by James Wyllie
THE TEMPLE OF HERA
Standing with your back to the Philippeion you will be able to see the TEMPLE OF HERA to your left and the PELOPION to your right. Beyond the Temple look for the tiny shrine known as the METROON and behind it, on a raised terrace, a string of small TREASURY HOUSES. The Pelopion is already an ancient graveyard built atop ancient burial sites, now enclosed by a irregular pentagonal wall with a Doric portico for an entrance. Inside you can enjoy the tranquillity of its poplars, olive trees and statues and its mounds of funereal and sacrificial ash. During your stay you may well see both formal and informal rites in here, especially the roasting of meat. Do be aware of the consequences of partaking. The writer PAUSANIAS, on a contemporary visit to the games, noted that ‘the magistrates sacrificed a black ram to honour Pelops and whoever ate from the sacrificed animal was not allowed to enter the temple of Zeus’. If you have a taste for the black ram, perhaps it would be best to try and see the Temple of Zeus first.
Built in the early sixth century, the Doric TEMPLE OF HERA will appear strangely remodelled, as Roman stone and sculpture have recently replaced the old Hellenic work, including its wooden columns. During the Games this temple’s main function will be to display the olive wreaths for Olympic victors on a long wooden table. Note, just to the right of the temple as you look north, a large conical mound of compressed ashes; this is the ALTAR OF ZEUS where many centuries of sacrificial remains have accumulated to form a small hill over twenty feet high.
Immediately beyond the Temple of Hera, and most likely with an appreciative crowd around it, is the newly opened NYMPHAEUM. Built by Herodes Atticus in about 160, in memory of his late wife Regilla, a priestess of Demeter here at Olympia, it is in effect a vast monumental spring and water feature. You will see a huge oblong pool backed by a two-storey marble apse, festooned with carved figurines and topped by half-cupolas. The niches within the apse hold Atticus’s ancestors and the obligatory sculptures of Zeus, while the centrepiece of the building is a huge marble bull set in the pool. However, the real genius of the Nymphaeum is hidden, for it is just the decorative frontage of a huge piece of Roman civil engineering that has, for the first time, brought fresh water from a spring a few miles east along a stone viaduct to Olympia. An equally remarkable system of storage tanks and pipes makes the water available across the sanctuary for drinking and bathing.
The nearby METROON is a small Doric temple, built in the early fourth century BC and dedicated originally to RHEA, daughter of the original Greek earth mother, Gaia. At the back, there is still a small altar to her, but over the last century or so the Metroon has moved into Roman Emperor-worship; inside the colonnade are statues of the Emperors Augustus, Claudius, Titus and Vespasian, Nero’s mother Agrippina and Domitian’s wife Dominitia.
The path that leads from the Metroon to the KRYPTE, the large monumental arch in the north east corner of the Altis, and thence to the Olympic stadium, is lined with an eclectic collection of bronze sculptures of Zeus. These are the ZANES, paid for by fines levied on cheats and transgressors of Olympian law and inscribed with warnings and admonitions for athletes on their way to the Games. The first dates from the 98th Olympiad, held in 388 BC, when the boxer Eupolos of Thessaly was fined for bribing three of his opponents. Half a century later, six were erected by the Athenian Kallipos. He had been bribing other athletes in the Pankration. By the second century AD the TREASURY HOUSES which sit on the terrace behind the Zanes are a real curiosity. Built over half a millennium ago by the small city-states of the Hellenic Mediterranean diaspora, they once housed the votive offerings of their athletes and champions.
EAST SIDE: HOUSE OF NERO
A COLONNADE occupies almost the whole of the east side of Altis. Built in the fourth century by Philip of Macedonia to celebrate his victories in the Olympic chariot races, its unusual acoustics will give rise to its contemporary Greek name of HEPTAECHOS (seven echoes). This is the place to come and hear the competitions amongst the trumpeters and heralds that are an integral part of the Olympic Games. Both were, and continue to be, part of the sporting ceremonies, announcing the beginning of a competition with a fanfare on their enormous elongated instruments, or declaiming the name, the father and the home town of Olympic victors. In addition to these duties they will be sparring among themselves in contests throughout the Games.
At the southeastern corner of the Altis, just beyond the colonnade, sits the VILLA OF NERO. The volatile emperor came to Olympia as part of a long tour of his Hellenic realm, a schedule that required, for the first time in centuries, that the Games be delayed for two years to accommodate him. You will no doubt hear plenty of Nero stories while you are here, notably how back in AD 67 he crashed his ten-horse chariot, and how to everyone’s amazement he won all of the musical and literary competitions in which he participated. He also had an ancient Greek shrine to Hestia ripped down and put up his own brash Imperial condo. It has been enlarged since then and equipped with its own baths to accommodate the very pinnacle of the Roman elite visitors.
THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS
The largest building in the Altis and the spiritual centre of the Games is the TEMPLE OF ZEUS. The temple, started in the early fifth century BC, is considered an exemplar of Doric temple architecture. However, the building was eclipsed around 430 BC, when it received the great seated STATUE OF ZEUS carved by PHEIDAS and designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Before you head inside, do take a moment look at the sculptures on the triangular pediments at the east and west end of the building: the former depicts the mythical CHARIOT RACE BETWEEN PELOPS AND OINOMAOS, presided over by Zeus; the latter, the BATTLE OF THE LAPITHS AND CENTAURS, arranged around the god Apollo. Note too the lion-head water spouts on the marble roof, the gold cauldrons that sit at each corner, and the twelve panels, or metopes, that illustrate the twelve labours of Hercules.
THE STATUE OF ZEUS LOOKS ON APPROVINGLY AS WRESTLERS FROLIC.
Once inside you will cross a small rectangular space paved with hexagonal marble slabs: this is where the Olympic champions will receive their olive wreaths. ZEUS, of course, is at the very heart of the temple. Over forty feet high, made of gold and ivory, he won’t be hard to find, but just in case: he is the guy on the throne, crowned by a wreath of olive leaves, holding a sceptre topped by an eagle in his left hand and a winged NIKE, goddess of victory, in his right. The Nike figure alone is six feet high. Enjoy it while you can it, as it will be taken off to Constantinople in the fifth century and destroyed in a fire.
South of the Temple of Zeus you will find the SACRED OLIVE GROVES that provide wreaths for Olympic champions and the BOULEUTERION or Council House which combines a central open-air hall and two wings of offices and storage rooms. There will be plenty of action here during the Games as the building serves as the seat of the ELEAN SENATE who are the organising committee of the Games, and the HELLANODIKAI, who are the umpires and referees. This is where athletes will be registered for competition and, when necessary, lots will be drawn to determine either their opponents or starting positions in races. The central hall will be used during your visit for hearing any accusations of bribery, corruption, cheating or other breaches of Olympic convention. The place is dominated by a mean-faced STATUE OF ZEUS clutching some equally mean thunderbolts. Do take a look at the inscription of the pedestal which curses perjurers and cheats.
THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE
The large collection of buildings that lie on the western side of Altis, on the plain that runs down to the river, is the OLYMPIC VILLAGE. At the northern end sits a cluster of sporting and training facilities: the GYMNASION, the XYSTOS and the PALAESTRA. Next comes a block of older buildings and shrines that currently houses Olympia’s priestly caste and its workforce. Finally, at the southern end, are the new ROMAN HOTELS and the fabulous BATHS OF KLADEOS for well-heeled visitors and the connected, and their ancient predecessor, the LEONIDAION.
The GYMNASION, entered through a vast portico, is a very large quadrangle building whose cent
ral court is 200 yards long. A roofed colonnade – the XYSTOS – divides this into two, with one space for DISCUS AND JAVELIN PRACTICE, the other for RUNNING. Look for the small green door at the southern, colonnaded end of the courts; it will open out on to the PALAESTRA, a large square building set around a courtyard covered with sand. You will find it thickly populated with BOXERS, WRESTLERS, COACHES and MEDICINE MEN. On the south side of the courtyard, the internal colonnade leads to the APODYTERION or undressing room, while on the north side you will find the EPHEBION, or clubroom, for post-training relaxation and socialising. A wander round should also reveal the ELAIOTHESION or oil store, the KONISTERION or dusting room, and a few SPHAIRISTERIA, which are rooms for ball play. Note the strip of concrete pavement in front of the club room and its alternate pattern of ribbed and smooth tiles – this is used as a form of BOWLING ALLEY.
The central cluster of buildings in this section of Olympia is dominated by the THEOKOLEON. The theokoloi are the full time priests of Olympia, attending to all its spiritual business between Olympiads – as well as presiding over many of the week’s celebrations. They share their office space with a small interpreting service, full-time soothsayers, and the quarters of the sanctuary’s musicians, sacrificial animal experts and the woodsman charged with keeping the many temple fires and votive flames stocked with kindling. Despite all the powerful mystic knowledge gathered here, no one really quite knows what the neighbouring HEROON is for any more. Once a small baths, then a Greek temple, it is now a cultic Roman shrine, with an altar to Pan. Finally there are the buildings referred to as PHEIDAS’S WORKSHOP and still a centre for masonry and stonework in Olympia. Pheidas was the fifth-century Greek sculptor responsible for some of the most important statuary of classical Hellenism – above all the bronze goddess Athena at the Acropolis in Athens and the seated Zeus that you will have seen in the Temple of Zeus here in Olympia.
The Greeks did build a few small dormitories and hostels in the third and fourth centuries and even some rudimentary baths, but all of this has been swept away by the Romans. At the same time as remodelling the Altis and generally sprucing the place up, the Romans replaced the primitive Greek hostels with a series of grand HOTELS, installed fine mosaic floors and built the BATHS OF KLADEOS on the banks of the river. This building, less than eighty years old by the time of your arrival, is in excellent shape, featuring grand vaulted ceilings, multicoloured marble cladding, a sweat room, bathtubs and public lavatories, not to mention Olympic-size hot and cold pools.
By contrast, the LEONIDAION, although extensively renovated by the Romans, will be showing its age – almost half a millennium by the time of your stay. It was commissioned and designed by Leonidas of Naxos in 332 BC and his statue can be seen at the northeast corner of the building. Again it is a quadrangular structure with a central courtyard and has previously served as an athletes’ hostel but it has been commandeered by Roman officials and given a nouveau riche twist with a huge ornamental pool in the old court.
THE SPORTS FIELDS
Follow the path that runs down from the triumphal arch and you will see the OLYMPIC STADIUM in front of you. First laid out in the sixth century, this late Roman version is about fifty yards south of the original, nestled at the foot of Mount Kronos. The arena is an oblong of sand over 200 yards long, 40 yards wide and surrounded on all sides by grass-covered embankments large enough to accommodate 45,000 spectators. When the Games are on, most of them will be standing, though the Romans, keen as ever on home improvements, have added banks of wooden benches on part of the long sides and improved the drainage by installing a new stone water channel around the track.
In the centre of the south embankment there is a stone platform reserved for the Hellanodikai. On the north bank, note the marble ALTAR OF DEMETER whose priestess will be the only woman permitted to watch the Games. Behind the west end of the stadium you will be able to see the APODYTERION – the undressing room – where athletes will prepare during the Games. This is a secure area.
Immediately to the south of the stadium, and three times its size, is the HIPPODROME with a gravel track over 800 yards long and 80 yards wide, surrounded by low artificial banks. The track itself is divided down the middle by a stone barrier, the EMBOLON, while a column at each end marks the starting and turning point of each circuit. You will see a sculpture of the Hippodamia (wife of the cheating charioteer Pelops) and a circular altar dedicated to Taraxippos, the generic ghost and horse-worrier that haunts hippodromes in the ancient world. Recent reports from Pausanias suggest that this might be an interesting place to locate yourself during the races: ‘There stands, at the passage through the bank, Taraxippos, the terror of the horses. It is in the shape of a round altar and there the horses are seized by a strong and sudden fear for no apparent reason, and from the fear comes a disturbance. The chariots generally crash and the charioteers are injured. Therefore the drivers offer sacrifices and pray to Taraxippos to be propitious to them.’
THE GAMES
The programme of the ancient Olympics was first fixed in 486 BC as a five-day event. The arrival of the Romans has seen it extended to SIX DAYS. Please note that all of the ATHLETES will be competing NAKED, a tradition supposedly established in 720 BC by Orsippus of Megara, who won his race after his loincloth fell off and attributed his speed to this. A Spartan sprinter called Acanthus went on to win the second race naked too, sealing the worth of the innovation. Many athletes will tie tight leather thongs strings around their foreskins and thighs to prevent unwanted motion and erection.
VICTORY CEREMONIES will occur relatively soon after each event. First a trumpeter will bow a fanfare, then a herald will announce the champion as ‘the best in all Greece’ and be awarded a ribbon. Informal parties, feasts and the award of palm leaves will then break out. In the stadium, victors will also take a periageirmos – a victory lap. The more formal ceremonies and the presentation of the olive wreath will come later in the week.
DAY ONE: OATH TAKING
The main event on the opening day will be the gathering of the HELLANODIKAI – literally the ‘judges of the Greeks’ – notable for their purple cloaks. As well as being in overall charge of the Games, they are also responsible for overseeing the taking of the Olympic oath at the TEMPLE OF ZEUS. Pausanias reports that ‘competitors, their relatives and their trainers swear that they would be guilty of no foul play in the Games, and judges swore that they would be fair and would not accept bribes’. Note: when both athletes and judges take these oaths they will be standing on wild boars’ genitals.
Later in the afternoon, wander down to the ECHO COLONNADE, where the KERYX – the competition for heralds – and the SALPINKTES – the competition for trumpeters – will be going on. Today is also good opportunity to watch the ATHLETES TRAIN at the PALAESTRA and GYMNASION, explore the more informal OLYMPIC VILLAGE in the meadows south of the Altis, and to see whether you an crash any of the more upmarket PARTIES in one of the grand villas.
DAY TWO: HORSE RACING
DAY TWO begins with a procession. The priests of Zeus and the Hellanodikai will gather at the PRYTANEION, light up torches from the eternal flame and visit dozens of the many small altars to the god that are scattered around the Altis. There will be BLOOD SACRIFICES conducted at many of these, so do expect a lot of flies. Once this process is completed, it will be time to get to the HIPPODROME.
Horse racing is a rich man’s game. It is no mean financial and logistical feet to get your rides to this obscure corner of the Peloponnese from across the Roman Empire. The oldest and most prestigious of the three types of racing is the FOUR-HORSE CHARIOT RACE. There will also be TWO-HORSE CHARIOT RACES, originally contested with lowly mules, and simple HORSE AND RIDER RACES.
The chariot races are contested by teams of adult horses, who do twelve circuits of the Hippodrome, and by foals, who do eight. There may up to forty teams in any one race, making the hairpin turns exciting and perilous. The horse and rider event is notable for that absence of saddles and st
irrups and thus the ever-present danger of jockeys being dismounted. Whoever wins, it won’t be the rider who get the laurels and the glory; this goes to the owners of the teams.
Do take note of the HIPPAPHESIS – the igneous starting mechanism that has been devised for these races. This will release the horses on the outside of the track before those on the inside of the track, which gives a running start advantage to the outside lanes, compensated for by the shorter distance faced by the inside lanes. The ropes that secure the horses in their starting gates are held by a bronze eagle in a small altar in the centre of the track and bronze dolphins at the other ends.
DAY THREE: THE PENTATHLON
Today is given over to the PENTATHLON – the fivefold challenge – beginning with RUNNING, followed by DISCUS, JAVELIN and JUMPING, and concluded with bouts of WRESTLING. The running race will be a sprint, one length of the stadium.
The DISCUS, which began life at the Olympics as a stone and then a bronze disc, will now be made of iron, and subject to the peculiar rule that the contestant who brings the heaviest disc will have it used by everyone. Don’t expect the kind of balletic spin and heave that you will have seen at modern Olympics. Here, the discus is thrown from a fixed position, the athlete standing on a small podium or BALBIS. Distances will be marked out by the judges using wooden pegs. Do bear in mind there are no safety nets at Olympia and the average weight of the discuss coming your way is five pounds.
The JAVELIN, also thrown for distance, is a light wood shaft, tipped with metal. Most contestants will also have a long, leather string wrapped around the javelin which uncoils and imparts spin and control when thrown. This is the event most closely associated with music and may well be accompanied by DOUBLE-PIPERS. The JUMPING COMPETITIONS are more opaque. Contestants take a series of jumps from standing starts on a wooden board, but swinging variety of weight and dumbbells to aid their take-off.
