- #Ancient greek olympics chariot races drivers#
- #Ancient greek olympics chariot races driver#
- #Ancient greek olympics chariot races professional#
Philip II of Macedon also won an Olympic chariot race in an attempt to prove he was not a barbarian, though if he had driven the chariot himself he would likely have been considered even lower than a barbarian. In 416 BC the Athenian general Alcibiades had seven chariots in the race, and came in first, second and fourth obviously he could not have been racing all seven chariots himself.
#Ancient greek olympics chariot races driver#
Arsecilas, the king of Cyrene, won the chariot race at the Pythian Games in 462 BC, when his slave driver was the only one to finish the race. However, by the time of the Panhellenic Games, the owners usually had slaves who did the actual driving, and it was the owner who was awarded the prize. In Mycenaean times the driver and owner would have been the same person, and therefore the winning driver received the prize. The chariot race was not as prestigious as the stadion (the foot race), but it was more important than other equestrian events such as racing on horseback, which were dropped from the Olympic Games very early on. Deliberately running into an opponent to cause him to crash was technically illegal, but nothing could be done about it (at Patroclus' funeral games, Antilochus in fact causes Menelaus to crash in this way), and crashes were likely to happen by accident anyway. If a chariot had not already been knocked over by an opponent before the turn, it might be overturned or crushed (along with the horses and driver) by the other chariots as they went around the post. These turns were very dangerous and often deadly. The most exciting part of the chariot race, at least for the spectators, was the turns at the ends of the hippodrome.
The charioteer's feet were held in place, but the cart rested on the axle, so the ride was bumpy. The chariots themselves were modified war chariots, essentially wooden carts with two wheels and an open back, although chariots were by this time no longer used in battle. Like modern jockeys, chariot racers were chosen for their lightness, but also needed to be tall, so they were frequently teenagers. Two straps that crossed high at the upper back, prevented the xystis from "ballooning" during the race. It fell to the ankles and was fastened high at the waist with a plain belt. A chariot race was also said to be the event that founded the Olympic Games according to one legend, King Oenomaus challenged his daughter Hippodamia's suitors to a race, but was defeated by Pelops, who founded the Games in honour of his victory. The race, which was one lap around the stump of a tree, was won by Diomedes, who received a slave woman and a cauldron as his prize. The participants in this race were Diomedes, Eumelus, Antilochus, Menelaus, and Meriones. It is known from artistic evidence on pottery that the sport existed in the Mycenaean world, but the first literary reference to a chariot race is the one described by Homer in Book 23 of the Iliad, at the funeral games of Patroclus. It is unknown exactly where chariot racing began, but it may have been as old as chariots themselves.
#Ancient greek olympics chariot races professional#
Some of the organizational aspects of chariot racing also paralleled current practices in professional sports.
#Ancient greek olympics chariot races drivers#
Often dangerous to both drivers and horses, who frequently suffered serious injury and even death, the sport generated strong spectator enthusiasm comparable to modern-day interest in motor sports.
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