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Who Could Compete In The Olympics ?
Unlike the modern Olympics, the ancient Olympics was not open for all athletes. Only men and boys who were free citizens, who spoke Greek or who were in anyway connected to the Greek tradition and whose state agreed to participate in the Olympic truce were allowed to participate in the Olympics. |
People from other countries could not participate in the ancient Olympics. But if they had a connection to the Greek tradition in some way, they could participate, even if they lived in Africa or Spain. Also, women were not allowed to participate in the Olympics themselves. However, they could participate in the equestrian events by being the owner of a chariot team or individual horses and thereby win the competitions. This is because in the chariot race not the rider, but the owner of the chariot was declared the winner. Women were often not even allowed to watch the Olympics.
Men who wished to compete in the Olympics had to qualify to do so and had to make sure that their names were entered in the list. The Olympics was open only for young men and if someone seemed over mature, he could be rejected. Apart from this, it was mandatory for the athletes to take an oath before the statue of Zeus that he had completed a training of 10 months. The athletes, while competing in the games, would usually be completely naked. The athletes would use olive oil all over their body, and may have used kynodesme to cover their penis.
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