February 16, 2010 Sports

The Olympic spirit delusion

Cheating, violence and hurt feelings since 776 BC

by Christopher Curtis

GRAPHIC CALRE RASPOPOW

During the Olympics, it’s likely that at least one person will fail a drug test and inevitably incur the wrath of some sports writer or two-bit political backbencher accusing the athlete of soiling the “Olympic spirit.”

This same spirit might sell Coke bottles or credit cards today, but it doesn’t hold much water historically. Cheating, politics and gruesome violence have been a part of the Games since their inception in 776 BC.

The Greeks, though a thoughtful and innovative people, were also a notoriously violent and ruthlessly competitive lot. Throughout antiquity, Greece was in a perpetual state of war with the Persians and rival Mediterranean states. In the event that a suitable army of foreigners wasn’t up for a fight, Greeks would turn their swords on each other. Civil war was such a problem in those days that there needed to be a month-long truce in order for the Olympics to take place.

For some Greek states, laying down their spears for one month every four years was a hard sell. In 420 BC, the Spartans engaged in a military manoeuvre on Elian territory during the Olympic truce. Not ones to be upstaged, the Elians launched a full-scale military assault on the Pisians and other allies after a wrestling match during the 364 BC Games that involved thousands of soldiers and lasted an entire day.

Violence also plagued the games themselves. Runners would sometimes be thrashed for a false start. Boxers could line their leather gloves with metal. And then there was Pankration—a no-holds-barred street fight that took place in a pit.

When rules were instituted to remove groin strikes and eye gouging, Sparta threatened to boycott the Games (apparently it’s not a real fight without the threat of blindness or sweaty dick-punching). Pankration was so violent that, in 564 BC, one competitor actually managed to win a fight despite being dead. Arrhichion of Phigaleia was caught in a chokehold and, as he struggled to remain conscious, the Phigaleian reached for his opponents toe, broke it and forced him to submit from pain. When the judge attempted to raise Arrhichion’s arm in victory, he noticed the fighter had been choked to death. How’s that for spirit of the Games?
Of course, not every event at the ancient Games was outright violent. The javelin throw, for instance, only implied violence. Outside of an Olympic context, the javelin was a brutal weapon, used as a kind of missile to impale barbarians or other Greeks in war. In this sense, the javelin throw was really celebrating the most efficient killers of the time.

Before the advent of steroids and human growth hormones, the ancients had to be creative when cutting corners. In 388 BC, boxer Eupolus of Thessaly paid three of his opponents to take a dive. King Phillip II of Macedon held equestrian victories in the 356, 352 and 348 BC Games even though he wasn’t actually Greek or at the Olympics. Apparently there was some leniency with the rules if you had hordes of invading soldiers at your disposal.

But the honour of the ancient Games’ most ridiculous instance of cheating belongs to Roman emperor Nero when, in AD 65 , he entered the four-horse chariot race with ten horses. After falling off his ride, Nero was still declared the winner.

There was also no historical equivalent to today’s amateur athletes in antiquity. Rather than toiling in poverty for the glory of sport, ancient athletes were indulged with a lifetime of prizes, fame, lavish meals and sexual partners.

The Olympics are more than just a game, but so is Monopoly. When was the last time you played that game without nearly coming to blows with a loved one? At its core, competition is an ugly thing. And with more than just a hotel on Baltic Avenue at stake, the pressure to win can lead a person down a pretty fucked-up road. It was true with the Greeks and it’s true in Vancouver.