The Ancient Greeks were the originators of the Olympic
Games. On the other hand, Ancient Rome partook in gladiator games. The Greeks
mixed religion and sports, frequently praising the Greek Gods. The Olympics
were extremely structured in organization that governed the rules and
regulations. Gladiator games were quite the opposite with barbaric rules
created by the elites. Both Greece and Rome used these games as a form of
entertainment, but differed in that the Olympic games were centered around
their Gods. Rome used this as a vehicle of political power and the division of
masses. Surprisingly, participants in the Olympic Games were peasants due to
their availability of time to dedicate to training. The only participants were
men. A gladiator may be a warrior hero, slave, prisoner of war, but once he
enters the stadium he is fighting for his freedom. Women were left out of
participation as well.
Great post! It's definitely interesting to see how the times have barely changed with predominantly male attention still in sports. We came along way from fighting to the death but still enjoy blood sport (UFC, Boxing, etc.) - Brandon Fukutome
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