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Ancient Greece and
Ancient Olympics Terms
- ago
- lead
- agon
- agony, or pain one experiences in the quest for athletic excellence
- akademia
- academy
- altis
- grove
- andreios
- brave (thus, the name "Andre," e.g., "Andre Agassi")
- arete
- virtue -- the ancient Greek concept of being a unified whole while striving for excellence
(not to confuse arete with striving for victory).
- aristos
- best
- asmenos
- glad
- asphales
- safe
- athlètès
- one who competes for a prize (no word for amateur existed in ancient Greece).
- athlon
- prize
- athlos
- contest
- barbaros
- barbarian
- bebaios
- firm, confident
- blasphemia
- blasphemy
- boetheia
- help
- bômos
- "altar" in the center of the agora which was dedicated to the twelve great gods of Greece : Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, Hephæstus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite and Hermes.
- charakter
- brand or mark -- character
- charis
- favor (e.g., charity)
- chorègoi
- choirmasters
- dadouchos
- Torchbearer in religious cult initiation ceremonies
- deinos
- terrible, monstrous (Dinosaurs -- from Greek "deinos" or monstrous and "sauros" lizard; term coined by Sir Richard Owen in 1841)
- dekadrachm
- ten drachmai ("a handful of spits" standard of Greek currency)
- demokratia
- democracy or rule (kratos -- power) of the peole (demos)
- demos
- people
- despotes
- Master -- Despot
- diaulos
- a foot race equal to two lengths of the stadion ("the standing place" a linear
stadium 600 feet long)
- dike
- justice
- dolichos
- a distance race varying from place to place, generally 12 to 24 lengths
(i.e., 1.5 to 3 miles) of the stadion ("the standing place" a linear stadium 600
feet long)
- doron
- gift
- dory
- spear
- drachma
- standard of Greek currency, meaning literally "a handful of spits"
- dromos
- running place or racecourse
- dynamis/dynamikos
- power/powerful -- dynamic
- eirene
- peace
- eleutheria
- freedom
- ephebos
- 18 year-old Athenian youth in training to become a full citizen
- ephors
- Spartan officials that oversaw the public review of stripped naked boys every ten
days for signs of flabbiness or flaccidity.
- episteme
- knowledge
- eros
- love (the god of love in Greek mythology)
- ethos
- custom, character
- eu
- well (e.g., eustress -- positive form of stress that helps get things done)
- genos
- race, specie
- glykus
- sweet
- gnome
- mind, judgment
- gnosis
- knowledge (of spiritual truth)
- Gymnasiarch
- Chief official over gymnastics
- gymnasion
- place of naked people
- gymnos
- naked or bare (used for the word for the sport of gymnastics. The word gymnasium is
now used for a place of competition or high school in Europe).
- gyne
- woman
- halteres
- jumping weights
- hebe
- youth, puberty, Greek goddess of youth
- hedone
- pleasure (e.g., hedonism)
- hedys
- sweet (origin of the name "Heidi")
- hegemon
- leader (e.g., hegemony or control of one nation over others)
- hellanodikai
- Greek Olympics judges
- hellen
- Greek (language, outlook, and way of life)
- hierophantes
- Revealer of holy things; religious cult leader.
- Heílôtes (Helots)
- Slaves or serfs (in Classical Greece) under the Spartan rule
- himantes
- boxing gloves
- hippos
- horse
- hippodromos
- racecourse for horses
- historia
- knowledge gained from inquiry
- hoplite
- armed soldier
- hoplitodromos
- race in armor
- hygieine
- hygiene
- hyper
- beyond
- hypo
- under
- kardia
- heart (e.g., kardiovascular)
- keles
- horse race
- kolônos
- hill, thus "Colonos Agoraios" means "the hill next to the agora"
- kratos
- strength, power (demokratia or democracy as in "kratos" or power of
the peole or "demos")
- kritikos
- Discerning -- critic
- lampros
- bright (hence the word "lamp")
- leon
- lion
- mastigophorai
- whip-bearers (athletes and coaches that flagrantly ignored the rules could face
public flogging)
- meta
- after or with
- myein
- To close, referring to the lips and the eyes. Etymologically, the word mystery is
derived from the Greek verb myein.
- mystagogos
- The leader of the mystes (the person that initiates a new comer or mystes to a secret
cult)
- mystes
- The person that is initiated into a secret religious cult.
- Narkissos
- Self-adoring youth in Greek legend turned into a flower (narcissus). Current use in English: narcissism and narcissistic.
- Nike
- Victory; goddess of victory, daughter of Pallas and Styx in Greek religion and mythology. Nike
presided over all athletic and military contests. Pheidippides, an ancient "day-runner" ran in less
than one week 300+ miles on a very rough terrain with hardly any rest. On his last interval, Pheidippides
ran 25 miles back to Athens from Marathon to deliver the news of a Greek victory over the Persians.
Upon his arrival to Athens, according to Herodotus, he exclaimed "Nike!" and died.
- Paiderastia
- "Boylove" and Paiderastes -- "Boylover." Pederasty was a socially
accepted (Ancient Greece) erotic relationship between a paidotribe (adult male coach/techer) and a boy between the ages of 12 and 18
(Source:
www.daretospeak.net/paiderastia/pedo.html).
- paidotribe
- teacher, coach for hire (similar to the present day physical educator)
- palaestra
- a structure added to the gymnasium that served as training space for boxing and wrestling
- pale
- wrestling
- pan
- all (e.g., pan-American games)
- pankration
- an athletic event combining aspects of wrestling and boxing
- pantheon
- all the gods
- para
- beside (e.g., paramedic)
- Pedagogues
- trusted slaves that would act as tutor/guardian to their master’s young boys
- pentathlon
- five contests (discus, javelin, long jump, wrestling, and foot race)
- peplos
- a loose outer robe worn by women in ancient Greece
- periodonikes
- circuit victor
- philos
- loving, friendly, having an affinity for; "philos" or love and "sophia" or
wisdom are the Greek source for the word philosophy -- the love of wisdom.
- philosophia
- philosophy (love or affinity for wisdom)
- phobos
- fear (phobia)
- phone
- voice
- phos
- light
- poietes
- creator -- poet
- poly
- much or many
- praktike
- business (practice) -- practical
- pro
- before
- propulaia
- "entrance", or, more specifically, "what stands before the doors (pro-pulai)
- psyche
- soul
- pugme
- boxing (pugilist another English word for boxer)
- schole
- free time, discussion -- school
- sophos
- wise
- sophia
- wisdom
- stadion
- linear distance equal to 600 feet; a foot race 600 feet long; place of athletic
contests, literally "the standing place"
- tachy
- fast, quick (e.g., tachycardia or abnormal resting heart heart rate
that exceeds 100 beats per minute)
- tauros
- bull
- tauto
- the same (e.g., tautonym)
- telos
- end
- tethrippon
- four-horse chariot
- tetradrachm
- four drachmai
- thalossocracy
- Regime with a powerful navy (often mentioned in reference to Minoan culture but according to recent historians
more accurate of Ancient Greece (See WSU.EDU: Minoa History
- theos
- god
- thea
- goddess
- tyche
- fate
- tyrannos
- tyrant
- xenos
- strange, stranger (xnenophobia -- fear and hatred of anything foreign)
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Daniel Frankl, Ph.D., Professor
School of Kinesiology and Nutritional Science
California State University, Los Angeles
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90032-8162
Phone: (323) 343-4662
Fax: (323) 343-6482
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