Watchdog

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With the summer Olympics in Beijing, China now finally underway, it's worthwhile taking a look at what this event actually represents.

The original Olympics were held every four years for nearly 11 centuries in ancient Greece with the first recorded event being held in 776 BC.

The games were old when the Greeks began to record them, with their true origins lost and many myths surrounding them.

One of the more popular legends claimed they had been started by Hercules, who built the first stadium to honour Zeus after completing his famous 12 labours.

So for the ancient Greeks, a stadium was actually an outdoor temple at which religious observances took place.

Competitions were part of that religious observance and not limited to sports, but included philosophical debates, poetry readings and dramatic plays, as well as craft shows.

The games were also marked by public events sponsored by wealthy families which consisted of parades, feasts and chariot races, all focusing on celebrating Zeus.

To compete at those Olympics was a significant honour and those who did so had won many local and regional competitions.

The only material reward for winning a competition was a crown of olive leaves, but the honours that followed meant a great deal in those times.

Poems would be written, speeches made and statues carved in honour of the victor and indeed nearly 2,000 years later we still have many detailed records of those achievement.

Not surprisingly the desire for such glory resulted in cheating, generally taking the form of bribery or fixing a competition's outcome.

Cheaters who were caught had to pay for a large statue of Zeus to be placed on public display upon which was carved their name and the details of how they cheated.

Over time the games came into contact with the Roman Empire and from that point began to shift from a celebration of beauty to uglier themes.

Gone were the poets and religious ceremonies and soon the emphasis became focused upon who won and the brutality they used.

Rather than a special event taking place every four years, the games became a regular feature of daily life in ancient Rome.

Professional athletes replaced the amateurs and open glades and temples were replaced by huge coliseums.

Under social, economic and political pressures not very different from our own, the original Olympics faded in importance in Greek life and were replaced by professional teams operated for profit and status.

Finally in 393 AD the Olympic Games were outlawed as a pagan festival after Christianity was declared the state religion of what remained of the Roman Empire.

Today's Olympic Games came into being as a means of re-establishing the original celebratory spirit of the ancient Greek event and as means of bringing peace to the world through healthy competition.

However, as more and more emphasis is placed upon winning rather than excellence, along with national pride and corporate profit, the Olympic Games are in danger of declining into a mere spectacle once again.