A Brief History of the Olympic Games

For more than a millennium, the ancient Olympics captured the imaginations of the Greeks, until a Christianized Rome terminated the competitions in the fourth century AD. But the Olympic ideal did not die and this book is a succinct history of the ancient Olympics and their modern resurgence. Classics professor David Young, who has researched the subject for over 25 years, reveals how the ancient Olympics evolved from modest beginnings into a grand festival, attracting hundreds of highly trained athletes, tens of thousands of spectators, and the finest artists and poets.

List of Figures ix Preface xi 1 Introduction 1 2 Beginnings and Evidence 12 3 Athletic Events 24 4 Combat and Equestrian Events 38 5 Zeus Country 52 6 Pindar and Immortality 67 7 Body, Mind, and Greek Athletics 80 8 Questions of Profit and Social Class 92 9 The Athletes 102 10 Women and Greek Athletics 113 11 Between the Greek and Roman Worlds 122 12 The Later Centuries of Olympia 130 13 The Origin and Authenticity of the Modern Olympic Games 138 Appendix A: Chronology and Schedule of the Athletic Circuit 158 Appendix B: Technical Note on Discus and Long Jump 161 Appendix C: Modern Issues: The Marathon and Torch Relay 165 Notes 170 Glossary 175 Bibliography 177 Index 181

David C. Young is Professor of Classics at the University of Florida and author of the acclaimed The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival (1996). His Olympic Myth of Greek Amateur Athletics (1984) won the Book of the Year award from the North American Society of Sports Historians. He translated the Words of Pindar which were read out at the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

"David Young is one of the world′s foremost experts on the Olympic Games, and this book contains many interesting details that have remained in the deep shadows of history much too long. An excellent read!" Anthony Th. Bijkerk, Secretary–General, International Society of Olympic Historians end!–> "An impressively comprehensive, clear and often vivid survey of the ancient Olympics ... The book is packed with carefully considered interventions in long–standing debates." The Journal of Hellenic Studies