CopperMuscle the current blind fly

From the above detailed presentation of the games of the Ancient Greeks, we can all see that the most games are played today in the same format or with some variations developed in the passage of years. Let us not forget that children have always the same needs.

Athletic competition and physical activity have been a way of life for the ancient Greeks since prehistoric times. We find the first sports events in Minoan Crete connected with religious ceremonies. In Mycenaean Greece, sports were an integral part of funerals in honor of the dead. In the "Sports on Patroclus" of the Iliad, the funeral ceremony of Patroclus includes competitions such as chariot racing, boxing, wrestling, road, arm wrestling, discus throwing, archery and javelin throwing.

The Odyssey describes "hospitality" games with an entertaining character and without prizes. The only reward for the winners in the Odyssey was the joy of victory. In the Homeric Epics there are also references to militant activities that were part of daily life and military preparation.

POLIS

From the 8th century BC, the emergence of the first city-states also influenced the development of sports. Various education systems were developed in each city-state that included gymnastics, music, writing and reading. The training of young people was aimed at helping them to develop both their body and mind and to achieve harmony. Exercise was accompanied by music. Music, dance and sports helped to achieve a harmonious balance of body and mind. From the 6th century BC. Gymnasiums were established and physical exercise was introduced as a means of education. There was no city in ancient Greece without a high school, a place dedicated exclusively to the physical exercise of citizens and a settlement without a palaestra.

SPARTA

Physical exercise was the most important element in the education of the youth of Sparta. The Spartan system placed more emphasis on strengthening the body and less on cultivating the spirit. Spartans of both sexes exercised daily to keep their bodies strong and healthy. Various races, horseback riding, swimming in the river Evrotas, as well as ball games, were daily in the program. The exercise program became more difficult at older ages and included road, wrestling, javelin, throwing various objects, pancratium, wildlife hunting, horseback riding, boxing and archery. It seems that the most beloved sports of the Spartans were boxing and pancratium.

The educational system of the young people of Sparta was criticized by great philosophers of antiquity such as Plato and Aristotle, because of the one-sidedness that characterized it, with its exclusive orientation to physical training and war preparation. However, despite the disadvantages of the system of education applied by the Spartans with the hard training of their youth, the philosophers themselves acknowledged the importance of this system of physical education, as it had succeeded in instilling in young people great virtues such as discipline and courage. In contrast to Sparta, in Athens education meant the harmonious development of body and mind. Letters, music and