For my World Literature class our first paper was to make the ancient voices come alive. This is my story on making this voices come alive.
“Strong beginnings and strong finishes eventually lead to honor.”
In the little city of Anax, the summer was quickly approaching, and men were busy training for what would be only the second Olympic Games. The men of Anex as well as those from other countries had been waiting four long years for what could be a life changing experience for them; to win the Olympic Games, bring honor to their country, and receive the girl of their dreams. The games, held in Anex this year, were purely to honor the god Anaxagoras, whose name meant master, and who was believed to be the ultimate god. Tomorrow would be the first of five tense days of competition.
Looking around, there were no women to be seen anywhere on the grounds of the city of Anex. This was because there was a “no women allowed” rule that went into effect while the Olympic Games were in progress. Women were not allowed to compete or even to watch the men compete in the games. They were only allowed to watch the games if they owned one of the chariot horses for the race, and this was quite rare. However, in the city of Anex, there was a lonely beautiful housemaid who was to be given up, as one of the many gifts and honors, to the winner of the Olympic Games. For this reason, she was the only woman who was allowed to be present and watch the Olympic Games. Her name was Althaia, named for her ability to soothe.
There were two main competitors for the city of Anex, Andreas whose name meant warrior, and Nikias whose name meant victory. From the city of Anike, Anex’s rival city, came Eutychos whose name meant fortunate, and Aiolos whose name meant quick, who were playing for who they believed to be the ultimate god, Aniketos whose name meant unconquerable. The last Olympics, it boiled down to a head to head competition between an athlete from Anex and an athlete from Anike.
The first day of competition started off with a bang. There was a procession that went for 45 miles, that connected the countries of Anike and Anex. Olympic judges made up this procession dressed in purple robes, and were followed by the referees, heralds, athletes and their trainers. Everyone from both near and far were there to see the competition take place, soldiers, artists, philosophers, princes, historians, fishermen and farmers were among the many. The actual Olympic Game events would start on the second day.
Day two started with the chariot races. In these events, every man competed for himself; there were no relays or teams. A herald announced each horse and its owner one by one. Andreas would be riding the horse, Kyros named for his power. Nikias was to ride Adrastus named for his courage. Eutychos named his horse after his everlasting endurance. And Aiolos would ride Agathon named for his good nature. The herald motioned to the judges, and the race was off. The chariots were traveling at extremely high speeds and as they all were approaching and making the first turn, Nikias’ horse took a dive and his chariot crashed. This startled the other horses and Kyros threw Andreas from his back and he flew to the ground. However, Kyros just kept running and was the first horse to finish. For this event, 1st place went to Andreas of Anex, 2nd place went to Eutychos of Anike, 3rd place went to Nikias of Anex and with the 4th place ribbon was Aiolos of Anike. After the chariot races, there was a pentathlon that the athletes competed in. This was composed of five events which included: the discus throw, long jump, javelin throw, stade race and upright wrestling. For the long jump event, the athletes used stone of lead weights called haleres to increase their distance. Watching the pentathlon events were always a crowd favorite and was an important factor when determining who would eventually win the games. Eutychos of Anike came in 1st overall, placing 1st in the discus throw and upright wrestling, 2nd in the long jump and javelin throw, and 3rd in the stade race. While Andreas of Anex came in 2nd overall with 1st in the long jump and javelin throw, second in the stade race, and 3rd for the discus throw and upright wrestling. Nikias of Anex and Aiolos came in as a tie for 3rd place each having one 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and two 4th place victories.
Day three was all about getting rest for these athletes, who were in for another grueling day of events tomorrow. There was a sacrifice to Anexagoras, and the rest of the day was devoted to letting some of the younger boys who were spectators have a chance to experience what it was like to be a part of the Olympic Games. These boys would compete in events similar to the pentathlon.
Day four started off with the foot races. Aiolos of Anike knew that this event would give him a chance to get back into the scoring and have a chance move up the leader board because he was named for his quickness. Ever since he was a little boy, he would always beat his friends at foot races. There were three different foot races: a 2 ¼ mile run, a 600 foot sprint, and a 1200 foot race. As it turned out he was right, finishing 1st in this event. Although, only beating Nikias be a nose. Nikias and Andreas of Anex came in 2nd and 3rd place, and Eutychos of Anike finished 4th. After the foot races came the upright wrestling competition. Andreas, who was named for his tough warrior-like build, knew that this was going to be a fun event for him. He was used to lifting and pushing heavy loads back at his home in Anex and was able to take the other athletes out of the competition with ease. He had a 1st place finish. Followed by Nikias, Eutychos, and Aiolos. The final event of the Olympic Games was the race in armor, where the athletes ran a stade, about 75 feet, wearing heavy armor and carrying shields. The athletes did not carry any weapons like swords of daggers of any sort. Andreas came in 1st, then Aiolos, Nikias, and Eutychos.
On the fifth and final day of the Olympics, there were celebration festivals and no athletic events took place. The victories that the athletes had achieved were honored. The champion of the Olympic Games was determined by how strongly the athletes had performed in the events throughout the days. Andreas from Anax was crowned the champion, finishing 1st overall. He was consistently strong throughout the competition, from beginning to end, finishing 1st in three events, 2nd in one and 3rd in another. Nikias, also from Anax did not do as well throughout the competition, but managed to pull out a 2nd place overall victory. He finished 2nd in two events and 3rd in the three other events. The two athletes from Anike, did not seem to be on their game for most of the games and finished in a tie for 3rd place overall. Andreas was given a palm branch by the judges after they had announced that he was the winner of the Olympic Games. During the celebration Andreas exchanged the palm branch for a crown made of wild olive branches when he received the girls of his dreams, Althaia. Soon, the crowd would shower him with flowers and leaves as he would here and forever represent the city of Anex as a hero. Winning the Olympics got him and his city the honor he thought was deserved.
