November 15: First Modern Olympics

On 15 November 1859, the first modern revival of the Olympics was held in Athens, Greece. Because they were funded by Evangelis Zappas, the games were known as the Ζάππειες Ολυμπιάδες or Zappas Olympics.

Zappas was born in Epirus, Greece in 1800. At the age of 31, he emigrated to Bucharest where he became a wealthy landowner. After reading a poem by Alexandros Soutsos which had argued for the revival of the Olympic Games, Zappas began to promote the effort to re-establish the games in Athens. Because of his wealth, he offered to fund the efforts.

The Zappas Olympics were held in Loudovikou Square (which is now known as Koumoundourou Square) because Zappas’ restoration of the Panathenaic stadium had not been finished. Events included running, javelin throwing, the discus, wrestling, and jumping; events which were included in the ancient Olympics.

Because only Greeks could participate, the 1859 Olympics were not an international event. Nor are the Zappas Olympics—which took place in 1859, 1870, and 1875—recognized as official Olympics by the International Olympic Committee. According to the IOC, the first modern Olympics were the ones held in Athens in 1896.

This component helps by making the blood flow in the regencygrandenursing.com cialis generika direction of the penile organ. After using Kamagra, when you regain your sexual purchasing viagra australia arousal, you can gain harder and fuller erection. As well as psychological factors, men who have a history of heart conditions If you have hearing problems If you experience seizures If you have ever lost an erection, but do you know that you viagra no prescription visit for source are currently experiencing the condition? If you are gripped with sudden fear for no reason and not even able to find a reason of weak relationship. If ACTH production is reduced, endocrine hormones are cialis price also not secreted in sufficient amounts even if endocrine glands are intact. The ancient Olympics began in 776 BCE and were held in Olympia. Athletes had to be free men who spoke Greek. They competed in events to honor Zeus. After Rome took over Greece, the games continued but lost much other importance and sacred traditions. Emperor Theodosius officially ended the Olympics in 349 CE. As a Christian, Theodosius wanted to eliminate Pagan festivals.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Evangelis Zappas


Although Today in History is primarily student written, there are some days when we do not have a student author. You will enjoy another student entry on November 17.

Posted on by stevenlberg
Categories: World History: Ancient, World History: Early Modern
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15 Responses

  1. Chris Hernandez says:
    18 November 2012 at 2:31 pm

    Evangelis Zappas was the founding father of the Olympics, and what you see today. looking back on the ancient Olympics and that only Greeks were aloud to participate in the games, and what it is today with over 70 countries participating along with men and women to participate. In the ancient Olympics only men were aloud to participate and only Zeus’ sister was the only women aloud to watch the games. The one thing that i liked about the ancient Olympics was that it brought countries together, don’t get me wrong that what today’s games do to an extent, However there were truces between countries until the games were done. that’s one thing that i would like to see in today’s Olympic games. But that’s highly unlikely to happen.

    Reply
    • David Miller says:
      7 December 2012 at 5:33 pm

      Along side ancient medicine and Hippocrates, the Olympics are one of my favorite aspects of ancient Greece. Since the Olympics were so closely tied with the Greek religion, it’s no surprise to me that they had a truce during the time in which athletes would compete. They even went so far as to postpone death sentences until after the Olympics. It’s really remarkable though that they could enforce an international truce. As you said, it’s highly unlikely for a truce of that caliber to take place today.

      Another example of the Greek religion turning away from a fight is when the persians invaded. At the battle of Thermopylae, Sparta was not willing to send any additional troops until after they had observed their religious festival. Similar to the Olympian truce, their religion prevented them from entering the heat of battle with their foe.

      No society is perfect, but the Greeks contributed more to the modern world than most people realize. Greece played a key role in the advancement of medicine, the invention of a democracy, architecture, and much more. I believe that we would have less conflict today if our world was more closely connected with religion like the Greeks.

      Reply
  2. Justin Shureb says:
    18 November 2012 at 6:31 pm

    The ancient Olympics were different from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes from any country all over. Also, the games were always held at Olympia instead of moving around to different countries every time. Like our Olympics, though, winning athletes were heroes who put their home towns on the map. The ancient Olympic Games, part of a major religious festival honoring Zeus, was the biggest event in their world at this time. They were the scene of political rivalries between people from different parts of the Greek world, and the site of controversies, boasts, public announcements and humiliations.

    Reply
  3. Sara says:
    1 December 2012 at 5:52 pm

    I found the Ancient Olympics to be interesting. It made me think of the different sports back then compared to the sports we play now. While researching the Greek Olympic Games I found a sport they introduced to the Games called Pankration, a Greek term meaning “all power”. The Greeks were responsible for this brutal sport that was a blend of boxing and wrestling, which was basically the first mixed-martial art. Except, Pankration had no rules, no rounds, no rests, and no weight limit. The only “rule” was no biting or eye gouging, though participants frequently tried to get away with both. The genitals were not off limits either. The idea of Pankration was to get as close as you could to killing the opponent without actually killing him, using an arsenal of strikes, takedowns, grapples, chokeholds, hyperextensions. A victor was declared when one man admitted defeat by raising an index finger. Pankration itself was an event in the Olympic Games for some 1,000 years. It is a matter of controversy whether and to what extent Pankration continues in Greek and in other societies after the ancient Games were discontinued.

    Reply
  4. Dylan Cook says:
    4 December 2012 at 5:18 pm

    I would just like to point out the advancement of the olympics since then. Women were not aloud to participate in these olympics or any other form of olympics (the Wenlock Olympian Games) until 1900 in Peris with women’s Golf and Tennis. Also, at this same olympics was the first time an African American was present in an Olympics. This is surprising considering the world wide discrimination that they faced. The First olympic committee contained one member from Asia and South America (Argentina and Russia) and none from Africa. I think it is good that there has been a lot of progress with equality over the last 100 years or so.

    Reply
  5. Aaron Dowd says:
    5 December 2012 at 11:22 am

    The Olympics have been around for 153 years. As stated in the above article, they featured only Greece but in the London 2012 Olympics, there were 204 participating countries. There are several different events in current Olympics including Track and Field, Gymnastics, Skiing/Snow boarding, Swimming, and many more. Participants are judged based on their time of a run or lap, or their performance in a specific event. Divers are judged based on the execution of their flips and entry in to the water while Swimmers are judged on the speed of their laps. The people with the highest scores are awarded metals–gold is the highest, silver the next, and bronze is associated with third place.

    Reply
  6. Austin Henson says:
    5 December 2012 at 5:17 pm

    Upon reading this article i looked at some ancient traditions of the Olympics that were still around today. One of the traditions i found is called the Olympic oath. This was used for every competitor in the Olympics. They had to say an oath in front of a statue of zeus.

    Reply
    • Austin Henson says:
      5 December 2012 at 5:26 pm

      Sorry i hit enter way to early. These athletes would have to vow to obey the rules and that they have properly trained for these games.Also, officials had to make a very similar oath. Today however This is still required of athletes. Some things have changed, such as not having to say it in front of a statue of Zeus. Now only one athlete, coach, and judge from the host country have to make these oaths. One of the major traditions still kept from the games was obviously the flame. It must be kept burning until the end of the games. In ancient times it would burn in front of a statue of Hera.

      Reply
  7. Kristen Becker says:
    7 December 2012 at 6:19 pm

    The ancient Olympic games where first only for those in the different city states of Ancient Greece and they were originally held in honor of Zeus, one of the Greek gods. It was very important to the Greeks to make sure that they rooted the Olympic Games in mythology. It was hard to say where the origins of the earliest traditions started but one of the myths say that the dactyl Herakles (not Zeus’ son) and four of his brothers raced at Olympia to entertain the Newborn Zeus and he had crowded the winner with an olive tree branch.

    Reply
  8. Jalynn Neeely says:
    8 December 2012 at 11:02 am

    Ancient Olympics games (Ancient Greek) has series of athletic competitions against many city states of Ancient Greece. Zeus held the althetics in honor and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The athletics began in 776 BC in Olympia. Games were usually held every four years. During the games an Olympic truce was enacted, so athletics could travel to their countries and the games safely. This is still going on in the Morden World today. The Anicent Olympics had fewer events, than the Morden Games and freeborn Greeks were only allowed to Participate. The games in Ancient world were held at Olympia and in the Morden Games there held at different locations.

    Reply
  9. Jonny Bannoura says:
    9 December 2012 at 5:43 pm

    Almost a century after the first modern Olympics steroids were introduced. Today steroid use in the Olympics is such a colossal issue. I have done a research paper on this during my English 102 course here at Schoolcraft with Mr. Steve Sosnoski.

    Steroids were first introduced to America in the late 1950’s. “The Russians were dominating America in the space race and also the Olympics, one night the Russian weightlifting coach got drunk and told the American coach that they have been injecting their athletes with steroids, the American coach rushed home and developed a more powerful kind of steroid” (Bigger Faster Stronger).

    Back then I’m sure cheating was not even prevalent in the Olympics of 1859.

    In the documentary film “Bigger Faster Stronger”, Dick Smith, owner of York barbell in Pennsylvania also an Olympic weightlifting coach in the late 1950 ‘s answered many questions about steroids one which was pretty interesting when asked if it was ever thought of as cheating back then he replied, “no, because we figured everybody was taking it.” Back then the Russians used to dominate the Americans in weightlifting; it wasn’t until steroids came along when you began to see the U.S. taking over. Steroids benefited the USA Olympians and would soon come to benefit the public.

    It is strange that an event such as the Olympics, where trust and honesty are expected in competition between countries was the building block for steroids.

    Reply
  10. Nick Rotter says:
    9 December 2012 at 7:37 pm

    The ancient Olympic games differ greatly from the modern Olympics we know today. First of all, the ancient games were held in the same location every year, where as now the Olympics rotate countries every four years. The ancient games were more about the festival and Zeus. They would cease all wars that were taking place at the time so that everyone could compete in the games. Also in the ancient games, the opening ceremony was a sacrifice to Zeus. Where as, now the games are more about getting together with other countries and finding out which country has the better athletes, and the opening ceremony is more a display of the host nations culture. And as we all know, countries don’t stop wars just for the Olympics, in some instances countries boycott the games all together.

    Reply
  11. Alex Zuccarini says:
    9 December 2012 at 9:20 pm

    i was looking at some differences between the ancient Olympics and the Olympics today and thought it was interesting how they were awarded in ancient times. Instead of getting a gold medal for coming in first they would be given a branch from a wild olive tree, cut off with a golden handled knife. After that the winner would give public thanks to Zeus and the gods would favor the town of a winning athlete.

    I also found their opening ceremony to be quite different. They had the “Festival of Heraia” (Zeus’s wife) which was a small festival that lasted throughout the games. It was nothing compared to the opening ceremony’s we have today.

    Reply
  12. Andrew Page says:
    9 December 2012 at 10:15 pm

    The Olympics have done a great job of getting the world together. A time to forget about war and enjoy life. In 1986 a rule was made allowing professional athletes to compete in the Olympics. although this gives the best athletes a chance to compete for their country, it takes away chances for those athletes who dream of competing for their country. Now that there’s dream teams, we seldom get to dream.

    Reply

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