Brief History of the Olympic Games

David C. Young is Professor of Classics at the University of Florida and author of the acclaimed The Modern Olympics: A Struggle for Revival (1996). His Olympic Myth of Greek Amateur Athletics (1984) won the Book of the Year award from the North American Society of Sports Historians. He translated the Words of Pindar which were read out at the closing ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

• List of Figures ixPreface xi1 Introduction 12 Beginnings and Evidence 123 Athletic Events 244 Combat and Equestrian Events 385 Zeus Country 526 Pindar and Immortality 677 Body, Mind, and Greek Athletics 808 Questions of Profit and Social Class 929 The Athletes 10210 Women and Greek Athletics 11311 Between the Greek and Roman Worlds 12212 The Later Centuries of Olympia 13013 The Origin and Authenticity of the Modern Olympic Games 138Appendix A: Chronology and Schedule of the Athletic Circuit 158Appendix B: Technical Note on Discus and Long Jump 161Appendix C: Modern Issues: The Marathon and Torch Relay 165Notes 170Glossary 175Bibliography 177Index 181

"David Young is one of the world's foremost experts on the Olympic Games, and this book contains many interesting details that have remained in the deep shadows of history much too long. An excellent read!" Anthony Th. Bijkerk, Secretary-General, International Society of Olympic Historians end!->"An impressively comprehensive, clear and often vivid survey of the ancient Olympics ... The book is packed with carefully considered interventions in long-standing debates." The Journal of Hellenic Studies