Trip to Olympia

An Aerial View of Ancient Olympia and an artists reconstruction of the Statue of Zeus one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Greetings,

We had a great trip today to Olympia the home of the ancient Olympics. Also I finally got my luggage the bus driver went to the bus station on our way to Olympia. So I finally have clothes!!!

The site of Olympia is famous for its Temple to Zeus which once housed the Statue of Zeus by Phidias. This was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was decorated with gold and ivory. Also at the site was a large temple to Hera. Olympia was not a city but a religious center which hosted the Olympic games every four years. This was the way which the Greeks set their calendar by the Olympiad. The games began in 776BC and continued until the 4th century The games were a part of a large religious festival which was the most important of the 4 Pan-Hellenic Games.

There is a large exercise area called a Palestra where the athletes would train once they arrived in Olympia. As one of the Panhellenic games the Olympics would draw athletes from all over Greece to compete for the honor of their sponsoring town.

As people entered the stadium they would have seen "The Statues of the Cheaters". Each athlete took an oath that they would not cheat if they were caught cheating they and their city would be dishonored and a their statue would remind everyone of their cheating. Much like putting a statue of Pete Rose in the Baseball Hall of Fame with his records and the label cheater. The starting blocks are still visible and we had another footrace here (as in Nemea) and we had the same victor the son of the Professors from Carson-Newman College. His father has come in second twice. I image we will have a rematch when we reach the stadium of Delphi.

We saw several finely carved pieces from the Pediment of the Temple of Zeus in the site museum. On one side is a depiction of the horse race between Pelops and his future father in law. Pelops bribed the caretaker of his future father in law's chariot. Zeus and gods look on knowing that Pelops would win the hand of his bride and that his father in law would die in the crash of the chariot. The other side has carvings of a battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs. The museum also has a Persian helmet one of the spoils of the war later dedicated as a gift to Zeus. It also has the helmet of Mitiades of Athens the hero of the Battle of Marathon which was also given to Zeus as a gift.

Tomorrow we are traveling to Delphi and crossing the new bridge which links the Peloponnesus and the mainland built for the Olympics of 2004.