A particular ancient Greek site that has unequivocal importance compared to the other Ancient Greek site is called Olympia.[1] Olympia was created as a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of Zeus. The sanctuary of Olympia is located in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece, between two rivers, the Alpheus and the Kladeos.[2] The sanctuary of Olympia is one of the most important Greek sites due to the very early origin of the sanctuary, the religious and political significance the site had with the ancient Greeks, and the Olympic Games on which we base our Olympic games present day.

The settlement of the area around Olympia is dated back further than five thousand years ago. 2 The extensive history of Olympia and the surrounding area can be seen as a testimony in both the strength and quality of the settlements established during the early period of ancient Greece, specifically the Peloponnese region.[3]

Zeus was not the first deity that was worshipped at the site of Olympia. It is speculated that the Kronian Hill located at the site of Olympia was the first place of worship for a deity named Kronos.[4] Figurines called Votives were found in an ash layer in the innermost sacred area of Olympia, which is called the Altis. The Votives indicate that there was cult-like activity from at least the tenth century BCE.[5]. It is also known that other sacred buildings found around the Kronian hill shows that other deities were also worshipped, such as Gaia, Themis, Aphrodite, and Pelops; however, when western Greek tribes began to move into the Peloponnese, Zues was the main deity that was worshipped.[6]

The first large structure built in Olympia was a temple dedicated to Hera. The temple dedicated to Hera was built around 600 BCE. However, the first Olympiad, or Olympic games, is thought to have begun in 776 BCE. [7]It is interesting to note that even though the Olympic games began before any large structures were built, the games existed. The Peloponnesian War, which dates as early as around 460 BCE[8], could have been a cause of concern for Olympia. Thucydides describes that Athens had intent to use the riches from Olympia to build up a navy in preparation for war.[9]

After the first Olympiad had begun, the sanctuary of Olympia began to turn into a political setting for the competing city-states. [10] All Greek city-states were allowed to compete in the games, as long as the sacred truce was respected. Due to the sacred truce, Olympia became a place where kings and other leaders were able to meet unarmed and talk about politics, trade, and religion. It is also said that very famous people such as Plato and Aristotle came to witness the games. Alexander the Great is said to have even competed in the Olympic games![11]

Even when city-states were at war with one another, none were denied access to Olympia. An example is the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta. Neither states had been denied access to Olympia or the games. [12] Different wars and battles were commemorated at Olympia. Examples are the Persian War, and the battle of Plataea. The battle of Plataea resulted and a colossal sized bronze statue of Zeus to be built, and both Athens and Sparta were honored for their participation in the battle. [13]

The Olympics have had a huge impact on the history of both the ancient and modern world in regards to human competition. The ancient Greeks used the Olympiad as a peaceful competition between city states, although some of the events themselves resulted in the death of an athlete.[14] Eventually the Greeks agreed to a three month peace period in the summer when the games took place, due to so many different groups of people coming to watch the games. By 472 BCE, the games had been split up into five days. [15]The first day was registration, and the athletes took an oath. On the second day, the horse races and pentathlon took place. The third day consisted of track races, and the fourth day consisted of wrestling and boxing. On the last day prizes were given out and celebrations began.[16]

By the peak of the Olympic games in the Classical era, Olympia was a spectacular place. There was a great temple dedicated to Zeus, and many other buildings, baths, and even swimming pools and saunas. [17]Many of the trends that the Greeks set for the games can be seen in modern Olympics as well. For example, all countries that are competing are peaceful towards one another where the Olympics take place. Also, the competitions last over a period of weeks, and there are many different events. There are awards given out for the winners and top performers, and each became well renowned in their country.

The combination of the political, religious, and competitive nature of the Greek people has had such an astounding impact on human interaction, which originated at Olympia. This reinforces the importance of the sanctuary of Olympia, and the positive influence the games had on the peace between city-states, and the rules and regulations that set the standard that is still regarded even in modern times.

Bibliography

Cartwright, Mark. “Olympia.” Ancient.eu. http://www.ancient.eu/Olympia/ (accessed 25

September 2014).

Jarus, Owen. “Olympia: Site of Ancient Olympics.” Livescience.com.

http://www.livescience.com/26654-olympia.html (accessed 25 September 2014).

Roberts, John. Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World (Oxford University Press, 2007),

http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-1544.

Sandels, V.E.K. “Ancient Olympia Greece.”

http://www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/olympia.htm (accessed 25

September 2014).

Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Thomas Hobbes. London. 1843. Book 1.

Wikipedia. “First Peloponnesian War.” www.Wikipedia.com.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Peloponnesian_War (accessed 02 October 2014).

World Heritage Centre. “Archaeological Site of Olympia.” Whc.unesco.org.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/517 (accessed 25 September 2014).

Leonidas I was a king in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta.[1] He was also a warrior, and he fought and led Sparta in the Second Persian War, until his death which occurred during the battle of Thermopylae.[2] Leonidas did not have a traditional upbringing in regards to Spartan royalty standards.[3] Leonidas’ father was king Anaxandridas, who was originally only married to Leonidas’ mother.[4] His mother’s name is unknown, but she was known to be King Anaxandridas’ niece.[5] According to Herodotus, she would not bare children, so the Ephors of Sparta proposed that the king get rid of his wife.[6] He refused, and made a deal with the Ephors, stating that he would keep his current wife and marry another woman simultaneously so that his lineage would be passed on, an act not at all custom with Spartan ideals.[7] Anaxandridas’ first wife ended up bearing children, and Leonidas was the second child born to her.[8] Leonidas was technically the third born son in the family, because Anaxandridas’ second wife had the first child.[9] The child’s name was Cleomenes, and inherited the thrown according the Spartan tradition of taking the eldest son once the king died. The second born son, who was born to the first wife and was named Dorieus, was angry because he was a much more competent ruler than Cleomenes, who was said to be “not in his right mind”.[10] Therefore, Dorieus decided to leave Sparta to establish a colony.[11] Once Cleomenes died, Leonidas became king of Sparta, because he married Cleomenes daughter, and was next in line for the throne. He did not expect to be King at any point in time, and had previously renounced all thoughts of kingship.[12]

Leonidas was not initially the heir to the throne, so he attended the Spartan agoge, which was the public education given to Spartan males in which they had to complete to qualify for citizenship.[13] Therefore, Leonidas was one of the few Spartan kings to go through the tough warrior system that the Spartan citizens were brought up with.[14] King Leonidas’ upbringing as a soldier and competent military leader was clear when he was asked to become the commander of the Greek forces during the second Persian war in 481 B.C., before he was killed in battle at Thermopylae.[15] After Leonidas’ death, the Spartan reputation had never stood in higher regard.[16]  King Leonidas had ruled from 490 BC until his death at Thermopylae in 480 BC.[17] He became a king of Sparta when his older half-brother Cleomenes was killed in violent and mysterious circumstances, who did not have a male heir.[18] Most of what is understood of King Leonidas is written by Herodotus, who lived between 484-425 BC. [19]

After Leonidas became king, he had to respond to the plea of the other Greek city-states seeking aid to fight back the Persians who were invading Greece during the Second Persian War.[20] King Leonidas sought out the Delphic oracle, and the oracle told him “For you, inhabitants of wide-wayed Sparta, Either your great and glorious city must be wasted by Persian men, Or if not that, then the bound of Lacedaemon must mourn a dead king, from Heracles’ line. The might of bulls or lions will not restrain him with opposing strength; for he has the might of Zeus. I declare that he will not be restrained until he utterly tears apart one of these.”[21] King Leonidas took the message as a reason to stay behind and fight the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae. It was calculated that they had to partake in a risky land operation in order to buy time for The Greeks as a whole while the Athenian Navy could destroy the Persian Navy at the battle of Salamis.[22] Leonidas moved to Thermopylae with around seven thousand men, which was a small force of soldiers.[23] A hidden road over the mountains was discovered by the Persian forces due to a Greek traitor. Leonidas dismissed the majority of his forces, around seven thousand men, possibly due to his doubts about their loyalty, or because he wanted to save as many troops as possible for future battles while still delaying the enemy forces.[24]

A small force of around four hundred men sent by the Thebians and Thespians, and three hundred Spartan soldiers were left to defend the pass at Thermopylae.[25] King Leonidas and his soldiers defended the pass and were all killed, however they inflicted many casualties to the Persian forces, and killed two brothers of Xerxes, who was the Persian King. The actions of Leonidas and his soldiers bought time for the main Greek force, and is also remembered in history as an extraordinary act of heroism in battle.[26] Once King Leonidas and his men were finally killed in battle, Xerxes had Leonidas’ body decapitated and displayed on a cross.[27]

The legacy of Leonidas is still popular modern day. Recently, in 2007, a movie labeled “300” was filmed based off of Leonidas and his men[28] (although historically it was inaccurate). A monument dedicated to Leonidas was placed in Thermopylae in 1955, which features a bronze statue of King Leonidas. [29] There is a sign under the monument in Greek, which translates to “Come and take”.[30] King Leonidas was a hero for his actions and continues to be revered thousands of years later.

Bibliography

Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.

History Channel. “Leonidas”. www.history.com. http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/leonidas

Pomeroy, Sarah B. Ancient Greece, a Political, Social, and Cultural History. Oxford University Press. 2008. Greece text book

Wikipedia. “Leonidas I”. en.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonidas_I

We know a lot less about Ancient Greece than I had previously thought until I was fully engaged in this course. I was amazed when my professor said that we only have a small percentage of the written works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and countless other ancient Greek writers, playwrights, poets, and historians. I will occasionally get lost in my thoughts in class, pondering how something might have been, or imagining what life would have been like during the Classical Age in Athens. This course has enlightened me to how much work historians, archaeologists, and others put in to try and unlock more mysteries of the Ancient Greek world, and I have found a new subject to look into.

As a biology major, I did not think that I would get very much out of taking a Greek history class, however I was wrong. The class provided a refreshing change of pace from classes such as botany or cell biology. There is a science behind building an accurate understanding of the ancient Greek world. Many written histories have to be put together methodically in order to even scrape the surface of what actually happened. I felt amazed when I was informed that many of the events that happened in Ancient Greece were not recorded until hundreds of years later. On top of that, the works that have been discovered are now thousands of years old! The amount of filtration is unknown, so historical events that were recorded could have been easily altered. I don’t fully understand how we are able to create a picture of what actually happened, but I do realize that experts on Ancient Greece have to speculate to the best of their ability of smaller details of historical events such as battles, leaders, causes of death, etc.  The speculation of the missing details is what mostly sparks my imagination and causes me to wonder what the common soldier or citizen was thinking at the time or how “civilized” the Ancient Greek civilization was, especially in Athens when it was a democracy. I would like to experience the difference between living in Ancient Athens when it was democratic vs. our form of government in the twenty-first century.

I’m not much of a writer, but I enjoyed writing my first essay for the class. My topic was Olympia, where the Olympic Games were held in Ancient Greece. I happily researched the topic, because I am an athlete and I really enjoy participating, and spectating sports. I discovered that the original Olympic Games were dedicated to different Greek gods, and Olympia was also a place for religious festival. In class, we learned about the upper class in Athens, and how they allotted time for exercise and recreation. I had no idea people exercised for the sake of recreation thousands of years ago, so I was baffled. I had figured that exercise was just a recent activity that people acquired in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I think it is really interesting that there were spectators that watched the Olympic events back in Ancient Greece, because we still do the same with all of our sporting events in modern day. Also, we still have the Olympic Games every four years, where many countries compete against one another, similar to the Greek city-states competing against each other. The entertainment aspect of the games is also one of my favorite things about the concept of the Ancient Greek Olympics, because I imagine that it brought all the people from different city-states together in friendly competition, where there was minimal violence.

My second essay was by far the most difficult essay to write. The topic was to write about an object of Ancient Greece, so I wrote about the aulos, which is a musical instrument. I am musically inclined, and I play guitar, so I thought it would be an excellent topic that would be relatively simple to write about. However, I struggled to find enough sources in order to write about the instrument. The information that I was able to find was interesting, and I was excited to discover that the Ancient Greeks in Athens enjoyed music. That is relevant to our culture as well, because our culture is very musically inclined. I really wanted to learn more about the aulos, however I continued to struggle finding sources. My main flaw with writing the second essay is that I did not go ask my professor for assistance. If I was able to redo the essay, I would have sought out my professor for places to find sources on the aulos, so that I would have enough information to adequately complete the assignment.

My third essay was my favorite essay to write. The topic I chose was King Leonidas, king of Sparta and famous for his stand at Thermopylae with the three hundred Spartans. I chose to write about Leonidas because of his heroic acts, and his unusual upbringing. King Leonidas was not the first born son, so he was not expected to become king. Therefore, he had to go through the rigorous warrior training; the same that all the other normal Spartan males had to go through. I have lots of respect for Leonidas, because he completed the training, and his training was evident throughout his kingship. There are a lot of fabricated ideas about the Spartans, however, I feel that the acts of Leonidas and his three hundred soldiers was the essence of what the Spartans aspired to be, which is selfless warriors. I am on track to commission into the United States Army, so I would like to aspire to be like Leonidas in the fact that I’ll be able to perform to the best of my ability when it is required most.

Although my three essay topics have many differences, I can relate all of them to my personal life, and my personal interests. I enjoy entertainment, whether it’s music or sporting events. I also enjoy participating in both, and I play sports and musical instruments regularly. I also am a student at the Virginia Military Institute, which promotes a lifestyle that has values similar to the values that King Leonidas portrayed when he took a stand. Those values are honor, integrity, and courage. I would argue that King Leonidas and his soldiers displayed all three traits, and I hope to be able to display all of those traits once I graduate VMI.

An influential activity beginning in the Classical Age was play music, specifically with an instrument called an Aulos.[1] An Aulos was a pipe that was played in pairs during the Classical Age of Greece, and then was played as a single pipe after the Classical Age.[2] The Aulos was an important part of ancient Greek culture beginning with the Classical Age, due to the instrument enhancing multiple social events through a distinct, exciting sound.[3]

The mythical origin of the aulos begins with a satyr named Marsyas. [4] Marsyas was an expert player of the aulos, and he was also a satyr[5]. Marsyas found the instrument when it was thrown out by the goddess Athena, who was made fun of because her cheeks bulged out when she played. [6] According to myth, Marsyas challenged Apollo to a music playing contest, Marsyas played the aulos and Apollo played the Lyre.[7]

The Aulos was typically made out of wood, metal, or cane. The instrument had three or four holes [8], which would allow the musician to change the pitch of the instrument. The Aulos is considered a reed instrument.[9] The pipe had a slender body, with a narrow bore shaped like a cylinder.[10] The holes in the instrument were called finger holes.[11] A reed (mouthpiece) was used with the instrument, which was made out of cane.[12] The Aulos reed during the Classical period was a type of double reed, which is related to a modern oboe reed.[13]

The Aulos sounded omitted a “penetrating, insisting and exciting” sound. [14] The sound of the Aulos is also related to the sound of a bagpipe.[15] Due to the strong, penetrating tone of the Aulos, only one Aulos musician was typically needed while playing with a chorus of singers.[16] An Aulos was played alongside a chorus during religious activities or events, and also during theatrical plays and activities.[17] A lot of force was required in order to play the pipes properly, so the Greeks often tied a phorbeia, also called a leather strap, across their cheeks for added support.[18]

Upper class Greeks such as aristocrats would learn and practice the Aulos at their leisure; however, during the late fifth century BCE, the Aulos became associated with professional musicians.[19] Aulos musicians were often slaves, and even though they did not have a high status, they could still achieve fame through their musical abilities.[20] For example, Timotheus was a musician, and Harmonides, one of his students, was inquiring how he could become a great musician as well.[21] Timotheus replied “Your Ambition, Harmonides, is noble;.. this you are desirous to obtain, by appearing in public, and displaying your abilities before the multitude: but even by doing this you will not be universally known;.. the only method by which you can ever gain the desired end is, in my opinion, this;.. depend not on the multitude;.. chuse out the best and noblest of the Grecians, the wise few, who are acknowledged judges,.. if they admire and praise you, you will soon be known to all the world”.[22] In Timotheus’ opinion, you will gain admiration and fame when you are able to impress the best of the best within your own profession.

For the Greeks, music was seen as a literal gift from the gods.[23] The Greeks believed that music had a much greater role than just entertainment; they believed that music was able to have a moral and emotional effect on the listener and their soul.[24]

Bibliography

Cartwright, Mark. “Greek Music”. Ancient History Encyclopedia. http://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Music/ (accessed 28 Oct 2014)

The Editors of Encyclopedia Brittanica. “Aulos”. Encyclopedia Brittanica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43200/aulos (accessed 28 Oct 2014)

Lucian.The Works of Lucian. Trans. Thomas Francklin. London. 1780.

Neuman, Philip. “The Aulos and Drama: A Performer’s Viewpoint.” Didaskalia. http://www.didaskalia.net/issues/vol2no2/neuman.html (accessed 28 Oct 2014)

Wikipedia. “Aulos”. en.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulos (accessed 28 Oct 2014)

Wikipedia. “Marsyas”. En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsyas (accessed 17 Nov 2014)

Wikipedia. “Timotheus (aulist)”. en.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timotheus_(aulist)#Ancient (accessed 28 Oct 2014)

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