Ancient Greek Sports, Events, and Key Figures: Olympian Games and Modern Impacts

Pancration (event)

A combination of boxing and wrestling where there were no time or weight class limits. Rules were that there were to be no biting, no eye gouging, and that the fight ended when one person concedes. Techniques include wrestling moves, leg kicks, and punching.

House Decision

Current student-athletes sued the NCAA and the Power 5 conferences for name, image, and likeness damages and to lift the restrictions on sharing the revenue on broadcast rights. Judge Claudia Wilken made the NCAA vs. house decision and it allows student-athletes to get some of the revenue-share from their school, but can not be based off of performance, or favor a specific school.

Diaulos (event)

Was a footrace event in the ancient Olympics called the "double sprint". It was about 400 meters or two lengths of the stadium track. Athletes often competed in the nude.

Pentathlon

It was an ancient Olympic event that was composed of 5 events. It included the stadion (a single-length foot race), discus, javelin, long jump, and wrestling. Oftentimes athletes competed in the nude.

Hoplitodromos (event)

Was a footrace event in the ancient Olympics where athletes would carry shields and other warlike tools. It was training used to prepare for and show military strength.

Gymnasium

Athlete training facility that was outside and very large and separated by age/ability. Place where athletes train before the games and judges look over them. Also a center for civic life and had quite strict laws (Gymnasiarchy Law).

Hieron of Syracuse

Was a notable victor at the Panhellenic Games. His horse, Pherenikos, won the prestigious single horse race at the Olympic Games. The poet Pindar wrote about him in Olympian Ode 1.

Temenos

The marked area of a sanctuary, and was a sacred land. There were many in Olympia, and one of them was Delphi, which was for Apollo. It was a place for athletic competitions, where athletes performed for the gods.

Nash's equilibrium

The choice of each contestant represents a "best response" to the choices of all the other contestants. Additionally, the effort level of athletes increases as the prize gets bigger. This equilibrium was present in ancient sports and could be used to explain some of the athlete's moves.

Walter Camp

Walter Camp was Yale's captain in 1878, and later was a coach, and rules committee member. He was known as the "Father of American Football". He created many of the game's key elements, including the line of scrimmage, the system of downs, the 11-player team, and the quarterback position.

Milo of Croton

Was a Greek athlete who was a 6 time Olympic champion and famous for his strength. He was rumored to lift a calf over his head everyday until it was fully grown and he'd kill and eat it all in one day. He died due to being overly cocky when he overestimated his strength's ability to split a tree and got caught + then eaten by wolves.

Theagenes of Thasos

A famous Greek athlete who was rumored for stealing a statue at the age of 9. He had over 1400 victories over 25 years of boxing, pancration, and running (which he did because of his hero Hercules). He also followed a crazy diet.

Gamesmanship

The art or practice of winning games by questionable expedients without actually violating the rules. Gamesmanship can be considered a grey area and can be motivated by competitiveness.

Flying Wedge

A football flying V or wedge formation that is now banned for safety reasons. Shows differences in ancient sports which were "painful" compared to modern sports with safety regulations.

Strigil

A curved tool that was used to scrape mud, sweat, oil, and more off of athletes after they competed. There were sometimes sets with different curvatures.

Pythian Games

Were created in 582 BC, and have an artistic aspect not present at Olympia with singing and instrument playing. Confirmed that important festivals take place at a neutral site and that there is a gradual development around a core set of events.

Bull-Leaping

Archaeological evidence of bull leaping from the Bronze Age for physical entertainment for kings. Participants, both male and female, would grasp the horns of a charging bull and vault over its back, performing gymnastic feats.

Zanes

The plural form of Zeus. They were bronze statues of Zeus erected at the ancient Olympic Games with money from fines imposed on cheating athletes. They served as a public warning to athletes.

Cylon

Was a victor at Olympia who tried and failed to seize the citadel and then tried to seek sanctuary by the goddess' statue. He was later killed and his and his followers' deaths were attributed to the Alcmaeonidae.

College Sports Commission

An independent governing body created in 2025 to oversee new rules for Division I athletics. If a deal is not cleared, the athlete can take it to the CSC for appeal.

Funeral games

Athletic games that occurred at the funeral of loved ones. Eventually evolved into ancient Olympic games that had regular scheduling, wider community involvement, and religious involvement.

Ephebes

A male adolescent who had reached puberty and was undergoing military training to become a full citizen. Over time it went from military training to education.

Oracles (significance of)

Was a way for humans to communicate with the gods for answers about the future, religion, or current affairs and was connected with the process of Greek networking. It was important for political and military leaders to communicate with divine creatures.

Melesias

A famous wrestling coach and trainer in ancient Athens during the 5th century B.C. He is talked about in Pindar's odes where he is praised for training winning wrestlers.