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The Greek games began in 776 BC as a competition among amateur athletes from the different city-states. The purpose was to bring the citizens of the rival cities together in an apolitical gathering, which would reduce squabbling and develop a larger sense of community.
The rising merchant class in those cities subsequently inverted their purpose by introducing the idea of city rivalry into the games. The city states then began subsidizing their athletes indirectly and often invisibly. The amateur athletes were soon living a parody of amateurism. They had careers and future income riding on the competition. Winners became heroes, that is to say political heroes. They were fed at the cost of the state for the rest of their lives.
Subtle corruption gradually turned into rank dishonesty. Athletes were eventually bribed to lose. In AD 394 the games were abolished because they had become a parody of the amateur idea, a focus of corruption and a source of political rivalry.
The Olympic Games were re-established in 1896 as a competition among amateur athletes. One of the purposes was to bring citizens of rival countries together in an apolitical gathering.
What the Greeks managed to do in in 1,170 years we have done in well under 100.
-John Ralston Saul
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Feb 06, 10
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