Ancient Greek Entertainment Essay

Improved Essays
After the people of Ancient Greece got home from their jobs or their training, they needed a form of entertainment to keep their lives interesting. They found many forms of entertainment, from watching plays at the theatre to competing in the Olympics. Just like today, the children of Ancient Greece played games like checkers and marbles for fun. The people of Ancient Greece had a wide variety of things to do with their free time.
Now a worldwide event, the olympics started in ancient Greece as a form of competition and entertainment. The ancient Greek olympic games began in 776 B.C. The first Olympics was dedicated to the god Zeus and was celebrated in Olympia, Greece. Just like today, the olympic games back then took place every Olympiad, or four years. Foot races, javelin throw, long jump, wrestling, boxing, and discus throw are all examples of some of the events the athletes competed in. Every free male had to compete, and only men or unmarried women were allowed to spectate. “Although mortal, their Olympic victories immortalised them.” (Ancient Olympics, 2016) The athletes competed naked, and oiled their bodies for sun protection. The
…show more content…
The Greeks played dice and board games. Greek men played sports, exercised at local gyms, and swam at public facilities. There have been many public athletic facilities found scattered throughout Greece. Children spent most of their time playing with each other. Boys played games that were not included in the Olympics, such as hockey. They also played non athletic games like marbles, dice, checkers, and knucklebones. Girls weren’t expected to play sports as much, but instead spent their time playing with dolls and other toys. Greek women had very few rights, so they did not participate in many of these activities. The Ancient Greeks played a wide variety of sports and games to entertain themselves and stay

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Olympic Games Dbq

    • 73 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Perhaps the most influential contribution by ancient Greek to the western civilization is sports. The origin of the Olympics derived from the competition of multiple isolated/ independent states in Greece that had the passion for competitions through series of sports events. And perhaps this passion led to the creation of a long lasting tradition of tournaments that is now known as the “Olympic games” that is now currently held internationally worldwide (Document 6).…

    • 73 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance, Competitive drive, selflessness and respect for authority is the price that each and Every one of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” — Coach Vince Lombardi Sports has been an intricate part of cultures and societies in many different ways dating as far back as to prehistory. In fact, the first Olympics can be dated back to 776 BC taking place in Olympia, Greece. Sports have been used in society for many different reasons.…

    • 2576 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Thousands of people traveled to participate in or watch the Olympics, and they brought offerings such as money and weaponry for Zeus. The Olympics lasted for over a thousand years until the Emperor Theodosios put an end…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Dawes Essay Topics

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The sport Gymnastic derived from the early Greek civilization. It consisted of a series of exercises that included jumping, running, swimming, throwing, wrestling and weightlifting. Fitness was a highly valued sport in ancient Greece and men and women participated in gymnastic exercises vigorously. After Rome conquered Greece the gymnasium was used to prepare their troops for war but after the fall of Rome gymnastic became a form of entertainment.…

    • 1345 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To begin with,the Olympics had different sports than the modern day Olympics. The old Olympics also had less sports than the modern day Olympics. The old Olympics had chariot racing,but the modern day Olympics does not have chariot racing. The old Olympics also had different rules,one example would be that only men could participate in the old Olympics. Another rule the old Olympics had is that married women could not go the Olympics.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There many other myths as to how the Olympics came about, but no one knows for sure. Basically, the games were just another way of worshiping the Greek gods. So, in conclusion, the Greek Olympic Games were a great and celebratory festival for Zues, and mostly men competed in a series of events, ranging from discus, to the very first event, the stade. The games were a great way to worhip, while entertaining the people.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    You may believe that the United States as it is today is very original and different but honestly it’s not. Most of the ideas we have displayed throughout our country originated from Ancient Rome. Some people actually call us thieves because of all the ideas and traits we have took from them. You may not notice it but we have based lots of behaviors on their culture. Ancient Rome is actually one of the closest civilizations that resemble the United States.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Ancient Greece is one of the most influential civilizations in the ancient world. They created practically everything that we use today, what we believe in today’s society, and what we do in our every day to day. The point of this paper is to summary the achievements of Greek Civilization and explains its rise from the local cultures of the Mycenaean Civilization through an imperial power of the Athenian Empire to a dominant cultural model of the Hellenic Civilization in the Ancient World. Ancient Greece is simple the foundation to our modern society, the develop and created from language, typography, philosophy, architecture, history, science, geography to astronomy, art, beauty and much more. -The musical notation system that we use…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Salado People Essay

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages

    One of the popular games they played was Pa-tol sticks; this sport is very similar to Javelin today. This is just one of the many sports we play today that came from the ancient people long ago. Other sports they invented lacrosse, hidden ball, double ball, and chunky. Some of the sports they played are corn husk shuttlecocks…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It was made in honor of Zeus and the Olympics. The Greeks studies math, science, and philosophy. There were many writers and thinkers in Ancient Greece. Some of them were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These people studies philosophy.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plays began to become important in ancient Greece and two types of plays which were written and performed were comedies and tragedies. A comedy, in ancient Greece, was usually a play that marked or made fun of a certain topic, person, or group of people. One famous comedy writer was Aristophanes. He wrote the plays The Birds and Lysistrata. A tragedy, in ancient Greece, usually dealt with a moral or social issue, human suffering, and almost always ended in disaster.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sports History in 1910s Many things were happening in the 1910s. Many sports were becoming popular. Baseball was popular. Hockey was becoming known. Basketball was just starting out and becoming more and more popular every day.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minoan art and culture is commonly reflect toward nature and power. Minoan architecture culture was known for many large palaces. These palaces were made to serve as administrative, commercials, and religious center of Minoan. It was large place for king and his family. It was place where ceremonies and games took place.…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over different periods of time and different civilizations common themes have emerged throughout the area of entertainment, especially entertainment with violent undertones. The Roman Colosseum and the Mayan Ball Court in Copán are two prominent examples of this. The Roman Colosseum was a popular place of entertainment for the Romans, as was the Ball Court for the Mayans. However, there is a large difference between the activities of the two forms of entertainment. The Colosseum, first of all, was a large amphitheater designed for gladiatorial contests and combats between men and animals, or even between animals alone.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The games would consist of many things including but not limited to, running, jumping, discus throw, wrestling, boxing, and horse and chariot races. Olympic games would not include women. In the running portion, players would have to run a certain distance and back, and the first person to complete this activity would be the winner. In the jumping portion, the player who could jump the farthest would be the winner. In the discus throw, the player who could throw their very heavy disk the farthest would be crowned winner.…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays