INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

the ancient Games, and were encouraged to not only learn about the
Games but to challenge existing notions of what they meant for not
only the ancient Greeks but also for ourselves.
Of the issues that recurred throughout the week, perhaps the most
prominent was that of the “first” Olympic Games traditionally dated to
776 B.C. Students quickly realised that this textbook fact is in fact
more open to question than it first appears, as it is surrounded by
uncertainly and confusion due to complex historical and mythological
traditions. Similarly, the final date for the Games is just as
problematic.
The development of the Games through the Archaic, Classical,
Hellenistic and Roman periods made it clear that while the Games
themselves were a remarkably static feature of Greek and Roman
society and culture, this did not mean that they remained unaffected
by changing historical developments outside of Olympia. For while
the Games had originally been only for the Greek city-states of Greece
and Magna Graecia (Southern Italy and Sicily), the domination of
first Macedon from the 4 th century B.C. and then Rome from the 1 st
century B.C. until the Games’ end some five centuries later, inevitably
altered the function and meaning of the Games to people in the Greco-
Roman world. In character too, the Games evolved from their early
religious roots to become important in themselves, with the
introduction of spectator-orientated features at Games’ sites (like of
the tunnel entrance to the stadia at, for example, Olympia and Nemea
in the late Classical period) bringing the Ancient Games closer to their
modern counterpart.
Of the social issues occupying students’ minds, the ongoing
exclusion of women from the ancient Olympic Games featured the
most prominently, conflicting, as it does, with today’s emphasis on
sexual equality and non-discrimination. As a part and parcel of ancient
Greek society, the Ancient Games also excluded non-Greeks during
the early part of their existence.
Finally, there were important philosophical issues raised during
the week which students of the modern Olympic movement found
particularly relevant. Students learned that modern notions of “fair
play” and “Olympism” were not necessarily a part of the Ancient
Games in the form that we would accept or define them. The concept
of arête (‘excellence’ or ‘virtue’ was central to athletics in ancient
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