Have ever think you can race like an ancient Greek?
In the NE Peloponnese, at its eastern foot Arcadian Mountains, there is a small village called Nemea.
Here, in Greek mythology, Heracles overcame the Nemean Lion, and here, during Antiquity, the Nemean Games were held (ending c. 235 BC) and were celebrated in the eleven Nemean odes of Pindar.
Guess what ?
You can be a part of this experience!
The name of the area derives from the word “nemos” which means pasture and is known from mythology for the feat of Hercules with the lion and for Ofeltis, the son of the king of Nemea, in whose memory the 7 in Thebes founded the games, which remained there for a short time since for most of their history they were held in Argos.
The ancient stadium came to the surface after excavations carried out by the University of California under the direction of St. Miller, through ASCSA. The reappearance of the stadium and the revival of the games was the dream of Menius, the pharmacist of Nemea, who helped Miller to acquire the farms to be excavated.
In 1994, Miller handed over the stage to then-Culture Minister Thanos Mikroutsikos. The festivities included street races, but in fact, the revival of the Nemean races began 2 years later, in 1996, and since then it has been held every 4 years, although in antiquity it was held every 2 years.
The Modern Era Race
Modern races include only 90m road races. and another called “in the footsteps of Hercules”, which is 7.5km in the direction from the ancient temple of Hercules in Kleones to the stadium of Nemea.
Of course, in ancient times the races included all the naked races (according to the model of Olympia), chariot racing, horse racing, and trumpet and preacher races. Today there is a demonstration in some nude competitions (eg pancratium, wrestling, etc.) by sports federations, but without free participation.
The opening ceremony takes place in the temple of Zeus, with greetings, ode, “theatrical” with the personification of Nemea and the Truce, with a procession of Spartans who put down their weapons and of course a touch of the flame because it was successful in the modern Olympics and they said to do the same modern Nemean games.
Participants in modern races run barefoot, wearing a white tunic (and not naked).
After writing their name on photos on the wall of the portico (the ancients wrote on the portico), they enter it, and after hearing their name from the preacher, they run to the stadium running.
They take a position at the starting line and after the starter throws the slap, they start running. Violators of the rules are publicly beaten by Greek judges, as in antiquity.
The winners wear the ribbon on their heads, hold a palm branch, and are crowned with wild celery, as in antiquity.
Greek judges dress in black as a sign of mourning for the death of the legendary founder Ofeltis.
The slaves in yellow, the trumpets with burgundy, the preachers in blue, and the whips with blue.
The closing ceremony is followed by a meal in honor of the participants at the village school.
Useful Information
You can find all the details about the organization and participation in the race here.
Make sure you make you reservation early and take the opportunity to exprience more of Greece Locally!
Combine your sport participation to a local tour and taste local traditional food, Greek virgin olive oil producers and the amazing combiantion of beach rocks and ocean of the Peloponesse terrain.
Reference: Kyriaki Politi, Archaeologist, “The Revival of the Nemean Games”, 2016, NKUA.
