Archaeological finds shed light on the last Olympian of late antiquity
In a year packed with symbolism and nostalgia in and around the Greek capital, it's again worth mentioning that Athens had the historic privilege of closing out the ancient Olympiads and inaugurating the modern Olympic Games. Two champions, in fact, Zopyros of ancient Athens and Spyros Louis, a native son of one of contemporary Athens' northern suburbs (Amaroussion or Athmoneus during antiquity) highlight two distinct milestones in the history of the Games, ancient and modern.
The Athenian Zopyros, a ''grand victor of the pankration'' (a sports event in antiquity combining boxing and wrestling) in the Olympic Games of 385 AD, has apparently "wrestled away" the glory of Armenian prince Varazdat, or Artavasdes, as the ''last of the Olympic victors''. The latter triumphed at the 369 AD Games in the boxing event.
Finds from the latest excavations in ancient Olympia, which for the past 120 years have been carried out by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, extend the number of ancient Olympiads by another century - from 277 AD to 385 AD.
This important find of the latest excavations at ancient Olympia -- under the supervision of Ulrich Sinn, a professor of classical archaeology at the University of Würtzburg and a prominent Hellenist -- comprises a large section of an inscribed bronze plaque, 75x40 cm in size, containing the names of hitherto unknown Olympic athletes. In fact, in addition to the name, the victor's homeland and the event he won are also included, as well as the date of the victory in Olympia. ''This new find,'' says Prof. Sinn, ''says much about the position of the Olympic Games in late antiquity. Up until now we believed that the series of Olympic victors ended in the year 277 AD, based on some obscure information surrounding that year. The appearance of the Armenian prince Varazdat (or Varazdates) in 369 AD was considered a totally isolated instance and generally viewed as considered as a theatrical spectacle, lacking in seriousness. With the new epigraph, we have proof that the ritualistic manifestations, together with the Games, continued to be staged regularly in Olympia also during the 4th century AD. The last inscription on the list refers to one a Zopyros from Athens, who was the victor in 385 AD in the boys' Pankration...''
The Roman conquest of the Hellenic world and the progressive prevalence of Christianity led to a re-evaluation of the Olympic spirit. The ancient Greeks, with the varying autonomy conceded by Rome, rallied together on the athletic fields and the gymnasium, the center of their ethnic survival, where they carried on with their athletic, social and intellectual activities, naturally to the degree allowed by the new sovereign.
Ancient Olympia, after a long period of decline, once again found its past glory during the reigns of the philhellene emperors Hadrian and Antoninus. However, despite this apparent flourishing of sports, the Panhellenic (of all Greeks) games differed greatly from the Games of the past, which were intrinsically linked with religion and the heroic past. The latter were merely grandiose spectacles.
Prof. Sinn, after 12 months of intensive study of Olympia's development in Late Antiquity and the relationship of the pagan worshippers, athletes and Christians who converged on the sacred Alti, notes:
''Pagan worshippers, athletes and Christians. A common presence of those three groups seemed unthinkable. In Late Antiquity, whoever entered the Sanctuary to sacrifice the Olympian gods must have felt abhorrence for the increasing spread of the Christian faith. The Christians had already begun, since the 3rd century AD, to oppose the ancient Hellenic religion inside the sanctuary.
In addition to the early Christians, however, the athletes were also accountable for the decline of worship at Zeus' sanctuary. Their organization into professional leagues, which began in the latter Classical years, is construed as a deviation from the religious roots of the Games. The statues at the entrance of the Stadium, commissioned with money from fines imposed on athletes, appear to corroborate such a desecration of Olympia..."
The ''Zopyros Epigraph'' also reflects the character of the Olympiads in the last decades of the 4th century AD.
The research team from the German Archaeological Institute proved with its research that ''the program of the Games faithfully adhered to the ceremonial ritual of the Classical years. The matter of the athletes' origins should be stressed here; in addition to the cities of Asia Minor (Sardis and Tenedos) mainland Greece was also represented to a great extent. Apart from Elis, there were frequent representations from Athens and Viotia (Boeotia in its classical form).
Prof. Sinn, moreover, disagrees with the widespread view that with "Roman influence came also a strong penetration by foreigners, in other words non-Hellenes, into the Games..."
The year 385 AD, which is the last year appearing on the ''Zopyros epigraph'', ''does not necessarily mark the last Olympiad, since the epigraph does not constitute an official record of victors but simply a document with the members of the athletic league,'' according to the professor.
Sinn also expresses doubt as to the success of Emperor Theodosius I's ordinance (391 AD) banning the Olympic Games.
Theodosius II ''must have had some reason that made him, 40 years later, again launch an attack on the ancient places of worship..."
According to Prof. Sinn, all the finds lead to the conclusion that ''the people who lived in the Alpheios plain in the first half of the 5th century AD decided, by majority, to withdraw their confidence in Zeus and offer it to Christ..."
List of ancient Olympic victors from Athens
An inscribed bronze plaque, 75x40 cm in size, shows the names of hitherto unknown Olympic athletes. In addition to the name, the victor's homeland and the event he won are also included, as well as the date of the victory in ancient Olympia. According to the latest research by the German Archaelogical Institute of Athens, ''Zopiros'' -- which appears on the plaque -- constitutes last recorded Olympic champion of antiquity.
Athens can pride itself of 35 Olympic victors in the 264 Olympiads (776 BC-277 AD), as recorded in the list of ancient Olympic victors.
The list was compiled, circa 400 BC, by the sophist philosopher Hippias of Elis, probably based on the records of Olympia, oral tradition and memories of older Olympiads still alive. The first Olympiad was considered that of 776 BC in Olympia, when Koroibos of Elis won the Stadion event.
Hippias' record was revised and supplemented in the 4th century BC by Aristotle, and later by Eratosthenes, Phlegon of Tralleis, and others, and evolved into a chronicle of the Olympics, which since the 3rd century BC served as the basis of the ancient chronological system.
Of the later registers of Olympic victors, Sextus Julius Africanus'
list of stadion victors (covering the 1st to the 249th Olympiads) has survived in its entirety, due to its inclusion in Eusebius' ''Chronology'' (circa 324 BC).
Information about those registers was preserved by historical and literary sources, as well as the writings on the Oxyrrhynchos papyrus', those of Pausanias, Julius Africanus' register, coins, and, of course, the Games' inscriptions.
The catalogue of Athenian Olympic victors, by ascending order of Olympiad, chronology and event, is as follows:
21st 696 BC Pantakles Stadion
22nd 692 BC Pantakles Stadion, Diaulos
27th 672 BC Eurybates (or Eurybos) Stadion
34th 644 BC Stomas Stadion
35th 640 BC Kylon Diaulos
36th 636 BC Phrynon Pankration
47th 592 BC Alkmaion Tethrippon
61st 536 BC Kimon Tethrippon
62nd 532 BC Peisistratos Tethrippon
63rd 528 BC Kimon Tethrippon
70th 500 BC Kallias II Tethrippon
71st 496 BC Kallias II Tethrippon
77th 472 BC Kallias Pankration
78th 468 BC Lykophron Boys Stadion
name unknown Race In Armor
80th 460 BC Timodemos Pankration
81st 456 BC Phrynichos Boys Wrestling
86th 436 BC Megakles Tethrippon
95th 400 BC Minos Stadion
96th 396 BC Epichares Boys Stadion
98th 388 BC Sosippos Stadion
103rd 368 BC Pythostratos Stadion
104th 364 BC Phokides Stadion
105th 360 BC Philammon Boxing
107th 352 BC Timokrates Synoris
109th 344 BC Aristolochos Stadion
110th 340 BC Antikles Stadion
111th 336 BC Dioxippos Pankration
112th 332 BC Kallippos Pentathlon
113th 328 BC Demades Equestrian
117th 312 BC Aristophon Pankration
118th 308 BC Antenor Pankration
127th 272 BC Glaukon Tethrippon
162nd 132 BC Menodoros Wrestling
218th 93 AD Athenaios Event Unknown
Να είσαστε όλοι καλά!
|