GLOSSARY
The following button bar can be used to jump to a particular letter of
the alphabet.
- Achilles
- Greek hero from Thessaly, the main character in
Homer's Iliad.
- Agon, agones
- The assembly of people who
gathered to watch the games is known as
an agon. The singular "agon" is also used to denote a contest in the
games, and the plural "agones" refers to "the games" in general.
- Akon, acontists, ankyle
- The akon is a light spear or javelin, thrown by the acontists using
the ankyle, a rawhide thong roughly six feet in length.
- Amphora
- A large two-handled jar for wine, oil,
and other liquids is known as an amphora.
- Amphyctionic League
- A league of city-states who
maintained control of the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.
- Apene
- A type of chariot race with two mules (beginning 500 BC).
- Apobates, anabates
- Apobates literally
means "one who dismounts," and is used to describe
an armed warrior who jumps from a moving chariot. Anabates literally
means "one who mounts," but usually refers to a rider. "Anabates" is
sometimes used as a synonym of "apobates."
- Apollo
- Greek god of truth, light, poetry, music, and prophecy.
- Aulos, aulode, aulete
- An aulos
can be any wooden instrument, but usually means the double
pipes. An aulode is a singer accompanied by the aulos. An aulete is
the player of the aulos.
- Byzantine
- A Christian empire based in
Byzantium/Constantinople; the eastern Roman Empire.
- Demeter
- Greek goddess of corn and fertility.
- Diaulos
- The diaulos was a footrace which was twice the
stadion in length.
- Diskos
- A diskos is a disc-shaped weight thrown by athletes.
- Dolichos
- The dolichos is a long-distance footrace.
- Dorians
- A race of Greeks who supposedly invaded Greece from the
north at the end of the Mycenean period.
- Doric Order
- A set of conventions that
dictate which elements could be combined to make a Doric building. The Doric
Order defines the concept of a building, which includes rules for correct
proportions, the use of distortions to simulate perspective and foreshortening,
the arrangement of architectural members such as the pediment and metopes, and
the design, use and shape of columns. Elements of the Doric Order can be seen
in buildings dating back as early as the 7th century BC, and the Doric order
was used primarily in the construction of buildings on the Greek mainland and
in western colonies.
- Drachma, obol
- Obols and drachmae were
the monetary units used in ancient Greece. One drachma was worth six obols.
- Eleans
- The inhabitants of the territory of Elis.
- Embolon
- A stone or wood partition used to divide the
course used in chariot races.
- Ekecheiria
- Sacred truce instituted for the duration of
the Olympic games.
- Gymnasium, gymnasia
- The gymnasium
(plural gymnasia) is an athletic practice ground where exercises in
the nude took place.
- Halter, Halteres
- A halter (plural halteres)
is a small weight, shaped like a dumbbell, that is used by jumpers to
improve distance.
- Hera
- Queen of the gods.
- Heraia
- A race run by females at Olympia in honor of the
goddess Hera.
- Herakles
- A Greek hero famed for his great strength and
the execution of twelve labors.
- Himantes
- Straps of ox hide boxerswrapped around their
first knuckles, palms, wrists, and forearms. Later on, straps of harder
leather were added around the knuckles in order to make the blows harder.
- Himation
- A himation is a cloak or mantle.
- Hippios
- A hippios is a short-distance run
of four stades, or 800 ancient feet, in length.
- Hippodrome
- The hippodrome is a track
for horse races.
- Homer
- A name given to the Greek poet or poets of the
eighth century BC who composed the epic poems The Iliad and The
Odyssey.
- Iliad
- An epic poem of the eighth century BC, supposedly
composed by Homer, that tells the story of the wrath of Achilles in
the backdrop of the Trojan War.
- Javelin
- The ancient Greek javelin was a thrown
weapon which had a shaft of wood and a metal tip which permitted it to
stick into the ground when it landed.
- Linchpin
- Bronze dowels which attached the
wheel to the axle of the chariot.
- Melikertes
- A mythical Boetian prince who became a local
hero at Isthmia.
- Metope
- Metopes are part of the Doric frieze
course which is located above the architrave (which is the course found
directly above the columns). Metopes are rectangular spaces set off by sections
of vertical lines known as triglyphs. The metopes on Greek temples were often
decorated with relief sculpture.
- Olympia
- Olympia, on the northwest Peloponnesian
peninsula, was an important religious center and the site of the
Olympic games, the most important festival of the ancient Greek
world. The games were officially established in 776 BC and held
every four years.
- Opheltes
- A mythical young prince who was killed by a
snake and became a local hero at Nemea.
- Palaestra
- A palaestra was a wrestling
ground on which the athletes trained for the competitions.
- Panathenaia, Panathenaic Festival
- The Lesser
or Greater Panathenaia or Panathenaic Festival were the Athenian festivals
held in honor of Athena on her reputed birthday on
the 28th of Hektombaion (roughly equivalent to the month of July in our
calendar), and celebrated every fourth year with particular splendor
(the Greater Panathenaia).
- Pankration
- Pankration is a Greek athletic
event which combined boxing and wrestling with no holds barred except
for biting and gouging.
- Parthenon
- The Parthenon is a temple,
sacred to Athena. It was destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC,
and afterwards rebuilt by Perikles and decorated
with elaborate sculpture by Pheidias.
- Patroklos
- A companion of Achilles, killed in The Iliad.
- Pediment
- The recessed triangular space
bordered by the architrave and the two gables of the roof. Pediments are found
on the short ends of temples or other buildings.
- Pentathlon
- Atheltic competition with five different
events: the stade, broad jump, javelin throw, discus throw, and wrestling.
- Phaleron
- Phaleron is the area near Athens
where early Athenians beached their ships before the port of Peiraeus
was developed.
- Pindar
- A lyric poet of the sixth and fifth century, whose
epinicean odes immortalize victors at Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, and
Nemea.
- Poseidon
- Greek god of the sea.
- Python
- A giant snakelike monster who inhabited Delphi and
was killed by the god Apollo.
- Sisyphos
- Mythical king of Corinth.
- Spondorophoroi
- Messengers who carried
the word of the sacred truce and announced the date of the Olympic
games all over the Greek world.
- Stade
- A stade is 200 ancient feet in length.
- Stadion
- The stadion was originally a unit of
measurement, 600 feet in length,
which gave its name to the footrace of the same distance.
- Stadium
- A stadium is a structure specifically
designed for sporting contests and other spectator events. The name
comes from the latinized Greek word stade, a unit of measurement
equivalent to about 600 feet, which was the length of the footrace
in the ancient Olympics and the overall length of the ancient Greek stadia.
- Strigil
- A strigil is an instrument used for
scraping the skin after a bath; it was used by athletes to remove
sweat, dirt, and oil from their skin.
- Synoris
- A type of chariot race either with two horses
(beginning 408 BC) or with two foals (beginning
268 BC).
- Tethrippon
- A type of chariot race, either with four
horses (beginning 680 BC) or with four foals (beginning
384 BC).
- Theseus
- Mythical king and founding hero of Athens.
- Theodosius II
- Byzantine emperor who outlawed the Olympic
Games in AD 393
- Tripod
- A tripod is a three-legged stand which
was sometimes awarded as a prize in Greek athletic contests.
- Zeus
- Greek sky god and king of the gods.
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