Why are the Olympic Games divided into ancient Olympic Games and modern Olympic Games?

The ancient Olympic Games is a pearl in the treasure house of human sports culture. From 776 BC to 393 AD, the ancient Olympic Games were held every four years 1 session, and * * * was held for 293 sessions, lasting 1 169 years. Its long duration and far-reaching influence are rare in human history. The ancient Olympic Games had distinctive national and religious colors, so there were strict regulations on the identity of athletes:

Must be a pure Greek;

Must be a free man who has never committed a crime;

It must be a man.

The ancient Olympic Games, the largest national festival in Greece, clearly stipulated that women were not allowed to participate in the games and married women were not allowed to watch the games (except unmarried girls). At that time, a very strict legal provision was that all women who watched the Olympic classics privately were sentenced to death. The severity of this death penalty is different from that of ordinary criminal cases, and the criminals will be pushed off a steep cliff and broken into pieces.

The exclusion of women from the ancient Olympic Games was originally related to Herakles, the patron saint of Greek sports. Before Zeus, the king of gods, took over the Olympic celebrations, the ancient Olympic Games were held in the name of Herakles. Archaeological discoveries and literary works prove that this most famous hero in Greek legend is full of prejudice against women. He believes that the presence of women in the sacred places where heroes or soldiers hold celebrations will greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of soldiers. Therefore, women are forbidden to participate in his ancestor worship activities in all parts of Greece. The ancient Olympic Games was a male warrior competition held in his name, and women were naturally excluded.

When the ancient Olympic Games evolved into a competition dedicated to Zeus, the tradition of prohibiting women from attending and visiting married women continued.

Some people think that the nudity of ancient Olympic athletes is the main reason for excluding women. But in the early days of the Olympic Games, men did not compete naked, and often wore "crotch cloth" when they appeared. However, women were also forbidden to participate at that time.

In addition, using naked competition to explain why women were excluded from the Olympic Games did not conform to the social customs of ancient Greece at that time. Prinner, an ancient Greek philosopher, said: "Nudity is a unique habit of the Greeks." It was a pure and noble activity for the ancient Greeks to show off their vigorous bodies. People worship bodybuilding, just like the gods they worship, with simple and sincere feelings. Naked body can fully show bodybuilding. Therefore, it is natural for people to take part in sports naked, which is an excellent opportunity for them to show their pure and elegant feelings and has been widely praised and respected by people. The ancient Greeks believed that among all things in the world, only the bodybuilding body was the most symmetrical, harmonious, solemn and beautiful. Therefore, in the solemn religious ancestor worship activities, in the grand celebrations held by the polis, and in the arena, the ancient Greeks used to show their bodybuilding naked in order to obtain the protection of the gods and the praise of others. Athletes in ancient Olympic Games regarded showing their vigorous bodies and winning the Olympic champion as the highest honor. Their bulging muscles and superhuman strength were unpretentious. Free and easy, natural and pleasing to the eye, all give people a strong and strong aesthetic feeling. They treat naked competition with an open and naive attitude and pursue healthy and pure beauty. Therefore, men need women to avoid naked competition so as not to corrupt customs, which may be a misunderstanding of modern people.

If we carefully analyze this method of executing forbidden women, we will find that it is not only more cruel than the general method, but also contains religious color. The harsh attitude of the Olympic Games towards women is that women can read God. It can be seen that women were excluded from the ancient Olympic Games, partly because of religion.

However, from a deeper analysis, we can find that the fundamental reason for the exclusion of women in ancient Olympic Games is discrimination against women. As early as Homer's time, that is, the transition period of ancient Greece from clan society to slavery society, the status of women has gradually decreased. They only exist as human wealth, and their value is calculated by the number of animals. This is clearly reflected in Homer's epic Odyssey.

With the development of private ownership and the determination of slavery, monogamy is basically fixed. However, monogamy is only for women, and women must strictly observe chastity, have no political rights, have no inheritance rights to property, and are not allowed to participate in any social activities. As Engels said: Greek aristocratic women are nothing more than the mother of his legitimate stepson, his housekeeper and the manager of female slaves to men. Even in Athens, a "democratic" city-state, the law clearly stipulates that women do not have the right to vote like slaves. In Athens, every time a baby boy is born, an olive branch wreath will be hung at the door, which indicates that the family that gave birth to a baby boy has ushered in happiness. When people see a family with a wool scarf hanging at the door, they will immediately step up their escape, because this is a family that has just given birth to a useless baby girl without God's protection. The fate of a girl born in poverty is even more unfortunate. These girls, who are considered unable to live and fight, but want to eat, are often put into crocks by their fathers at birth and abandoned at the gate of the temple. Whoever finds these "children in a jar" has the right to completely dominate her and even turn her into a female slave. Athens has a complete sports system, which is praised by later generations, but all of them enjoy male citizens. At the age of 7, boys began to enter schools at all levels to receive cultural knowledge and physical education, and trained a large number of talents with harmonious physical and mental development. Due to good education, male citizens in Athens have been doing physical exercise all their lives. However, the inferior Athenian women were not entitled to the right of "democracy". They can hardly receive social education and participate in social activities like men. Athenian women began to be imprisoned at home before marriage, learning sewing, having children after marriage and running housework. All the value of a woman is nothing more than that. This political powerlessness and economic dependence on men determined the limitations of Greek women's sports activities during slavery. They gradually lost the sports rights they once enjoyed in the clan society, and most women were excluded from the sports ground, except Spartan women.

In Sparta, a slave city-state ruled by aristocratic oligarchy, women have special value. In this city-state established by conquering local residents by force, social members are mainly divided into two classes: Spartans are slave owners, with a total population of less than 30 thousand, accounting for about one tenth of the city-state population; The original inhabitants of Shiloh were conquered and enslaved, with about 300,000 people, accounting for about nine tenths of the population of the city-state. They hated the oppression of Spartans and often rebelled. Sharp and fierce ethnic and class contradictions forced Spartans to be on military alert, and all Spartans were placed in strict military organizations. Because there are nine times more heroes than Spartans, Spartans feel isolated, and maintaining excellent racial quality has become the primary factor for Spartans to maintain their rule. Therefore, as soon as the baby in Sparta was born, the parents sent it to the leaders of the polis for strict physical examination in accordance with the laws of the country. Leaders gave strong babies to their parents to raise and serve their country, and threw sick and deformed babies into the valley to die. This is the eugenics law that Sparta practiced to determine the fate of survival with national interests. In ancient Sparta, which advocated force and despised cultural knowledge, they had amazing knowledge of eugenics. They have long known that only by cultivating strong mothers can they produce strong offspring, reduce sick and deformed babies and achieve the goal of enhancing the quality of the whole nation. Therefore, when Spartan men receive rigorous military physical training in state-owned educational institutions or the army, women aged 7- 18 are also organized into teams to participate in various sports activities stipulated by the state, such as wrestling, discus throwing, javelin throwing, running, jumping, dancing, ball games, mountain climbing and so on. Sometimes I wrestle with men in order to gain solid physical strength and fit figure, and prepare for being a mother and a good student. At that time, Spartan women, like men, often took part in sports naked. Their skin color, appearance and well-proportioned physique are the envy of women in other ancient Greek city-States. Due to the limited number of regular troops composed of men, in the event of war, Spartan women should also take up arms and go to the battlefield. It can be seen that in Sparta, because of its demographic composition, the role of women is more important than that of other city-states, and the rulers try to train women into mothers who can bear strong children and fighters who are good at fighting. However, its law also clearly stipulates that women have no right to inherit the throne, and their right to physical education is still limited compared with men.

Except for the Spartan city-state, most ancient Greek women were subjected to very serious discrimination. The Olympic Games is the biggest and most sacred festival in ancient Greece, so it is not surprising that women are excluded.

However, at the 96th ancient Olympic Games in 396 BC, a sensational illegal event happened. A woman named Felenica, dressed in men's clothing, sneaked into the venue as a coach to watch her son Pisidolus's boxing match. Felenica was born into a famous boxing family. His father and brother both won the Olympic boxing championship. Whenever my father taught my brother to practice boxing, Fernica stood by and watched, sometimes secretly practicing what he saw. As an adult, she got married, and it happened that her husband was an Olympic boxing champion. They were determined to train their son to be an Olympic champion. After years of hard training, Felenica's son has also become a very powerful boxer, and the 96th Olympic Games will be the venue for her son to show his talents. Unfortunately, before the sports meeting, her husband, who was her son's coach, died suddenly. Without a coach, he was not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games. In order to win the championship for her son, the brave Felenica had a whim: disguised as a man, she was her son's boxing coach. Mother and son traveled long distances to Olympia, a small village with green mountains and grass. The nearby Alphonse River is full of sailing boats from afar, and the grass is covered with colorful tents. Artists are exhibiting their works, poets are reciting their own poems, speakers are giving speeches, businessmen are selling goods, and tourists are wearing luxurious clothes and exotic jewels to show off their wealth. The quiet holy land in the past has become very lively and immersed in the festive atmosphere. But Felenica took her son to the wall engraved with the name of the Olympic champion and carefully searched for the names of relatives. I found it! I found it! Ferenica restrained her pounding heart and said to her son, "Look, this is your grandfather, this is your uncle, and this is your father. Here, your name will also be engraved! You are Zeus' favorite warrior. " The sports meeting has begun. Felenica sat in the stands as a coach (at that time, coaches didn't have to enter naked), and Pi Sidos played. He and his mother smiled knowingly and threw themselves into the battle with confidence. Several ... sons defeated five opponents in a row and finally won the championship. The stands suddenly boiled, bundles of flowers were thrown at the champion, and applause rang out from all directions. People shouted rhythmically, "Pi Sidos! Pi Sidos. At this time, Felenica was more excited than anyone. She couldn't help shouting her son's name, ran down from the stands, rushed to her side, hugged her son tightly, kissed him madly, and got carried away, so that her hat fell off and exposed her female identity. The stunned people turned to scream angrily: "Get her! Execute her! Felenica suddenly woke up and bravely shouted: "I am not guilty. Before, I was the daughter, sister and wife of the champion. Now I am the mother of the champion, and my relatives have won honor for Greece. " The key moment was that her words saved her, because there were several Olympic champions at home, and Felenica was pardoned. This incident prompted the ancient Olympic Games to formulate a new regulation: coaches who participate in sports meetings in the future must also be naked to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Although the laws prohibiting women from participating in the ancient Olympic Games are very strict, there are exceptions, that is, unmarried women can participate in horse races and chariot races on behalf of riders with horses and carriages. The first female champion in the history of ancient Olympic Games was Che Yaska, the sister of the king of Sparta. Her chariot ran at the front of the race, and Congress made an exception and erected a statue for her. Her heroic words are engraved on the pedestal of the statue: "I, Che Yaska, once won the chariot race on a wild horse, and people made a statue for me here. This statue proves that I am the only woman in Greece who won the laurel, and I deserve people's praise. "

Since then, at the 128 and 129 ancient Olympic Games, two more women have won the chariot races. However, in the history of the ancient Olympic Games, prohibiting women from participating in the games has always been the most important principle.

Although most ancient Greek women could not participate in the ancient Olympic Games, they had their own sports meeting-Hera Games. This is dedicated to Hera, the patron saint of women and the wife of Zeus. The beautiful and intelligent Hera is the goddess who specializes in human family, marriage and fertility in ancient Greek myths and legends.

At the Alzy Temple in Olympia, there was only the Temple of Hera at first, which was built around the 6th century BC. For a long time, Hera's husband Zeus, the head of the gods, only had an open-air altar. About two years later, a magnificent temple of Zeus was built near the temple of Hera. In the long years, women in ancient Greece regarded Hera as their patron saint.

A touching myth tells the origin of the Hera Games. Poseidon's son Perseus likes Hippodamia, the daughter of King Elis, very much. He came from afar and became her first 14 suitor. Before him, 65,438+03 suitors were stabbed to death by King Elis. This is because the king believed the soothsayer's prophecy: "The future son-in-law will definitely kill his father-in-law." So he decided to kill all the suitors and stop his daughter's marriage. He put forward harsh conditions to the suitor: the suitor must race with him, if he wins, he can marry Hippodamia, and if the suitor's carriage is overtaken by him, he will be stabbed to death with a spear. In order to get sincere love, Pei Sheng is determined to put life and death aside. Hippodamia was moved by his deep feelings, secretly bribed his father's coachman and loosened the pin on the king's chariot, causing the king to overturn in the chariot race. Pesos won, married the beautiful Hippodamia and became the king of Elis. To celebrate the victory, Pesos held a grand competition to sweep Zeus in Olympia, the city-state of Elis. It is said that this grand event is the beginning of the Olympic Games. Luo's wife Hippodamia also founded the Hera Games for women in the name of Zeus' wife Hera.

Another story about the origin of the Hera Games is also related to Hippodamia, the daughter of King Elis. Although Hippodamia was a queen after marriage, she didn't even have the right to watch the ancient Olympic Games. Married women are not allowed to cross the Alphonse River to Olympia one week before and during the Olympic Games. One day, King Pesos went to the Olympic Games, and Hippodamia had to stay in the court. Suddenly there was a voice. I saw a group of guards dragging two young women with their hands tied. Hippodamia felt sorry for him and asked the guards, "Why do you treat them like this?" Hera will not forgive you. "The guard hurriedly explained," please calm down, your majesty, they have committed blasphemy. "It turned out that they peeked at the Olympic Games being held. Two women were lying on the ground crying for mercy, but Hippodamia failed to save their young lives. The guards pushed them off the cliff and died. Deeply stimulated, Hippodamia decided to set up a sports meeting for women in the legal name and named it "Hera Games". The women who got the news rushed to tell each other and were ecstatic, but they were opposed by their elders. They put pressure on the king that the women's sports meeting organized by the queen was unlucky. The clever Hippodamia told her husband, "I remember the day we got married." In the sacred Olympia, you held the Olympic Games to thank Zeus. Zeus was happy, and so were the citizens. I am proud of you, too. If a man sacrifices to Zeus, his wife should be sacrificed by a woman! In that case, God Zeus will bless you, and Zeus's wife will bless the wife of the rope. "After listening to the queen's just request, the king had to agree that Hippodamia chose her wedding anniversary to hold the 1 Hera Games. Women get together with friends and friends. This is their first time to attend such a party, and they are all smiling. There is only one event in the competition-running. Hippodamia personally put a wreath of olive branches on the champion, and took her to the statue of Hera to cut a piece of meat from the heifer for sacrifice and give it to the champion. The Games were praised by most citizens in Greece. Since then, the Hera Games have been held every four years. In the Holy Land of Olympia, female winners can also leave portraits and inscriptions.

Is it detailed enough? In fact, it is a problem of gender discrimination and women's low status, but you asked for details, so I gave it to you.

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