resolve conflicts. Tens of thousands of pilgrims from Greek cities (cities), Italy, Sicily, Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean Sea on ships, horse-drawn carts, on foot rushed every four years to sacred Olympia. Lucky was the one who at least once managed to participate or be present at the Olympic Games.

The Olympics were real holidays of sports and art. The strongest athletes of the ancient world gathered at Olympia for competitions held in honor of the god Zeus the Thunderer, poets declared poems, philosophers read treatises, orators made speeches, sculptors and painters demonstrated their creations. The ancient Olympic Games linked together sports competitions and military training, religion, culture, politics. The festivities continued for five days: processions, sacrifices and sports competitions. On the first day, sacrifices and a solemn torchlight procession in honor of Olympian Zeus and his wife, the goddess Hera, took place.

On a nine-meter marble column in front of the majestic temple of Olympian Zeus in 424 BC, a sculpture of the winged goddess Nike was installed. This goddess was very popular in Olympia. Indeed, with her favor, each participant in the ancient Olympics associated his dream of winning the Games. The goddess Nike was presented to the ancient Greeks in the form of a beautiful young girl flying from the sky on bright wings and carrying a victorious crown in her hands - a reward to the hero. Slender, light, she had just descended to earth from the sacred Olympus. Everyone who saw the marble goddess Olympionist believed that Nike brought the reward to the hero for him.

For the participants, the Olympic Games began with the adoption of an oath that went down in history under the name "Six Olympic Words." One of them went up to the altar and, putting his right hand on it, swore in the presence of rivals that he, a free citizen, would show competitions fortitude and courage, that he has not committed a single crime in his life, that he will compete honestly, in accordance with the rules of the Games.

Ancient Greek athletes competed naked. From the word "naked" ("gymnos") comes the word "gymnastics". The naked body was not considered something shameful - on the contrary, it showed how hard the athlete trained. It was shameful to have an unsportsmanlike, untrained body. Women were forbidden not only to participate, but also to observe the course of the Games. If a woman was found in the stadium, she was legally to be thrown into the abyss. Only once this rule was violated - when a woman, whose father, brother and husband were Olympic champions, trained her son herself and, driven by the desire to see him as a champion, went with him to the Games. Coaches stood separately on the field, watching their wards. Our heroine changed into men's clothes and stood next to them, looking at her son with excitement. And now... he is declared the champion! Mother could not stand it and ran across the whole field to be the first to congratulate him. On the way, her clothes fell off her, and everyone saw that there was a woman in the stadium. The judges were in a difficult position. By law, the violator must be killed, but she is a daughter, sister and wife, and now also the mother of Olympic champions! She was spared, but from that day on a new rule was introduced - now not only athletes, but also coaches must stand completely naked on the field in order to prevent such situations.

At least 10 types of competitions are known that were held at the ancient Olympics. The most ancient competition that took place at the games of the first Olympics in 776 BC was the run - "dramos" or "stadium". Greek legends tell that having defeated Avgii, Hercules indicated the location of the sports festivals in honor of his success. He himself measured the length of the first Olympic track - 600 feet. This one-stage run - 192 meters 27 centimeters - is the "stadium" and gave the name to the sports facilities where competitions are now held. The winner in running at the shortest distance enjoyed special honor. He was given the right to light a fire in the sacred altar. The name of the winner in running for one stage was assigned to the Olympics.

From the 18th Olympiad (708 BC), the pentathlon was included - "pentathlon".

From the 23rd Olympiad (688 BC) fisticuffs are included.

Since the 25th Olympiad (680 BC), a competition has been included in chariots harnessed by four horses - quadrigas.

Since the 33rd Olympiad (648 BC), bareback horse racing has been included.

From the 33rd Olympiad (648 BC), the ancient Greek original all-around was included, which was a mixture of fisticuffs and wrestling techniques.

Since the 65th Olympiad (520 BC), running with weapons has been included. In heavy military armor, it was necessary to run the distance in 2 stages.

The ceremony of awarding the champions was distinguished by special solemnity. It was held on the last day of the festivities. The guests filled the temple of Olympian Zeus, the purple curtain covering the statue of Zeus moved apart, and a majestic deity shining with gold and jewels appeared before the admiring spectators. The Hellanodiki rewarded the winners of the Olympic Games with a wreath of olive tree branches. After that, to the sounds of flutes and the singing of hymns, they went to the altar, where they made blessed sacrifices to Olympian Zeus.

Olympionics - the winner of the games - were paid honors by their compatriots, which were awarded to the gods, monuments were created in their honor during their lifetime, laudatory odes were composed, feasts were arranged. The Olympic hero entered his native city in a chariot, dressed in purple, crowned with a wreath, he entered not through an ordinary gate, but through a hole in the wall, which was sealed up on the same day so that the Olympic victory would enter the city and never leave it. Residents of the city presented the winner with expensive gifts, exempted from taxes, provided a free seat in the theater.

Numerous wars weakened the power of Hellas. In the middle of the 2nd century BC, it was conquered by Rome. Olympia fell into decay. From a great national holiday of the Hellenes, the Olympic Games turned into a spectacle, which gathered a motley crowd of pilgrims from the countries of the Roman Empire. But even under these conditions, the Olympic Games continued for another five centuries. The Olympic Games have sunk into oblivion (as the ancient Greeks called the river of oblivion, through which, according to their legends, the dead were transported), along with the independence of Ancient Greece itself. The centuries-old tradition of holding the Olympic Games was broken. Together with the games, the Hellenic ideals of bringing up the harmony of body and spirit, physical beauty and spiritual perfection were forgotten for many years.

Nowadays, the Olympic Games, born 28 centuries ago on the land of Ancient Hellas, have found a second youth...

It originates in ancient Greece. The first historical mention of this event dates back to 776 BC. Interestingly, the Olympic Games in ancient times were held not only as sports, but also as a religious ceremony. Initially, the games were held every four years and they lasted only one day. According to one of the legends, Hercules became the first participant in the ancient Greek Olympic Games.

Ancient Greek Olympia was the only place where the ancient Olympic Games were held. This largest sanctuary in the Peloponnese was not chosen by chance - it had the form of a natural, natural amphitheater, which was located among the wooded plains and slopes, between the Claudia and Alpheus rivers. Due to the convenient location of the settlement of Olympia, participants from distant lands arrived at the games by ship.

Historical documents testify that the Olympic Games in ancient times were held only in peacetime - a month before the start of the games, a truce was declared between all the warring cities so that all participants could safely arrive in Olympia. Any city that violated the ceasefire law was punished by banning its athletes from further competitions.

Olympia not only hosted the Olympic Games - history tells that an ancient Greek religious festival was also held there. During the religious ceremony, the people praised Zeus, as well as the fallen heroes. The games themselves began with prayer and ritual sacrifice.

In the year when the Olympic Games were to be held, in ancient times, messengers with torches were sent to all corners of Greece, who announced a truce. Centuries later, the carrying of the torch became an integral ritual preceding the start of the modern Olympic Games.

Competitors for the championship in the competition could only be freeborn Greeks or slaves who received emancipation and pardon. Sports competitions were arranged separately for men and separately for boys. The boys were grouped into several categories based on their age, physique and strength.

Although women were forbidden to participate in physical competitions, they could show their skills in equestrian competitions, but for this they had to own a chariot or a horse.

The Olympic Games in antiquity initially included only five types of sports competitions in their regulations: javelin throw, discus throw, long jump, wrestling and running. Subsequently, horse racing, chariot racing, boxing and pankration were added. On the first day of the Olympics, religious ceremonies were held, and ancient Greek athletes also took an oath to uphold the fair rules of the game. The competition itself began the next day.

The winners of the competition were crowned with olive leaf crowns from the temple of Zeus. In addition, the winner could sculpt his own statue in Olympia. After returning to his native land, glory and honor awaited the champion - he received various privileges in the form of free meals and the best places at social events.

At the Olympic Games, only the first prizes were provided, so sports in ancient Greece were cultivated and revered from early childhood in the same way as humanitarian education.

The emergence of the first sports competitions

There is no need to tell much and it is difficult to tell.

Briefly, you can say something like this (stopping at important points):

Competitions appeared so long ago that even such a word as "sport" did not exist yet. In those distant times, people learned to communicate, already found fire, but still used stone weapons. The first competitions appeared as the beginnings of military education, therefore they were held in the types associated with war or hunting. Ancient people competed in archery, wrestling, throwing various objects, and even went hunting and fishing, which they then boasted to each other. And in Australia already at that time a completely sports game resembling football was known. They even played one clan (and tribe) against another clan.

It was one of the options for the story, in which you can add colorful examples or something fun, at the discretion of the teacher or parent.

You can tell a little differently, dwelling in more detail on Ancient Greece:

Already 2.5 thousand years ago, the first official competitions appeared in Greece. The Hellenes, as the Greeks were called in antiquity, loved to compete and in their myths even challenged the gods to compete. They believed that people should be perfect, both physically and spiritually. One of the ancient thinkers, whose name was Plato, called "lame" everyone whose body and mind were developed unequally. But still, the basis of all competitions was the Olympic Games, during which all hostilities even ceased, but we will talk about them another time.

2nd grade theory. The history of the appearance of the ball, exercises and ball games

We can talk about two theories, the first one is that the idea of ​​the ball was taken from the Scarab beetle, which rolled balls in Egypt. After looking at it, people began to make their own balls, rag, leather, stuffed with wool or grass, for elasticity. Of course, these were not modern balls familiar to all of us, but this was their beginning. The closest version of the modern ball was invented by a Roman gymnastics teacher, and it happened by chance, like all inventions. It was just a couple of thousand years ago. He saw a big bullish bubble, which was inflated and tied with a rope, turned out to be a kind of ball. Such a ball-ball could be knocked, and he jumped and bounced both from the floor and from the walls. And as soon as the ball appeared, people immediately found a use for it, because with the ball you can come up with such a huge number of games and exercises that if you write them all down, a thick book will not be enough. But it is difficult to say which theory is correct, since balls appeared in many countries and at about the same time, so the ball turned out to be such an inventory without which humanity could not see its further full development.