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One of the dozens of city-states that comprised Greece, it was no bigger than New Jersey - just a wide valley ringed by mountains and drained by a river, the Eurotas, that ran down to the Mediterranean. The ancient name for Kyniska’s homeland was Lakonia. The story of how Kyniska masterminded her way to glory through this loophole in the Olympics rules is one of the great game-changes in sports history – and it has a strong lesbian twist to boot. Painting of a tethrippon, or four-horse chariot race.
#Ancient greek olympics chariot races driver#
And the horse-owner was viewed as the winner, not the driver (who was usually a slave or hired professional). As owners, they could enter horses in the equestrian events… as long as a male charioteer was the public face on the entry. “But women couldn’t compete in the ancient Olympics, “ some will say. In 396 BCE, Kyniska, a king’s daughter from Sparta, won it in the prestigious tethrippon or four-horse chariot race. The end of Women’s History Month is a good time for Outsports to celebrate the first female to wear a victor’s crown of olive leaves at the ancient Olympic Games. The first truly international athletic event that resembles today’s Olympic Games was held in 1870.Kyniska's story is one of the great game-changes in sports history – and it has a strong lesbian twist to boot. Although these games were successful, they had only Greek athletes and participants.
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A wealthy Greek investor named Evangelos Zappas was so moved by Soutsos’ poetry that he sponsored a small-scale revival of the Olympic Games called the “Zappas Olympics” starting in 1859. Soutsos’ poem was very popular and it was printed in the nation’s newspapers. One proud Greek named Panagiotis Soutsos wrote an acclaimed poem calling for the return of the event. The independence of Greece in the 1830s also helped to bring back the Olympics. They identified heavily with the spirit of the ancient Games, which celebrated the human spirit through struggle and competition. Many of them were inspired by the similar themes found in ancient Greek art, such as operas and poetry. To fight against these changes, these artists used their words and paintings to celebrate the beauty of nature and human emotion. Many of them believed that humanity and nature were under threat as society became increasingly dominated by rules and rational scientific thought. Writers and artists at the time were rebelling against scientific progress and politics of the 1800s. In the late 19 th century, two things sparked the restoration of the Olympic Games. For almost 1500 years, the Olympics ceased to exist as an event. He was a Christian who believed that the games were a form of worshipping of a false religion. In the year 393 A.D., Roman emperor Theodosius banned the Olympic Games. However, later Olympic Games held gradually longer races such as the marathon. At the earliest recorded Olympics in 776 B.C., racing was the only event.
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Heracles declared the Olympic Games would be held every four years and built a stadium to honor his father.
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According to legend, the Olympic Games were created by Zeus and his son, Heracles, both of whom were Greek gods. There were athletic games as well as combat and chariot racing.
#Ancient greek olympics chariot races series#
In ancient history, the Olympic Games were a series of competitions between different cities in Greece.