Ancient Greeks held their Olympic Games in the hilly environs of Olympia, along the Alpheus River in the region of Elis, Greece. The Games were part of a larger religious festival honoring the god Zeus, and the administrative offices of the Olympic Games were located in Olympia’s Altis precinct, where the temples of Zeus and Hera were located. Traditionally, the Games were said to have been founded by storied figures from legend or mythology, such as the conquering King Pelops who lent his name to the Peloponnese (and won a chariot race in his myths) or his famous descendant, Heracles, the mighty demigod adventurer.
Myth and legend aside, the first properly-documented Olympic Games sport event reportedly occurred in 776 BCE (considered the 1st Olympiad), at a time when only a sprinting competition took place. This early original race was said to have been the stadion—a sprint spanning about 200 meters or 656 feet. A certain Coroebus, a cook from Elis, won that particular inaugural race. According to the Chronicon (or Chronicle) of the historian Eusebius (c. 260-339 CE), in which he recorded centuries of Olympic victors and their sports, wrestling was added to the Olympic Games in the 18th Olympiad (c. 708 BCE), along with pentathlon. Eurybatus of Laconia was the first victorious wrestler in the documented Olympic Games. Boxing was added to the Olympic Games in the 23rd Olympiad (688 BCE), with the first champion of that sport being Onomastus of Smyrna, who went on to become an ancient authority and rule-maker for how the sport of boxing was conducted. A four-horse chariot race was added to the Games in the 25th Olympiad (680 BCE), with the first victor being Pagon of Thebes. In the 33rd Olympiad (648 BCE), the sport of pankration (or pancratium)—a dangerous ancient form of mixed martial arts—was introduced to the Games, and Lygdamis of Syracuse was the first champion of that sport. Horse racing was added to the games at the same time. After that, new forms of horse races and foot races (including one where competitors raced in armor) were introduced to the Olympic Games over the next centuries.
Introducing sports to the Olympic Games is one thing, but setting up the panhellenic competition structure and creating a large-scale tournament bracket system is another. The concept of a competitor receiving a bye for the first round of competition was implemented for the occasions when an odd number of competitors showed up for the contest. By the time of the Roman Empire, tournament bracket positions and recipients of a bye pass were decided by lots pulled from a covered receptacle. The writer, Lucian of Samosata (c. 120-180+), wrote a clear description of this system—at least for wrestling and pankration competitions. Lucian wrote:
“Well, are you also aware how they draw lots for the pairs in the wrestling matches and the pancratium?…They put out a silver urn, dedicated to the god, into which are thrown small lots, the size of beans, engraved with letters. There are two marked alpha, two beta, two gamma, and so on with the rest, if there are more entrants, two lots always having the same letter. Each athlete comes up, prays to Zeus, and puts his hand into the urn to take one of the lots. After him comes another man, and there is a guard standing by each who holds his hand and doesn’t allow him to read the letter he has drawn. When they all have their lots the chief officer, I think, or one of the judges themselves (I can’t remember), goes round and inspects the lots of the entrants, who are standing in a circle, and thus he matches the two who have drawn the alpha lots for the wrestling or pancratium, and so likewise with the two betas and the other matching letters. This is the procedure if there are an even number of entrants, like eight or four or twelve; but if they are an odd number, five or seven or nine, he adds an extra lot with an odd letter on it which has no matching letter. Whoever gets this has a bye, and waits until the others have competed, for he has no matching letter” (Lucian, Hermotimus or On Philosophical Schools, section 39).
In the undocumented era of the Olympics before the 1st official Olympiad, the powerful demigod hero, Heracles, was said to have won both the wrestling and pankration tournaments during a single sport festival. Naturally, many athletes wished to re-create this feat, but it proved to be an elusive achievement. According to Eusebius’ list, it was not until the 142nd Olympiad in 212 BCE that a fighter finally succeeded in this Herculean task. This Olympian was Caprus of Elis, who was dubbed “second after Heracles” for his achievement (Eusebius, Chronicle, Book II, The Greek Olympiads, entry for 142th Olympiad/212 BCE).
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Picture Attribution: (Olympic illustration, labeled VOL 135 and Punch, by Linley Sambourne (20th century), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons, Europeana, and Heidelberg University Library).
Sources:
- Lucian, Selected Dialogues, translated by C. D. N. Costa. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World Classics), 2005, 2006, 2009.
- Eusebius’ Chronicle, translated by Andrew Smith after the Petermann (c. 19th century) Modern Latin Translation, included in Eusebius: Collected Works (Delphi Classics, 2019).
- The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, edited by Simon Price and Emily Kearns. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Olympia-ancient-site-Greece
- https://www.britannica.com/sports/Olympic-Games
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Altis
- https://www.attalus.org/armenian/euseb11.htm
