2006

Watching the Olympics on TV for the last two weeks has really made me wonder about the Olympics of long ago. If history repeats itself, as they say it does, did the ancient games also feature drug scandals and/or testing, cheating, photo ops, endorsement mania, trainers, entourage and personal stylists? This may not be one of the most enlightening questions you've received of late, but I'd still really like to know. And while we're on the subject, would you also comment on the future of the Olympics?

Your question is a delightful one and it offers a respite from other questions, which while deeply important, cannot be answered in whole until humanity ante's up it's own part of its own volition. Spirit is still dangling the proverbial carrot as always, but mass consciousness needs to move its awareness to the other end of the donkey, so to speak. Take a bite out of life, dear ones, instead of the other way around! On the surface it would seem that the Olympics provided an opportunity to see the best of the best on the world's biggest stage, but unless an athlete (or a soul) stands upon a platform that they have constructed for themselves, they often find that others are far less stable. Was it different in ancient Greece? Hardly!

The Olympics were held every four years, because that is as often as was believed war and other important issues could be safely set aside. Other myths and legends abound as to why they were held every four years, including that the planets would only be in favorable positions (as benefited Zeus to whom the Olympics were dedicated) every four years. Officially, your history validates a written record of 776 B.C. for the first of the ancient games, but this was actually the first year that the event was worthy of being honorably mentioned by well-known wordsmiths of the day. The games actually began several decades before then. The ancient Greek games were re-enactments of even more ancient competitions between Gods and men, but we will forego these tales for another day in favor of this one, as it is a broad enough subject for one telling.

The ancient Olympiads were grand extravaganzas as far as events go. They can be likened to your Academy Award ceremonies where it would seem that the entire world would attend if the means to do so presented itself. They were pageants of athletic skill and competitive spirit to be sure, but they were also avenues to express nationalism and politics, and places where displays of commercialism threatened the ideals of most who attended.

The games were always held in the same place, because they were first and foremost a religious gesture of dedication to the god Zeus. Dedications and invocations to that effect were made continuously throughout the event, which lasted approximately four weeks, give or take another four weeks depending upon the dramas that would unfold periodically, many of these artificially induced by professional instigators who were later paid off by merchants, prostitutes and even athletes who needed a little more time to recover from the last event before the next one began.

The Olympic festivals were created to celebrate excellence in athletics, but they were also a forum to sponsor the very best that ancient Greece had to offer. The years leading up to the festival provided occasion to produce lasting cultural achievements in many areas including mathematics, architecture, and art - sculpture and verse. Their innovative designs were gestures in an ideal system of proportions and harmony. The enduring nature of their culture still lives in many current and modern designs. When many of the mortal things fall away, those with memories of immortal times such as these will rebuild them, and then they too, shall endure.

The ancient Greeks also celebrated the human body and it is one of the reasons why most of the event entrants participated in the nude. Every four years the best of the Greek sculptors developed new poses with which to describe the energetic perfection of the masculine human body. They carefully studied and then depicted the muscles and tone of the body as it flexed, as if in movement. Myron's famous statue of the Discus Thrower (Diskobolos) endures as one of the more popular of the day, but there were many at least as great that have not endured.

Proclamations, political endorsements and alliances, and bids for popularity were all part of the daily spectacle. Prisoners, already half-dead were dragged before the populace and pardoned - unclothed and unfed, most of them perished before the day was out. Families were often reunited at the festivals as well, since most of the time exiles were permitted to return home. It was not uncommon for certain devoted soldiers to be decorated and then released from further obligation, their debts paid and a pension to live on.

Athletes did not train professionally or with professionals then. They worked at jobs and supported families who depended upon them daily. City-states also "bought" athletes from each other, in much the same way that options and contracts are "picked-up" today. It was thought that successful athletes would bring religious favor and glory to their township. Today, cities settle for sports arenas, tourists and endorsements. Victorious athletes were able to live off the glory of their achievement for most of their remaining life. Their prizes might include lodging, honorary appointments, odes written in their name, and even statues in their likeness.

Lodging at the ancient games was just as expensive in its own way as it is for those who attend today. There were no grand hotels and only the wealthiest families and patrons could secure accommodations, usually by paying for them a year in advance. Elaborate tents and pavilions were erected by some, but most simply slept outside, under the stars. Activity began before sunrise and went well into the wee hours of the night. Celebrities, dressed (or undressed) to be noticed, frequented lavish parties in their honor night after night. Crafts and wares of all imaginable kinds made their way there - true works of art, poor imitations and obscene forgeries all garnered top prices.

Humanity has a sentimental attitude toward the ancient games believing that many of today's traditions began there, but that is rarely the case. For instance, there were no torch bearers then as there are today as this was a later invention, however, many athletes and spectators traveled with coals and ashes from their own altars hoping to lay them near the great statue of Zeus. Great bonfires were lit every night and many lasted for days, perhaps inspiring a future remembrance of such obeisance. The romanticizing of the Olympics was actually inspired by those who recreated them in the modern spirit during the Victorian era in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Chivalry and gentlemanly behavior was a prize in itself then.

One of the most notable ideals always enforced before and during an Olympiad was a moratorium on war between nations, and a truce on religious differences. The truce, while exemplary for its time, did not stop all war - only that which threatened the games or Zeus - synonymous at the time. Safe passage on all roads was all but guaranteed beginning one month before the games and during the entirety of the festival itself, but woe unto travelers as they made their way home afterward, especially if their passage was through the land of a losing nation. Athletes who lived to tell of their loss often found employment as personal bodyguards on their way home in order to redeem themselves before their countrymen. Others never bothered to return, changing their names and their allegiance, and often returning to the games four years later under a different banner.

Sabotage was common, as was kidnapping with or without ransom, Deceivers, posing as delegate emissaries sent by organizers of the festival delivered strange and mysterious messages and misinformation to all who came from competing lands. The fans and spectators took almost everything in stride, and most could not tell the difference between true competition and sideline skirmishes; it was all entertainment as far as they were concerned, stories to last a lifetime.

The first official record of corruption was in the fourth century B.C., but it was common far before then as well, for isn't corruption one of humanity's better-known vices? The emperor himself (Nero) entered and won the prestigious and bloody chariot race even though almost everyone looked away when he fell out of his chariot and remounted it twice. It was more than a rumor that he barely finished the race at all and was simply proclaimed the victor. As if matters were not bad enough that year, Nero also bribed the organizers to invite a place for the new sport of . . . Poetry, which he also won!

The ancient games did not include a marathon, as this too, was a Victorian invention based upon the legend of Philippides, who ran non-stop from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, bringing news of the Greek victory there. Unfortunately, once debriefed, he collapsed and died. The Victorians named the 26.3-mile race in his memory. Ancient Olympians ran barefoot and most (not all) were naked. The ground was hot and dry, and even the layer of sand brought from a distance for just such an occasion did little to soothe anyone's sole. The first Olympian tracks were not the oval you might imagine, that too came later. The athletes ran back and forth, looping a tall pole at the end of each measured distance - unable to keep to a tight profile as one runner followed the next, an oval naturally developed. With many footsteps imprinted in the sand, the pattern was later copied. The heats were not staggered as they are today and accidental and purposeful tripping was not uncommon, neither was razor-like filings buried in the sand and other ankle-twisting phenomena. Need we say more?

There were no team sports in the ancient Olympics as these were opportunities for athletes to distinguish themselves among others and therefore gain future (life-long) favor. The ancient Greeks emphasized individual achievement through athleticism. They celebrated an ideal of excellence called, arête. Those who attained this ideal (mostly the aristocracy) through the arts or in public competition merited near-permanent glory and fame. All athletes were what you call "free agents". They represented themselves, but of necessity wore the banner of the wealthy family that sponsored them or that of their city-state. There were no gold medals, but there were gold coins and plenty of them for the winner. Second and third place was recognized, but only for a moment, as these too were losers albeit slightly better losers than the rest. Winners were acknowledged as such by the crowds -- it begs to wonder what they would have thought of stopwatches that measure thousandths-of-a-second!

The most handsome and decorated of all the athletes participated in the Pentathlon. Versatility and skill in athleticism was highly admired, and these athletes warmed to the cheers and praise of the crowds. They felt venerated by Zeus himself. Combat events were more popular with the lesser-born and Greco-Roman style wrestling was the best of the worst. The worst of the worst was a boxing-like event that often yielded one or more body parts from the loser (or the winner) and sometimes even a life. Although blows to the body were prohibited, eye gouging was not. Additional imagery that is violent in content and description readily presents itself, but the channel [Pepper Lewis] shields it from view and interpretation, as is her right to do. We may complete by adding that a win required an opponent to offer a sign of submission, and these were few and far between.

The games ended by proclamation of emperor Theodosius near the end of the fourth century A.D; branded and banned as unnecessary pagan and heretical rituals of nude debauchery, intoxication and fornication. To be fair, there was a measure of truth to his words, but innocence like art, belongs to both the beholder and the participator - the partial and the impartial. The Greeks had gone a bit far in some of their ritual slaughtering of animals to the gods, and blood all too often ran through the streets. Prostitution was rampant before, during and after the games. Palm readers and other occultists flocked to the Olympics waving love potions and promising the latest in poxes and curses of one's enemies and rivals.

Cheating was rampant by then and there was no stopping the bribing, maiming, kidnapping and even murdering of the less popular competitors. In the spirit of goodwill, the organizers of the games did their best to observe a code of merit and punishment during the games, but it became increasingly difficult to maintain it. Entrants arrived at the competition with a purse specifically for the purpose of paying for their fines, in advance if need be. Those who were discovered cheating were fined, and the money collected was used to make statues of Zeus lining the road to the stadium. Some of the statues were inscribed with messages warning others not to cheat, others reminded athletes of the importance of winning via skill and not money. Throughout the festival dedications were made to the Olympic spirit of piety towards the gods (who were watching) of fair competition. And even poets promised to sing the praises of those who competed for the sake of excellence in athletics. It was mostly to no avail, mostly because the penalty for losing was exile at least, and physical, social or political death was also not out of the question. What, more than this, did the athletes have to lose by cheating?

How different are today's modern Olympics? By degree and degrees the ancients would say. Athletes have always been heroes, and will continue to be so. They represent humanity's courage in endurance, agility, poise, dedication, perseverance and more. These are the traits of an evolving race of beings, and they are well worth exploring. Ancient or modern, Olympians were and are celebrities, but celebrity fades and is quickly replaced. The Olympian platform is a temporary one, and true heroes are those who's Medal of Honor is also tested by their mettle within.

Will there be Olympic competitions in the future? Yes, but first the current Olympiads will fall from grace a bit further. The coming years will bring difficulties for the cities that choose to become hosts. Currently, cities vie and bid against one another for the privilege. It will come to pass that the organizers (of whom will be many) are found lacking and corrupt. The cost of security measures within countries and cities, for the athletes and visiting dignitaries, and the public at large will outweigh the benefits of becoming a host city. Eventually, the tables will turn and the Olympic committee will bribe and cajole the larger, wealthier cities to host the events. It will come to pass that cities will need to use their revenues to feed their hungry and house the displaced. Monies to build Olympic sized venues will seem as ostentatious, given the circumstances that will come. The athletes will be no help, as scandals will persist and performance-enhancing substances become more devious in their detection. These will become more exploratory in nature until it seems that the athletes will bargain with their life for the possibility of a medal -- not very different than the ancient games, just a little more sophisticated.

The future Olympics will have to be re-imagined before they are recreated, but here is a glimpse into what might be. By the time the future is here, it will be widely know that humans have origins elsewhere and that long-term visitors sometimes reside in human bodies, therefore, there will be ways to measure skill beyond what you now have. Bodies will be more 'kinetic-aware' then, giving equality in competition a new definition. Sporting events will also continue to evolve and another form of natural energy that is not quite understood yet will power things like toboggans and snowboards. Skis will be completely redefined and will not look at all as they do today, they will be more natural extensions of the foot and almost invisible in look and feel. In your future there will be new sports and some the current ones will be obsolete. Ice-skating will not be an event in the future, and neither will tennis. Baseball will fall away as will football. Basketball will evolve into a delightful and challenging exchange between teams and will involve levitation! If the future intrigues you then you have much to look forward to, but before future athletes can be invited to participate in future games, there are both personal and planetary discoveries to be made.

Humanity's definition of a hero will be shifting rather shortly. There are many upcoming heroic deeds to be performed, and it is the least likely among you who will discover a growing need to be of service to the falling and the fallen as environments and landscapes change more quickly now. Heroes do not rescue others, but they do facilitate their escape. Heroes restart minds and kick-start imaginations. Heroes rebuild cities and hearts. Heroes unlock doors to dark corridors whereupon light is newly shed. Heroes are momentary giants who become lifetime luminaries. Heroes are leaders with such vision that they can see from the last place in line rather than the first. Heroes don't need a cause to stand for, because they don't wait around long enough to see the effect of their heroism. Are you a hero? It is within each of you to be a hero in this life many times over. The end of this decade and the one that follows may yet be called, The Age of Heroism.

Copyright © 2006 Pepper Lewis, The Peaceful Planet