Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/937

* OLYMPIC GAMES. 801 OLYMPIODOBUS. been covered twelve times. Another group of contests was formed by wrestling, bo.ing, and the pancratium. In the first, the object was to throw the antagonist three times, but the struggle was not continued on the ground. Box- ing became more and more brutal, for while at first the jjugilists wound straps of soft leather over the lingers as a shield and to deaden the blows, in later times hard leather, sometimes even weighted with metal, was used. Still the highest i)raise was won by athletes who owed their success to such perfect defense that they exhausted their opponents without striking a blow or receiving a scratch. In the pancratium, the most severe of the sports, both wrestling and boxing were employed, and the contest continued until one of the contestants acknowledged his defeat. For these contests the competitors were paired by lot, and it was regarded especially creditable to pass through the successive rounds without the rest aft'orded by drawing a bye. which might occur whenever the number of contestants was uneven. The horse-races were run in the Hippodrome (q.v. ). of which no traces have been discovered, but which is said to have had a length of four stadia. As this would mean that a complete circuit was nearU' a mile, and as we are told that the four-horse chariots made twelve circuits, it follows that the race must liave been far more a test of endurance than of speed, or else, which is more probable, that these figures have suffered in transmission. This sport W'as naturally confined to the wealthy, but was very popular, and the successful owner re- ceived high honor in his State, while princes commemorated their victories on their coins. After the horse-racing came the jientathlon, or five-fold competition in running, jumping, throw- ing the javelin and the discus, and wrestling. The exact order of the competition and the method of determining the winner are unknown, but it is clear that it was necessary to show- decided all-round ability. The running was the short race, or Stadion, and the jumping was for distance, not height, but was probably analogous to the modern hop, step, and jump, for the ground was softened to a distance of 50 feet, and we hear of two men who cleared 52 and 55 feet, respectively. The javelin was a light spear, and was thrown with the aid of a strap which was ^vrapped about the shaft, by which a rotary motion and greater distance and accuracy was secured. The discus was a plate of bronze, probably lens-shaped, and much heavier than the one now in use in athletic games {i'z pounds), as the best throw recorded is 95 Olym- pic feet. The last event of the games seems to have been the race in armor, twice the length of the Stadion. At first the runners wore the full armor of a hoplite. but later they carried only the shield. On the last day of the festival the victors received in front of the temple the crowns of wild olive from the sacred tree, which were the only prize, and afterwards were ban- <iueted by the State of Elis at the Prytaneion. The victor returned home in triumph to enter the city in a chariot, often through a breach in the walls, with songs and processions. His praises were sung by poets, and in many cities he lived thereafter at public expense. The games were at fheir height during the fifth and fourth centuries, when the contestants were of the best blood in Greece. Gradually, however, a change took place, as the training became more and more a profession, and in Roman times, although the crowds and the splendor continued, the competitors were nearly all the professional athletes again.st whose mode of life physicians and moralists alike directed their ccnsui'e. Yet the games continued until A.D. 394, when they were finally suppressed by the Emperor Theodosius, supposedly on the ground that they were opposed to the interests of Christianity. ilODERX Olympic Games. Largely owing to the efforts of the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a number of individuals banded themselves to- gether and organized an International Athletic Committee, which held its first meeting in Paris in 1895. The object of the committee was to reestablish the Olympian games by organizing a series of athletic contests to be held once in every four years, and to take place at such time and in such country as the International Committee might decide. The first games in the modern series were held at Athens in 1896, the ancient Stadium, which had been specially pre- pared for the purpose, serving as the theatre. The patriotic munificence of a wealthy Greek of Alexandria (George Abcrofl'), together with the efforts of the Greek national committee, under the Crown Prince Constantine, alone made this possible. The different competitions were for the most part open to the world. The second and more important festival was held at Paris in 1900, the games being divided into ten sec- tions, as follows: Athletic sports and games; gymnastics; fencing; shooting; equestrian sports; cycling sports; motor car racing: aquatic sports: firemen's drill; and ballooning. A con- spicuoTis feature was the large number of Ameri- can entries, to secure which the authorities had purposely delaj-ed the date of the games. It was announced that the 1904 games would be held in the United States. Consult: Krause, Ol 11 III Ilia, ode r Damlellunij dcr olj/iiiiiifichen H/jiele (Vienna, 18.38), which is still of value; Biit- ticher, Olipnph ; Das Fest tind seine Stiitte (2d ed., Berlin, 1886) ; Mommsen, Ueber die Zeit der Olympien (Leipzig. 1891) ; Stengel "Die griechischen Kultusaltertihner," in Miiller's Handhiich der klassischen Altertuniswissetwichaft (Munich. 1898) ; Gardner, New Chapters in Greek History (London, 1892). OLYM'PIODO'RUS (Lat., from Gk. '0X1/^^16- Swpo^, OlijiiipiodOros). (1) An historian of the fifth century A.D., born at Thebes in Egypt, who continued the work of E;niapius. In his history i'lcTTopiKol Xiyoi), in twenty-two books, he covered the period A.D. 407-425. Only a fragment has Ijeen preserved to us by Photius. (2) An Alexandrian philosopher of the fifth century a.d., famous for his knowledge of Aris- totelianism and as the master of Proclus. (3) One of the latest of the Alexandrian Neo- Platonists who lived in the sixth century a.d., during the reign of the Emperor .Justinian. Of the details of his life we know nothing. Of his writings we possess a life of Plato with commentaries on several of the Platonic dia- logues. In these he shows himself to have been a man of large learning and of acute thought. His Life of Plato is best edited by Westermann