Olympia : The Story of the Ancient Olympic Games

Resumen del libro

In the northwestern corner of the great peninsula of the Peloponnese, close to the meeting point of the Cladeus and Alpheus rivers, lies a peaceful river valley overlooked by the steep-sided Hill of Cronus. Here, between the eighth century BCE and the fourth century CE, rival athletes competed for glory in the ancient Olympic Games. Every four years, and from every corner of the Mediterranean world - from Samos to Syracuse and from Sparta to Smyrna - they descended on this quiet corner of southern Greece sacred to Zeus, seeking to excel in disciplines as diverse as sprinting, boxing, wrestling, trumpet blowing and chariot and mulecart racing.

The victors of these ancient games may have been awarded crowns of olive leaves in recognition of their achievements, but these original Olympics were no idealistic celebration of the classical aesthetic of grace and beauty shared by all of the participating Greek city-states, but often a bitterly contested struggle between political rivals. Robin Waterfield paints a vivid picture of the reality of the ancient Olympic Games; describes the events in which competitors took part; explores their purpose, rituals and politics; and charts the vicissitudes of their remarkable thousand-year history.

Biografía del autor

x{0026}lt;p ROBIN WATERFIELD (1952) es un helenista inglés que ha impartido cursos en varias prestigiosas universidades británicas. Ha traducido al inglés buena parte de los diálogos de Platón, diversas tragedias de Eurípides, algunas de las x{0026}lt;em Vidas paralelasx{0026}lt;/em de Plutarco y la x{0026}lt;em Historia de Heródotox{0026}lt;/em , entre otras obras clásicas, y ha escrito una historia de Atenas, así como un estudio sobre Platón. Entre sus estudios se cuentan x{0026}lt;em La retirada de Jenofonte, La guerra por el imperio de Alejandro Magnox{0026}lt;/em y x{0026}lt;em La muerte de Sócratesx{0026}lt;/em , agudas revisiones de episodios de la Antigüedad analizados desde los puntos de vista histórico y literario. x{0026}lt;/p