Olympic fever is coming and nothing you can do will prepare you for the media blitz that it will bring. As everyone you know becomes an armchair historian and starts handing out Olympic facts, be aware of these six myths about the event’s history.
1.
The Games Were About Honor
The modern Olympic games are advertised as bringing the world together while somehow simultaneously bringing victory to your nation of origin. It’s like friendly competition on a global stage. Also, corporate sponsorships.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Obviously that wasn’t the case with the ancient Greeks. The games were part of a religious festival and competition was limited to the city states of Greece. However, there was no friendly competition because for the athletes it was only about the prizes. Cheating, while severely punished, was rampant. Athletes did whatever they could to get an edge over their opponents. What’s more, it was first place or no place. The Greeks knew that second place and third place were just different ways of saying “loser.”
However, there is something to the whole brotherly love aspect of the modern games. In ancient Greece all conflicts were postponed while the games were underway. So while you may have chariot racers trying to smack each other in the genitals to get a lead, at least actual soldiers weren’t going around stabbing people and stuff. They had a little thing called “class.”
