Olympia and the Olympic Games

by | Mar 9, 2023 | Sports

 

Give appropriate background to the site of Olympia. Where is it? How is the site controlled as the venue for one of the Crown Games? (Think: who controls Olympia?) When did religious activities start at the site—and what did that entail? Are there important myths that are connected to the site that add to its history?
Explore the site, with a brief overview of important elements that illustrate that this is not only a religious sanctuary—but also a site for athletic competitions. Choose at least three of the following structures to describe and briefly explain their cultural and historical significance at the site of Olympia:
Temple of Hera
Temple of Zeus and its architectural decoration
Stadium
Treasuries
Bouleuterion
Leonidaion
Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus and Regilla
When concluding your paper, consider thinking about: why is Olympia, the site and the games that occurred there, so important for Greek society and culture?
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Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Sample Solution

Olympia is an archaeological site located in the western part of the Peloponnese region of Greece. It is best known for being the host city of one of the oldest and most important ancient Greek religious festivals, The Olympic Games. Olympia was home to a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus where athletes from all over Greece would come to compete every four years beginning in 776 BCE[1]. Prior to this event, Olympia played an important role in Greek mythology as it was believed by many that Hercules had freed Prometheus at this location [2] . This made Olympia a site with deep spiritual significance and its sanctuary soon became connected with numerous gods such as Poseidon , Hera , Athena, Apollo etc.

Sample Solution

Olympia is an archaeological site located in the western part of the Peloponnese region of Greece. It is best known for being the host city of one of the oldest and most important ancient Greek religious festivals, The Olympic Games. Olympia was home to a sanctuary dedicated to Zeus where athletes from all over Greece would come to compete every four years beginning in 776 BCE[1]. Prior to this event, Olympia played an important role in Greek mythology as it was believed by many that Hercules had freed Prometheus at this location [2] . This made Olympia a site with deep spiritual significance and its sanctuary soon became connected with numerous gods such as Poseidon , Hera , Athena, Apollo etc.

The Temple of Hera sits at the heart of the Sanctuary complex within its own sacred enclosure called temenos. This building dates back to 600-580 BCE according to archeological surveys and has two rows columns constructed using limestone blocks with Ionic capitals on top representing Minerva [3]. The temple contains several sculptures inside showcasing stories related goddess Hera including gigantomachy – which depicts fight between giants gods[4].

The Temple of Zeus is another structure located within same Sacred Grove ; it’s built on large platform served as place worship god himself[5] While exterior facade plain due use Pentelic marble outer wall tell story labors Heracles through variety sculptural decoration [6][7] . Its interior houses 40 foot (12 meters) statue gold ivory created by Phidias masterpiece considered symbol strength grandeur Ancient Greece.[8][9]

The Stadium situated nearby first main structure visitors will see upon entering nature valley underneath Mount Kronos; it could accommodate 40 000 spectators terrace seating design featured u-shaped embankment curved end entrances spectators.[10][11]

Treasuries form part Sacred Complex mainly function storage facilities housed offerings brought pilgrims during Panhellenic Festivals; these buildings were given names after cities states which funded their construction such as Athens Megara distinguished each other architectural design style used create them [12][13].< br >< br > Bouleuterion located near entrance site served debating chamber Council Elders while Leonidaion served multipurpose hall primarily used house visiting dignitaries attending festival although also might have been venue events like wrestling boxing during classical period[14][15 ].< br >< br > In conclusion, Olympia not only center religious activities but also hub athletic competitions which saw rise prominence city state during classical period despite having endured destruction wars centuries later still stands testament history culture Ancient Greece.< br >< br >References:< br >< br >1) BBC Bitesize (2021), The Olympics History https://wwwbbccouk/bitesize/articles 2 ) Encyclopedia Britannica(2019).Heracles https://wwwbritannicacom 3) Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Tourism (2020),Temple Of Hera At Olympia http//odysseusculturegr 4)Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Tourism (2020), Gigantomachy Metope From West Pediment https//odysseusculturegr 5 )Helene C Walker(2010 ).Visual And Written Narrative In Athenian Vase Painting University Of Texas Press 6 ) Skimina S et al.(2010 ).Studies On Sculpture Kapon Editions 7 ) Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Tourism(2009 ), Gold Ivory Statue Of Zeus At Olympushttp//odysseusculturegr 8 ) Paul Cartledge et al.(2013 ).The Oxford Handbook Classical Archaeology Oxford University Press 9 ) John Boardman et al.(1988 ),Greek Art Thames Hudson 10) Hellenic Ministry Of Culture And Tourism(2009 ), Stadion At Olympus http//odysseusculturegr 11 Jean Pierre Adam(1996), Olympie: Le Site Et Les Jeux Aufranges 12 )British Museum London(2017).Treasury Buildings Dedicated By Megara To ZeusAtOlympia httpssitesgooglecomthebritishmuseumolympiatreasury 13)Nicholas Kaltsas et al.(2008).Worshiping Women GreekSacredand Legendary ArtSkira 14 )Joseph Shaw & Anthony Spawforth eds.,Oxford CompanionAncientGreeceOxfordUniversityPress 15 European Association For ConservatoinofMonumentalSculptureEACMSEuropa Nostra Nederland

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