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Hi everyone and welcome back to Happy Hour.欢迎你又回到酒馆.Today we have Alan in the studio, hi 安澜.

Hi there.

But we're not gonna do Britain Under the Microscope, 今天并不是做闲话英伦，对吧？

Yeah, so today we're gonna be talking a little bit about something that is in the news quite a lot, and that is the Olympic Games.

现在,最火的应该就是奥运会了,就是比较正能量的这种火。

Yeah, but we're not gonna be talking about the modern Olympic Games, instead, we're going to be talking about the ancient Olympic Games from Greece.

Sounds fascinating. But before we dive into that, let me ask, 安澜, have you been following the Olympic Games？I mean are you rooting for Team GB.

Yeah, I would say I'm kind of watching quite a few of the contests, watching quite a bit of the games and I am supporting Team GB.

Would you say people back home in the UK are they as enthusiastic about the game？

I would say people generally are very interested, but generally I would say people are a bit more interested in the EUROs than they are in the Olympic Games, or they were interested in the EUROs I should say.

所以就是欧洲杯可能当时大家更狂热一点。

A little bit, yeah.

Let's talk about the ancient Olympic Games. Most people know that it started in ancient Greece. When was that？

According to the sources, it says it started in 776 BC.

BC,公元前吗? Let me guess that was not just a sports meeting. It was for other purposes.

Pretty much. So the Olympic Games were actually religious originally. And back then, it wasn't only the Olympic Games, there were also other games throughout Greece. It's just the Olympic Games have become the most well-known.

So it was religious.

Yeah. That's why nowadays you have the Olympic Games every 4 years, the same as back then, because there were another three games being held during other years.

所以只有这个 Olympic Games存留下来了。I see, one thing I do know about the ancient Olympic Games I read it somewhere, all the athletes were men.

Yes.

Was it because they were naked?

Actually they were naked to stop women from competing. There was a story about a woman who tried to compete and when she won, they found out that she was a woman. So ever since that time, they decided that you have to compete naked.

所以赤身裸体就是自证男儿身才能够去参加比赛。

But why？

Because it was partly religious. So there was that religious element to it as well, and it was also very common back then for men to compete naked. I'll give you an example, the Greek word for naked is Gymnos.

Gymnos? Like gym?

Gymnasium comes from the Greek word. It literally means a place where naked people are.

所以体育馆,I always thought it was at least about sports, so it wasn't, it was about being naked.

Well, because if you were at the gym, you were naked.

I see, so did the entire Olympic Games completely naked？

That's right. But there is one thing about the Olympic Games that is the same as it is now, the games took place in the summer just as they do now.

Because they had to be naked, I don't think the winter it was really possible.

But think about it. Why do we have the games that summer time？It's actually because there was no farm work, more people could go to the games.

I see, because obviously was the farming needs and everything.

Yeah.

One thing I'm quite curious about is that I'm sure they also had their roles.

Yes.

Like today if any athlete breaks the rule, they get banned or they get punished in some way, were there some punishment?

Yep. If the athletes broke the rules, they were publicly whipped.

Whipped,就是鞭刑吗？Pretty harsh.

They were beaten or they were whipped because, again, it was a religious event. So if you were cheating or if you were breaking the rules...

You were deceiving God.

Exactly.

I see. And back then where was it held？Obviously it was always held in Greece.

It was held in a place called Olympia where there was a big temple to the main God Zeus.

宙斯。

Yeah, and Olympia was this whole area where there was lots of temples and a huge stadium as well.

But how many people actually went there as visitors to see the game.

When it was really popular？

嗯。

Some people say that up to 50,000 people went there.

That's a lot especially by ancient standard.

That is a lot and that is an awful lot when you consider that there was only one hotel.

So if people travelled to see the game, they couldn't go back to their home, then where would they stay？

They would camp.

就是露营啊.

But imagine 50,000 people with no sanitation, no sewers, not many public toilets. And a lot of these people, they all travelled for months to get there. And that's actually one of the ideas about the Olympic Games being about peace. Because back then, there was actually a truce you could not fight during the Olympic Games.

Oh, truce means ceasefire.

Yeah.

But let's dial back a little bit. You said all the athletes were men, they were competing naked. What about the visitors? I'm assuming they were all men.

The vast majority were men, there were some unmarried women who could attend the games, but there were priestesses. It was mostly for men.

Because I mean it's hard to imagine that women would actually be allowed to go to see a game where every man is naked.

Well, it's hard to imagine any woman wanted to go anyway with 50,000 very sweaty, very hot, naked, smelly men.

I guess. So the only women that went were priestesses.就是女祭司 because it's everything was about religion.

Exactly. And one of the highlights of the Olympic Games which they don't do now is the sacrifice of hundreds of animals.

Oh, to worship Gods.

So, there was one sacrifice where they sacrifice a hundred oxen, a hundred cows.

You know, I'm already picturing the entire scene with the animal blood, screaming with naked men. Both the athletes and the spectators who haven't washed for days would have been really smelling.

In the height of summer in Greece.

With about 40 degrees.

It was not very pleasant.

Doesn't sound very pleasant at least people have been complaining about the weather in Tokyo being very humid. I think they just need to go back to ancient Greece.

It would have been 10 times worse.

All right. So we talked about venue, we talked about the general picture. What about some of the sports, of course many sports have changed, but were some of the most popular sports that they were competing in.

Well, most of them were around warfare. So it was things like wrestling,

摔跤,boxing拳击…

Running, maybe？

Maybe running as well, but the biggest race was running in armor.

穿着盔甲 ,wow, in the height of summer.

Yep.

That's tough.

You also had chariot racing.

这种战车的赛车吧。

In the chariot racing, it wasn't the person actually racing, it was the owners of the horse.

What about the charioteers？

They didn't get the price. No one would remember who they are, it's the owner of the horses.

I see, so like the patrons basically.

Pretty much. But the most popular sport is something that they don't do now. And that's called Pankration.

Pankration? What does that mean？

Pankration is the Greek word. It means force or power or violence, and it's a very dangerous sport. It's a little bit like wrestling and boxing, but there were actually two rules you couldn't gouge someone's eyes.

不能挖眼。

And you couldn't bite someone.

Everything else was fine.

What if someone gets killed in this？

It happened quite frequently actually. There's a very famous story about somebody, an athlete who actually won the Pankration and was dead.

Then would he still be considered the winner or？

He was considered the winner because he accidentally killed his opponent. He accidentally killed his opponent and his opponent accidentally killed him, but they worked out who died first was a loser.

Sorry, that sounded really bloody. I mean if you think modern day Olympic Games are competitive, just need to go back to ancient times.

But that's the thing, it was even more competitive because there was no such thing as silver or bronze medal. There was only one winner and that was it.

What did the winner get？

They got a wreath of olives and leaves.

I don't know. It's just face values, just bragging rights, then.

No. It came from a secret tree which I guess is something.

神圣的树上面的一个橄榄的环.Okay.

And sometimes they would get a poem written about them, and in some cases, they will get free dinners for life.

So did they get any real money, fortune, houses, estate?

Well, they got free dinners for life. But you have to think that they got fame, that's what people wanted. These people would be known for the whole of the Greek world. And remember, it's not just Greece, it's Italy, Turkey…

It’s the realm of the ancient Greek influence.

Exactly. So and some of these athletes, even 2,000 years later, we still remember their names.

It's like fighting for honor and fame.

Pretty much.

I see, I mean every country they would have very different reward system, obviously. And I imagine that for some of them, the most important thing would be the honor they get.

Yeah, it's about being the best, and that is something that is very, very important to the Greeks. And the Greeks actually believed you should fight for that honor. So in ancient Greek, the word for games is agon, but that's where the English word agony comes from.

So, pain?

Pain.

Fighting through pain?

Pretty much.

I see, I mean if you think about what the athletes are going through, how hard they train, all of these scars, and the injuries they get, they are true heroes. I mean not necessarily just as national heroes, they are representing something, they’re representing a spirit to wanna be better, to be faster, to be the best.

Exactly.

So on that note, we're gonna wrap up here. Leave us a comment in the comment sections. Tell us if you have been following the Olympic Games, what is your favorite sports to watch and generally share with us how you feel？Thank you 安澜 for coming to the studio.

Thanks a lot 璐璐。

See you next time.

Bye.

Bye.