Athletics: In Antiquity athletes were also known as alephomenoi (smeared with oil) because they smeared their body with oil before the contest, in order to tone up the muscles, to protect themselves from the cold and to prevent dehydration. After the contest, they used a strigil to remove the dust or sand that had stuck to their oiled body.
The prices awarded to participants in games attest to the primal significance of the olive and olive oil for athletics. The kotinos, the wreath of victors in the Olympic Games, was made of a branch of wild olive, while the precious trophy of winners in the Panathenaic Games was the Panathenaic amphora, a large vase full of oil. The latter had a symbolic dimension too, since the games were dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens, Athena, and the oil was from her sacred olive trees, the mories.
Furthermore, the economic calue was extremely high: depending on the contest, the victor could win up to 5.5 tonnes of oil. Panathenaic oil was more expensive than ordinary olive oil and was in great demand throughout the Mediterranean; only victors in the games were permitted to export it. |
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