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Excellence and the competitive spirit
[ 2007-06-12 11:19 ]
古代奧運會與現(xiàn)代奧運會一樣，提倡公平競賽，追求卓越的奧林匹克精神。但是，不少運動員為了一時的光榮而采取各種舞弊的行為仍然是難以避免的。為了整頓賽場風氣，古代奧運會組織者們也像現(xiàn)代同行一樣，對那些違反奧運精神的運動員予以嚴厲的懲罰。
 Ancient athletes competed as individuals, not on national teams, as in the modern Games. The emphasis on individual athletic achievement through public competition was related to the Greek ideal of excellence, called arete. Aristocratic men who attained this ideal, through their outstanding words or deeds, won permanent glory and fame. Those who failed to measure up to this code feared public shame and disgrace.
Not all athletes lived up to this code of excellence. Those who were discovered cheating were fined, and the money was used to make bronze statues of Zeus, which were erected on the road to the stadium. The statues were inscribed with messages describing the offenses, warning others not to cheat, reminding athletes that victory was won by skill and not by money, and emphasizing the Olympic spirit of piety toward the gods and fair competition.
The earliest recorded cheater was Eupolus of Thessaly, who bribed boxers in the 98th Olympiad. Callippus of Athens bought off his competitors in the pentathlon during the 112th festival. Two Egyptian boxers, Didas and Sarapammon, were fined for fixing the outcome of their match at the 226th Olympics. All these men were immortalized as cheaters in the writer Pausanias' 2nd century A.D. guidebook to Greece, in which he describes the statues at Olympia and recounts the men's misdeeds.
（通訊員孫偉 王樂迪投稿 英語點津boeybb編輯）
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