S4E8 - The Ancient Olympics

The stories featured in Greaking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths.

This week's story features carrying oxen, naked sports, posthumous wins, cheating emperors who take their own lives, more weirdly elaborate deaths, and a lot of foot races.

All right, sports fans, this week's episode is for you.

Chances are, no matter what sport or game you're into, there's a good story behind it.

From baseball to football to soccer, also called football, every sport has an origin story.

But when it comes to the world's biggest games, we all know where they started.

Of course, I'm talking about the ancient Olympic Games, and like most things on Greaking Out, they started in ancient Greece.

Legend has it that Heracles founded the games, which, by the end of the 6th century BCE, had become the most famous of all Greek sporting festivals.

Right, except that's not really how it went down.

No, the ancient Olympic Games actually began in Olympia in 776 BCE, when Coroibos, a cook from the city of Elis, won a foot race that was 300 feet or 100 meters long.

After that, this same race and eventually other competitions was held in the city every four years.

Yes, the Greeks loved sporting events and they actually for the next 12 centuries.

Wow.

See what I mean?

The Greeks loved their sports and they loved the athletes who performed in the games just as much.

So today, we're talking about a different kind of hero.

These warriors might fight on the playing field instead of the battlefield, but they are heroes nonetheless.

In our world, we have LeBron James and Serena Williams and Usain Bolt, but back in the day, they had Leonidas, Aricion, and Milo, just to name a few.

So we now present, in no particular order, a few of our favorite ancient Olympic legends.

First up, Leonidas of Rhodes.

And it makes sense that we start with him really because he may be the most successful athlete in the ancient games.

Leonidas competed in the Olympics four different times in 164, 160, 156, and 152 BCE.

And each time he won three different races.

An athlete who wins all three running events is called a triastes or sometimes a tripler or in modern language a triple threat.

Only seven people have ever done this.

Yep, and Leonidas is the only person to have ever done it more than once.

All three of these events were foot races, but each one was different.

The stadion was just a straight-up sprint, about 200 meters or 650 feet.

This was the race that Koroibos won way back when.

The Dialos was more of a distance race because it was run in the same way as the stadion, except the runners had to turn around and run the length of the race back again.

What?

The third race was called the Hablidodromos, and this was a real endurance race.

It was even longer than the Dialos, and the athletes had to run the race in full armor.

This was very different than the other races, in which the runners were typically naked.

Wait, what?

The ancient Greeks had a tradition of doing things nude, including exercising.

The word gymnasium actually comes from the Greek word gymnos, which means the naked place.

During the ancient Olympics, many athletes participated nude.

Did they have to wear a number or a bib or anything?

Because I did a half marathon one time and I had to pin the number on my shirt with safety pins and I don't think that would be possible.

When wrestling, Greek athletes would oil their skin and sprinkle golden sand on themselves so their opponents could get a good grip.

It made them look like living, sparkling, bronze statues.

Wow, okay.

I have a lot of questions about this, and they all kind of boil down to why.

I mean, why naked?

One story is: they tried racing in loincloths, and after the first first runner got tangled up and fell, they decided naked was better.

Another theory is that racing naked made the race free of prejudgment based on ethnic clothing or social status.

Ancient Greece was a diverse place, and they wanted the athletes to be judged on their performance and nothing else.

Huh.

I never thought there would be so many good reasons for being naked while running.

You learn something new every day.

Yes, you do.

Sometimes you don't know what you're going to do with the knowledge you've learned, but you do learn something new every day.

Anyway, the Hoplodromos was the most prestigious of the three races because not only did Leonidas have to run with 70 pounds of armor on, he may have had to do it in some impressive heat.

Temperatures might have been more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit on some days, but Leonidas still dominated, even in his final Olympics when he was 36 years old.

We actually don't know a whole lot about him.

There wasn't much written about his family or his personal history, but what we do know about Leonidas is that his athletic record stood unmatched for more than 2,000 years.

Leonidas won 12 gold medals in individual events.

Nobody was able to repeat that feat for more than two centuries until American swimmer Michael Phelps won his 12th individual gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Now we meet a different kind of athlete, the legendary Aricion of Phigalia, and he was a fighter.

Phigalia was an ancient Greek city in the southwest corner of ancient Arcadia.

It is also the present name of a nearby modern village in western Greece.

Aricion was a champion Pancratius in the ancient Olympics back in 572 and 568 BCE.

Pancration was basically just fighting.

It's a martial art that combined both boxing and wrestling as well as kicks and holds and joint locks and the like.

It was basically the MMA of ancient Greece.

Nowadays, many of these forms of fighting are broken out as separate events, like boxing, wrestling, and judo.

But back in the day, they just put two dudes in the arena and let them go at it.

And Erician was really good at this.

He was described as the most famous of all pancratius, which would be a cool way to introduce yourself, don't you think?

Hi, I'm Ken.

I'm the most famous of all pancrateists.

Nice to meet you.

But what made Erician the most famous is probably the story of how he died.

In 564 BCE, Erician was back in the games defending his title when things got rough.

He was back in the gold medal match, and his opponent was winning.

To be completely accurate, this was not the gold medal match.

At the ancient Olympics, the only prize was a crown of olive leaves cut from the sacred tree at Olympia.

The concept of awarding three medals didn't come about until the end of the 19th century.

Okay, so it was the olive crown match then, or whatever, but the championship was on the line.

That's what you need to know.

And Arician was losing.

After winning it all in the past three Olympic Games, the champion was in jeopardy of losing the crown.

His opponent had him pinned to the ground, wrapping his legs around Arician's body and choking him with his arms.

It was clear the man wasn't just trying to win.

He was trying to kill Arician and it was working.

But the champ wasn't done yet.

Even as he was suffocating, Arikian twisted his body beneath the man and kicked out with the sole of his right foot and rolled over with the last of his strength.

Literally.

This action pinned his opponent's leg beneath him and the man cried out in pain as his ankle and toe were dislocated.

The pain was so intense, he immediately tapped out and yielded to Arickian, giving up the victory.

But here's the wild part.

Arickian had already died.

They wound up putting the crown on his dead body.

He won the match and the championship, but he lost his life.

In today's world, studies have been done showing that mixed martial arts is actually statistically safer than the sport of boxing.

While MMA fighters have a greater risk of cuts and bruises, they were shown to have less of a risk of receiving injuries that will affect their long-term health when compared to boxers.

And with that, I think this is a good place for a commercial break.

I mean, not that there's ever really a good place for a commercial break, but if there was to be a good place, this would probably be it.

Anyway, we'll be back in a little bit.

Just take a break.

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Our next legendary Olympian is a wrestler named Milo of Croton.

He was a six-time Olympic champion and a seven-time winner in another series called the Pythian Games.

The Pythian Games in ancient Greece were a series of athletic and musical competitions held in between Olympiads to honor Apollo.

Over time, More athletic events, including foot and chariot races, were added to make it more like the Olympic Games.

Right.

All in all, Milo won more than 32 different wrestling championships, but he's also famous for how he trained and practiced when he wasn't wrestling.

Milo grew up on a farm, and as a young man, he was always around farm animals, cows, oxes, goats, chickens, etc.

And even as a boy, he knew he wanted to be the best wrestler in the world.

But he also knew that he had to get a lot stronger if he wanted that to happen.

One day, one of the oxen on his farm had a baby, and Milo took a liking to it.

In fact, he decided to pick it up and carry it around on his shoulders.

All day,

every day.

Naturally, the people of Croton thought this was pretty weird to see a kid carrying a baby ox around town all day, and they laughed at the young man as he went about his day and did his tours with an ox on his shoulders.

An ox weighs about 25 pounds when it is first born, but it grows quickly.

By the time the ox is one, it can weigh as much as 235 pounds.

Yes, but the change was gradual.

It happened slowly over the course of a year and Milo carried the ox around every day.

So as the animal got bigger, he got stronger.

After four years, Milo was carrying a full-grown ox with him when he went into town, and the people of Croton didn't laugh at him anymore.

Milo was jacked.

Why so scared?

Now, oxen can grow up to about 1,200 pounds, and even the new and improved Milo couldn't carry that much weight around forever, so what did he do with the ox?

Well, according to legend, he ate it.

And that just made him even bigger and stronger.

Yes, people eat oxen meat.

It is very similar to beef.

In fact, oxtail soup is a well-known dish that uses the tail of any bovine, but its name comes from the original bovine they used, oxen, and it is delicious.

Our apologies to our vegan and vegetarian listeners.

Indeed, the whole ox thing became kind of a trademark for Milo.

Legend has it that at one ancient Olympics, he actually showed up to the stadium at Olympia carrying an ox on his shoulders, much to the crowd's delight.

This unique way of training gave Milo an edge over all of his competitors in the ring and even helped him achieve fame on the battlefield.

Now, I don't think I mentioned this yet, but the town of Croton is not actually in Greece.

It's a small town in southern Italy, which in ancient times was a Greek colony.

The town was known for producing excellent athletes who dominated the ancient Olympics, but also had a few other famous residents as well, like Pythagoras, the famous philosopher.

Pythagoras may be best known for the mathematical theorem named after him.

The Pythagorean theorem is used in geometry to explain a fundamental relation among the three sides of a right triangle.

Yeah, you'll learn all about that eventually, but at this point in time, Pythagoras was better known as a wise man, a thinker, and a philosopher who had many friends in Croton, including Milo.

There's a story about the two friends meeting at a party one night in town.

I guess things got a little raucous because the roof of the building actually began to cave in.

One of the pillars that held up the building had snapped.

Milo leaped into action and actually held the roof up so all of the partygoers could escape before finally tossing the roof aside and escaping himself.

Pythagoras was suitably impressed and the friendship between him and Milo became stronger.

In fact, it may have been Pythagoras who suggested Milo go to war.

You see, in the year 510 BCE, the city of Croton went to battle against a neighboring city known as Sybaris.

Sybaris was under the control of a tyrant named Telus, who decided to seize the property of the 500 richest citizens in town and then banish them, keeping their stuff for himself.

Well, these folks wound up in Croton, and along with a lot of other citizens who left Sybaris on their own, actually helped Croton become more rich and more powerful.

When Tellus saw this, he demanded that his citizens return, which they didn't, and this started a war.

But it was Pythagoras who suggested that Milo lead them into battle.

He believed Milo's mere presence would inspire confidence in the Croton army and fear in their enemy, and he may very well have been right.

There were nearly 100,000 warriors from Croton ready to do battle, but they faced a Sybarite army that was three times as large.

But Milo fought for Croton.

Legend has it that he charged into battle wearing his Olympic crowns, armed with a club and wearing a lion's skin in the style of Heracles.

Allegedly, Milo got that lion's skin by hunting the animal down with his bare hands.

That seems improbable, but keep in mind that an ox weighs about 2,000 pounds, while a male lion weighs just over 400.

As you've probably guessed, Croton won the battle and Milo had another victory to add to his list of wins.

Milo of Croton lived many years more, but his death was unexpected.

As he got older, he had to retire from competitions, but Milo was never one to back down from a challenge.

While walking in the woods one evening, Milo saw a tree that someone had started to cut down.

The woodsman had obviously given up.

There was still a wedge stuck in the tree, keeping the cut open, but someone had clearly grown tired of swinging an axe trying to split the giant tree.

A wedge is a triangular tool, usually made of metal or wood that has a variety of uses.

In this case, it it is being used to hold up the tree as you cut it and encourage it to split in a certain direction.

Right, but the wedge was stuck in the tree.

Milo, being Milo, figured he could just rip the tree apart with his bare hands, but when he tried, he moved the tree just enough so the wedge fell out and his arm became trapped in the tree.

Milo was stuck.

He tried and tried to pull the tree apart, but now he was down to one hand, so he was forced forced to remain in the woods alone, hoping someone would find him.

As the light faded, Milo heard the sound of wolves howling, and he knew he was in trouble.

It was a day later when the woodsmen returned to the tree in the forest.

There, they found the body of the great Milo of Croton, with his arms still wedged in the tree.

He was surrounded by the bodies of several wolves he had managed to fend off, but that final fight was too great even for a fighter like Milo.

Today, Milo of Croton is remembered as a hero, an ancient Olympic legend, and the founder of many techniques in both wrestling and strength training in general.

Our final legendary Olympian is not actually a sports hero.

In fact, he's not a hero at all.

And he's not really an athlete.

And he's not Greek.

This does not fit the previously established pattern of this episode.

Yeah, I know.

We're going to speed ahead a bit in history and visit ancient Rome.

The year is 67 CE.

That stands for Common Era.

You can also use A D, meaning Anno Dominae, or Year of Our Lord.

But we prefer C E.

This episode was released in 2021 CE.

Right, so this was a little less than 2,000 years ago, and the Olympic Games are a year late.

The organizers postponed the event for a whole year to accommodate a request, and quite possibly a bribe, from the Roman Emperor Nero.

No, there wasn't a pandemic or a war or anything like that.

The games were delayed because Nero himself wanted to participate in the games, and he needed extra time to prepare.

That does not sound very sporting or heroic.

No, it doesn't, but neither was Nero.

Remember, we are talking about legendary figures in the ancient Olympic history.

Not all legends are good.

Nero was the Roman emperor, but many people disliked him.

He's still known as a cruel, corrupt, and bumbling leader.

However, many accounts of his childhood mention him being a little obsessed with Greek culture.

He was fascinated with the Greeks from a very young age, and he even learned to speak the language fluently.

He was also very into the arts.

He enjoyed writing poetry, and singing, and playing music, and performing anything that got him applause.

Some say he liked that more than he liked being an emperor.

Nero was the fifth Roman emperor, ruling from 54 to 68 CE.

Some people say that Nero himself ordered someone to start the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE that nearly destroyed half of the city.

They say it was in order to make room for a palace he wanted to build.

The famous story is he sang or played music while the city was burning.

In reality, it's very likely he wasn't even in the city when the fire started.

Nero loved the roar of the crowd, and he knew that the real fame and popularity was reserved for the heroes of the Olympic Games.

He grew up longing to be a contender in the great games, but, as I mentioned, he wasn't actually very good at the whole sports thing.

Nero was good at making people do things for him, though, so when he became emperor, he simply decided to change the rules.

First, he created his own version of the Greek Games in Rome.

He called it Neronia, and it was required that every winner of every event dedicate their victory to the emperor.

The Neronia competition consisted of three parts: music and poetry, gymnastics, and horse riding.

The games were quinquennial, meaning that they were held every five years.

The emperor himself performed as a poet and a singer in the second Neronian Games, and of course, he won.

Over the years, Nero competed in several events, and as you'd expect, he won all of them.

To be fair, he may have been good at singing and playing music.

All we know is that he wasn't a very good athlete, and a lot of people hated him.

But that didn't stop him from bribing his way into the ancient Olympics so he could compete.

He delayed the games for an entire year so he could participate when he was away from Rome touring Greece.

Nero wanted to compete in the chariot race.

Now the rules stated that each driver had four horses pulling their chariot, but Nero showed up to the games with 10.

The organizers were furious, of course, but what could they do?

He was the emperor after all.

And when the race began, Nero took an early lead.

Having six more horses probably helped with that, I'm sure.

But the course got trickier as the race went on.

As he rounded a particularly big curve, Nero failed to slow his chariot enough and crashed spectacularly.

It was a pretty bad accident, and Nero was legitimately hurt.

He obviously had to drop out of the race, but that didn't stop him from being declared the winner.

Despite the fact that he never even crossed the finish line, Nero was awarded the crown because he, quote, would have won if he hadn't crashed, end quote.

The most famous chariot racer in history was Gaius Apuleius Diocles, who won more than 1,400 races.

When Diocles retired at the age of 42, his winnings almost added up to what would be $15 billion

in today's money, making him the highest paid sports star in history.

As soon as Nero recovered from his injuries, he was forced to end his trip to Greece and return to Rome quickly because there were rumors that his life may be in danger.

As you might expect, there had been talk of an uprising against the Emperor for a while, and his behavior in Greece may have been the last straw for some who stayed loyal to him.

The Olympic Games were a sacred part of Greek culture, and changing that calendar was deeply offensive.

The ancient Olympics were a religious festival dedicated to Zeus, and and Nero's actions upset a lot of people in both Greece and Rome.

Unfortunately for him, Rome proved to be even more dangerous to Nero than Greece, and he was forced to flee the city in disguise to avoid capture.

Eventually, though, he was found and caught, and rather than face execution, he took his own life.

To be accurate, he actually had someone else do it, which was very on brand for Nero.

Yes, it was.

And for what what it's worth, shortly after his death, Nero's name was formally removed from the list of champions in Olympia.

So there you have it.

These are just a few of the legends of the ancient Olympic games.

There are a lot more stories and a lot more heroes.

In fact, in sports, new heroes come about all the time.

So whatever your game is, you can take inspiration from some of the folks we met today.

You want to try to train and prepare like Milo.

In the game, you want to play as skillfully as Leonidas and fight as hard as a Rickeon and

well, just don't be a Nero, okay?

I know we met a lot of champions today, but it really isn't about winning or losing.

Remember, in the ancient Olympics, the winner just got a crown of olive leaves.

The Greeks were in it for the honor and glory and the love of the game.

So do what you love and give it your best, and that will be more than enough.

Go, team.

That's all you got?

I strongly encourage you, collectively or individually, to push yourself to the highest recommended degree of intensity as you strive towards success in an athletic contest or event.

Let's just stick with Go Team.

That's it for this edition of Greaking Out.

See you next season.

Greaking Out.

Thank you so much for listening to season four of Greaking Out.

We hope you liked it as much as we liked making it.

We're already planning for season five coming to your earbones in October 2021.

It's Greaking

Ouch.

National Geographic Kids Greaking Out is written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes and hosted by Kenny Curtis, with Tori Kerr as the oracle of Wi-Fi, audio production and sound design by Scotty Beam, and our theme song was composed by Perry Gripp.

Dr.

Diane Klein is our subject matter expert and Emily Everhart is our producer.