A Tour of Ancient Olympia

Most of the time, Olympia was a quiet place. It was far from the major cities and trade routes of Greece, far from anything except its own ancient sanctuary of Zeus, where the Olympic Games were held every fourth summer. During the five days of the festival, and for months before, this sleepy backwater became the beating heart of the Greek world. Travel to and from the Games was facilitated by a sacred truce that was usually, if not always, observed. Athletes came from every corner of the Mediterranean, trailing trainers and hangers-on. Tens of thousands of spectators came to watch them train and compete, despite an almost complete lack of tourist amenities. To service the various needs of the visitors, hundreds of vendors and courtesans followed, along with authors, philosophers, and crackpots of every description. The first building one encounters when entering the site at Olympia, appropriately, is a gymnasium where athletes trained before competing in the Games. It dates to the Hellenistic period. It was centered on a large court ringed by colonnades, under which athletes could run in bad weather. Another training facility, a palaestra, stood beside the gymnasium, likely built, like the Stoa Vatilis in the Athenian Agora, by some Hellenistic king trying to burnish his cultural credentials. The peristyle around its central courtyard opened unto rooms with various functions, including dining halls and a library. On the other side of the path is the Philippion, a temple-like monument built by Philip II after his victory at Chaeronea. Inside were chrysolophantine statues of Philip, his wife Olympias, and their son Alexander, soon to be great, along with Philip's parents. The building presented the Macedonian royal family as equal to the gods, a non-too-subtle message about Philip's political ambitions. Beside the Philippion are the remains of the Temple of Hera. This was the oldest temple at Olympia, so old, according to Pausanias, that its columns were made of wood and only gradually upgraded to stone, each wooden post being replaced by a column as it rotted away. The differences in the columns' styles can still be seen, but the standing ones were re-erected in the 20th century. The most important structure at Olympia was always the Temple of Zeus, built by the city of Elis in the mid-5th century BC. This temple, the largest in the Peloponnese, was in the Doric order and built of local limestone finished with stucco. As in most Greek temples, its cella had three chambers, front to back, the antechamber, pronaus, the naus, or cella proper, and epistodomos behind, where, reportedly, Herodotus read excerpts from his histories. Remains of the pediment sculpture groups, which showed the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs and the chariot race of Pelops and Oinomaus, can be seen at the site museum. In the museum, the race of Pelops and Oinomaus, Metopes showed the labors of Hercules, and on this side, the truly magnificent Centauromachy, with the majestic statue of Apollo at the center. The highlight of the temple, of course, was the great statue of Zeus, a wonder of the world. Phidias, the sculptor, had become something of a specialist in chrysolophantine, golden ivory, statues. This was his masterpiece. It showed Zeus in majesty, seven times life-size, seated on his throne, with a scepter in one hand and a figure of victory poised on the other. The ivory flesh of the god, moistened with olive oil, shimmered in the dimness of the room. Visitors admired the statue from balconies above the aisles of the naus. The statue was reportedly taken away to Constantinople at the end of the fourth century. The temple of Zeus collapsed in late antique earthquakes, leaving the pile of ruins we see today. The single standing column, off to our right, was re-erected in 2003. This structure, currently under restoration, is the so-called Workshop of Phidias. It was here, according to Pausanias, that the great sculptor fashioned the most famous of all Greek statues, the chrysolophantine Zeus that stood in the sanctuary's main temple. The fragments of ivory and terracotta molds found inside seem to confirm this. The building resembled a temple in plan, apparently to allow the great statue to be assembled in its entirety before being transferred to its permanent home. An altar of all the gods was installed here later in antiquity. Later still, the building became a church, with its apse at the former entrance. The largest building in Olympia, the Leonidion, was built by a wealthy benefactor in the fourth century BC. It appears to have served as a hostel for eminent visitors to the games. After a fire, it was reconstructed for the use of visiting Roman officials. The elaborate pools in the central courtyard date to that rebuilding. On the south side of the sanctuary was the Olympic Council Met. It was here the competitors swore at the altar of Zeus Horcius, Zeus of oaths, that they would abide by the rules. This elaborate Roman-era mansion may have been built for Nero's visit to Olympia in the year 67. There are a number of Roman-era buildings on the east side of the sanctuary, most notably a substantial bath complex. This side was bounded by the so-called echo stoa. Any word spoken here, reportedly, would echo back seven times. In front of the stoa was a huge victory monument, set up by Ptolemy II and his sister-wife Arsinoe, another product of Hellenistic power politics. A closer look at Ptolemy and Arsinoe's monument, with the remains of the echo stoa behind. On this terrace were eleven treasuries. Like their better-preserved counterparts at Delphi, they were built by individual cities to store the offerings that were dedicated here. Both the offerings and the treasuries themselves were opportunities for competitive display. It's striking how many of these were built by Greek colonies in Sicily. Like the monuments of the Hellenistic kings, this was a way of proclaiming that they had arrived on the political scene. Originally, the metroon was dedicated to Rhea, the mother of Zeus. It was renovated in the Roman era and rededicated to Augustus, becoming a sanctuary of the imperial cult. Eight imperial statues were discovered inside. This huge nymphaeum was built by Herodes Atticus in the mid-second century. It had two basins. The upper basin was framed by a monumental façade, which displayed two dozen statues of Herodes, his relatives, and the imperial family. Fed by an aqueduct a mile and a half long, it was a useful amenity, bringing clean water to a site that had long relied on notoriously foul wells. Some austere souls, however, complained about its ostentatiousness. On these bases were the zones. Zeus statues end up with the finds from athletes found to have cheated. And now, at last, the stadium. This tunnel was used exclusively by athletes and judges in antiquity. And there it is, in all of its glory. In its current form, the stadium dates to the 5th century BC. There was room for up to 40,000 spectators, who always sat directly on the grass. With the exception of a single priestess, married women were not allowed to attend. On the right side of the screen is the stand on which umpires of the games stood. Lines of stones, now visible off to our left, mark the start line. The finish line, on the other side, bear with me please, is about 200 yards, one stadion, away. The finish line. Though they were only awarded a simple olive garland, victors here were immortalized, known the breadth of the Greek world and the depth of classical history for their feats. Erudempia.