Paper Example on the Athletic Success in Ancient Greece

A. Section I

Hellanodikai (171 Words)

The term Hellanodikai is employed to refer to the Elean officials in Ancient Greece, who were the judges in the annual Olympic Games. The Hellanodikai were well known for enforcing strict laws of discipline among all participants of the ancient Olympic Games. Also, the Hellanodikai held the honor of presenting the events' crowns as well as prizes to the top competitors who emerged champions at every Olympic Games. Furthermore, the Hellanodikai constituted of 10 men who had been appointed by top Greece political and religious leaders to organize as well as judge the Olympic Games. Furthermore, the Hellanodikai also partook in the training of the men who were chosen to compete at the Olympic Games. Furthermore, to fully qualify as a Hellanodikai, men of honorable moral character had to take 10 months of training and after being appointed to be permitted to officiate the Olympic Games (Mitford, 1790). Also, the Hellanodikai were supposed to wear a special purple robe as a symbol to mark their role in the Olympic sports.

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Greater Panathenaia (162 Words)

The Greater Panathenaia was celebrated by people in ancient Greece every four years. Additionally, the Greater Panathenaia was merely an improved as well as an extended version of the lesser Panathenaia, which was held every year in ancient Greece. Furthermore, Panathenaia is a term that was utilized to describe an ancient religious festival that was held in Athens. Moreover, during the Greater Panathenaia, at least 100 oxen were always offered as offerings to the gods and such offerings were accompanied by a range of beautifully braided garments (Mitford, 1790). Additionally, all the stated offerings were all taken to the Parthenon temple. The Greater Panathenaia was significant to the people in ancient Greece because it was a period of unburdening the lower class people in the society by offering them a day off work and giving them a religious period to affirm their faith. As such, the Greater Panathenaia was one of the most celebrated and renowned festivals in ancient Greece.

Chrematitic (150 Words)

The term Chrematitic was derived from the word Chremata, which meant money in Ancient Greece society. Additionally, the Chrematitic were games that were sponsored either by the State or by the sanctuary Greeks. Moreover, in the stated games, the identified sponsors offered the athletic champions a mixture of prizes, which were measured in terms of the monetary value. In this case, the difference between the Chrematitic and other ancient Greek games such as the Olympics was that the Chrematitic games featured a monetary incentive for the athletes. Also, such monetary prizes were provided by the rich in the society. Additionally, that was in order for the rich to mark their nobility or virtuousness in supporting athletic champions and high scholars in society. Nevertheless, in Ancient Greece, the Chremata prizes were offered only to the winners in the Chrematitic games. Subsequently, this made the sporting events to be remarkably competitive.

Heracles (176 Words)

In Ancient Greece, Heracles was a Demi-God, who is also referred to as Hercules today). Additionally, Heracles was perceived to be the son of Zeus and a mortal woman that was called Arcmene. Heracles was considered the greatest of heroes in Roman history and his statues were used as a symbol of masculinity and nobleness of the people in Ancient Greek society. Moreover, Heracles was admired by the Ancient Greek society members as an individual who persistently fought evil in his lifetime. Also, he was applauded as a great demigod who created a mark in the Ancient Greek society for doing a range of glorious as well as admirable good deeds. Additionally, Heracles's courage, skills, cunningness as well as strength were considered legendary and they were key symbols that were employed to define the success of the top athletes in the Ancient Greece culture. Today, the myth of Heracles is still significant in Greece and other parts of the world, to enlighten the public on the importance of retaining a good character or moral standing.

B. Section II: Source Analysis

Response to Kyniska [Arete 151a and 151b] (343 Words)

In ancient Greek history, women were not supposed to take part in sporting events. Furthermore, they were also not permitted to attend the sporting venues where regular annual sporting events were held in Ancient Greece. Furthermore, in response to the featured text, it is evident that having a woman participate in any form of an athletic event during the period was a very big phenomenon and an unprecedented undertaking that was not a common site among the society members of the time. Specifically from the featured text Kyniska who was the daughter of the Spartan king Archidamos changed the case of history in being among the first and top-achieving women in the ancient Greece Olympic Games.

Being a woman, Kyniska was not just a lady of any standing in society. Instead, she was from a notable family and this played a big role in transforming the position of women in ancient Greek society. Also, Kyniska's performance opened a door for other top achievers in the Greek history, who in this case were largely women who bravely offered to partake in various types of sporting events (Grote, 1869). Subsequently, Kyniska's achievements were undoubtedly the reason why most other women secured a key social and public significance in the ancient Greek history for being permitted to participate in sports and other public activities like trade in the society.

Description of How the Story of Kyniska Add To the Understanding of the Great Sport [Arete 151a and 151b]

The story of Kyniska adds to my understanding of the Greek's sports in that it illustrates how the ancient Greek society was male chauvinistic towards women. Additionally, this is because, from Kyniska's Arete 151a and 151b texts, it can be concluded that women were denied equal rights to men in public social undertakings. However, the transformation of the role of women through Kyniska's participation in the sporting activities portrayed that men in Ancient Greece were ready to accept the role of women in participating in various functions in their social life.

Response to Panathenaic Amphora (317 Words)

The Panathenaic Amphora was an Ancient Greek artifact that was designed around 339 B.C. (Mitford, 1838). Today, Panathenaic Amphoras preserved in today's contemporary museums are among the notable attraction artifacts by lovers and scholars of Ancient Greece. Additionally, in Ancient Greece, the Panathenaic Amphora was a large ceramic vessel, which was used to contain olive oil that was gifted as a prize to the top champions of the Panathenaic games. The vessels were made by the top sculptors at the time, and they were also primarily made using clay. The vessel had a distinct shape that was identical for all the Panathenaic Amphoras, although their sizes in terms of height could vary. The largest ceramic Panathenaic Amphora stood approximately 28 inches tall and it could carry about 10 gallons of olive oil (Mitford, 1838). Also, in reference to Ancient Greece, the Panathenaic Amphora had a great significance in the Greek sporting history.

First, the Panathenaic Amphora marked an honorable gesture for acknowledging the triumph of the top athletes that participated in the Panathenaic games. As such, the olive oil had a great significance as it portrayed the divinity, perseverance as well as the strength of the champions in securing victories in their respective sports. Furthermore, the Panathenaic Amphora represented the gods' presence in the sporting events that were held in Ancient Greece. Specifically, the use of olive oil represented a symbol of blessings as well as an anointing of the goddess Athena to her champions in the Panathenaic games. The vessel had sturdy handles that were located on either side of its neckband. Additionally, the handles could be held by placing one hand on their neck and supporting the bottom with the other hand. In this case, it was possible for the holder of the olive oil during the Panathenaic games to be in a position to control the contents of the vessel.

Part C: Essay

Description of How the Athletic Success Was Commemorated in Ancient Greece (688 Words)

Celebrations of success were considered an essential part of all sporting activities in Ancient Greece. Such celebrations were performed as a festival for praising the god Zeus, who was associated with strength, a key element that was required in the Ancient Greek Olympic Games. Also, the celebrations were unique and tailored for different sporting events like javelin, wrestling as well as footrace among others. Additionally, during such celebrations, athletes and participants could travel from city-to-city celebrating the onset of the events of praising the triumphant sportsmen in the ancient Olympic sports.

There were a number of ways through which sporting events were celebrated by the people in ancient Greece. Among such ways include the holding of annual festivals, which marked the starting and ending of various sporting activities. For instance, the lesser Panathenaic were held every year before the start of the Panathenaic games. On the other hand, the greater Panathenaic were held after every four years to expound on the activities of the lesser Panathenaic. During such festivities, notable athletics in ancient Greece were commemorated and their memories honored in the event they were deceased. Nevertheless, in the event such athletes were alive, they were given a notable recognition to mark their success or triumph in various athletic competitions that they might have participated in their past.

The creation of such statues was also among the notable ways that were employed in commemorating the athletics' success, particularly among top achievers during the time. In this case, top achievers had their sculptures made and placed on public places where all the society members could remember their past achievements in athletics (O'Reilly, 1890). Additionally, the stated statues were also used as reference points for motivating or challenging other upcoming athletes during the period. The choice of statues as a method of commemoration was considered ideal because they could remain for a long period of time without suffering any destruction due to environmental elements.

National and public recognition were also used as a strategy for celebrating success in athletics in the Panathenaic games. In this case, top athletes were honored, praised as well as feted. Additionally, their deeds during the sporting events were heralded as well as chronicled in the national archives in order for future generations to recognize and appreciate their achievements. In the past, Ancient Greek publications have evidenced that all the details of successful athletes during the period were chronicled in the national archives at the time. Also, having a name recorded in the national archives was a notable and major achievement for every athlete who had portrayed immense success during the period.

The offering of the olive wreath was also a way of celebrating top success in the athletics in Ancient Greece. The olive wreath was a branch made of wild olives that were intertwined in the shape of a circle to fit as crowns on heads of top achievers in athletics. The origins of the olive wreath in Ancient Greece were from the ancient Roman Empire where they offered to crown successful commanders after having a triumph in Battle or as a mark of combat victory. Additionally, the wild olive tree was considered sacred and it was mainly grown near the Temple of Zeus and they were only required to be prepared by a Pais Amfithalis.