Ancient Olympic traditions still thriving

By Wilma Acosta

With the Paris 2024 Olympics over and the baton passed to Los Angeles, let’s look at the three most surprising traditions from the ancient games that have lasted the test of time.

1: The attendance of celebrities
The ancient Greek Olympics were an incredibly important cultural event for all Greeks. Beginning in 776BC to honour the Olympian Zeus, it is estimated that at the event’s peak in 200BC, around 50,000 people attended the games (a lot considering the population was around four million at the time and primarily only men were allowed).

Such large crowds made it an ideal setting for those hoping to raise their profile. Paul Christensen, an American professor of Ancient Greek history, notes that “anyone who wanted to get a big audience from all over the Greek world showed up in Olympia … painters, artists, orators”.

For example, famous historian Herodotus attended the games in order to recite from his work The Histories, orating to young crowds “on the back porch of one of the temples”.

At the Paris Olympics celebrities flocked to the games and helped to turn the sporting event into something of a spectacle. The opening ceremony featured over-the-top vocals of Celine Dion high up on the Eiffel Tower, and a Lady Gaga performance of Zizi Jeanmaire’s iconic Mon Truc en Plumes as a tribute to French culture.

2: The use of music within sporting events

Professional musicians played an integral role in the original Olympics. Ancient Greeks believed that such music not only provided entertainment for spectators but improved the coordination of athletes, making for a more exciting game.

Evidence of the importance of these musicians is seen on a scene painted on to a “pelike”, where a musician plays a double pipe (an aulos) for two wrestlers.

Musicians still provide entertainment for the crowds in between the events, although at the Paris Olympics we saw the influence that the DJs can have on an athlete’s performance.

When things got heated in the women’s volleyball final between Canada and Brazil, the DJ was quick to play Imagine by John Lennon to help diffuse the tensions between the teams. Ultimately ending the fight in a couple of smiles as the crowd began to sing along.

3: The Olympic Truce

When the Ancient Olympics began Iphitos, the King of Elis, wanted the games to be a peaceful sporting competition between different city states. He created the Olympic Truce with three other kingdoms several days before and after the games to ensure that all athletes and spectators could travel through different areas without being caught in conflict.

After the Winter Olympics of 1994, the truce was restored by the United Nations. Now it’s traditional a year before the Olympics are due to begin that the UN General Assembly in New York gathers to sign the resolution. The International Olympic Committee then announces its dedication to peace.

For this year’s Games IOC president Thomas Bach declared that the Olympics was a place “to compete fiercely against each other and at the same time live peacefully together under one roof”.

It is what he describes as “our contribution to peace”.

Featured image: A statue of a discus thrower in front of the Olympic rings. Photo: Frans van Heerden/CC/Pexels