The Origins of the Games
In popular legend, Heracles created the Olympic Games and built the Olympic stadium to celebrate the conclusion of his twelve labors and gain the attention of his father, Zeus. More realistically, the first set of Games began in 776 BC in
As to this hope, I’ll highlight the Olympic Truce for our later consideration. Warring parties allowed safe passage for participants and spectators to the Games and back to their homes. Mythically, the Truce is often bandied about as a stoppage of all wars, but in truth, the safe passage was the fullest extent of its practice. What the Truce could mean today is the subject of much debate; but first, we must trudge through another thousand years or so of Games history.
After a fifteen-hundred-year absence, the Games returned with the help of philanthropist Evangelis Zappas, who sponsored the first modern international Olympics in 1859 in
Coubertin wrote, “The first essential characteristics of the Olympics, both ancient as well as modern, is to be a religion. It represents, above and outside the Churches, humanity’s superior religion.” Clearly, some of us might take issue with this secularist theology, but Christianity’s calendar and many rites, rituals, and hymns were claimed from less noble births than this. Coubertin saw the struggle—the journey of each Games and their champions—as a means to reach a higher calling, beyond winning or losing.
Initially debuting with nine sports in 1896—athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, weightlifting, shooting, swimming, tennis and wresting—the Games have grown to 11,000 competitors from 202 “countries” in 2004 (territories are included as self-standing nations for Olympic consideration). As the roster of sports is ever-changing, current IOC policy requires one sport to be dropped for another sport to be included: baseball and softball stage their final stand this year, and will seek reinstallation for 2016.
