THE OLYMPIC GAMES WERE BORN IN CRETE!

The Minoan civilization is the first civilization in Aegean Sea which supplies with significant pictorial information on the athletic activity during the copper Age (2nd Millennium BC).

This information comes from embossed reconstructions on stone vases, murals and scenes engraved on seal rings.
Yet, the written sources also reflect the knowledge of the Minoans in sport events. During the copper Age, the main games in Crete were boxing, fight contest, a local version of bull-fight and acrobatics. The performance on those games, strengthened by a tightly belted ring-like waist, the well-shaped thighs and the fully developed chest muscles, denote trained bodies, flexibility and zest on their athletic performance. The men are depicted being sun-tanned, while the women white-skinned. Sir Arthur Evans, the notorious archaeologist, speaking on those games, connects them to the religion and the Great Goddess, who lets the games go on under her protection.

Minas Tsikritsis 

Full text (in Greek) in STIGMES issue no 77