The ''Hellanodikai'' ( grc, , literally meaning ''Judges of the Greeks''; sing. Ἑλλανοδίκας
[Pindar, Olympian 3.12]
Perseus Digital Library Project, Tufts University.) were the
judges of the
Ancient Olympic Games, and the success of the games was attributed to their efforts. It was their sacred duty to maintain the standards and legacy of the games, as well as uphold the rules.
History
One ''Hellanodikas'' was a type of Greek public official termed generally the
agonothetes
In ancient Greece, an ''agonothetes'' (plural '; grc, ἀγωνοθέτης) was the president or superintendent of one of the sacred Panhellenic Games. At first the person who instituted the games and defrayed the expenses was the ''agonothetes'' ...
(English transliteration), grc, , ''Agōnothetai'', meaning ''game organisers''), magistrates chosen specifically for the purpose of establishing and maintaining public games. The method of selection depended on the type of government of the founding state. Different states might give particular names to the agonothetes of particular games; for example, the agonothetes of the Pythian games at Athens were called athlothetes. As Athens was a democracy, they were democratically elected. The origin of the agonothetes of the Olympic games is lost in prehistory. The legendary Hercules, founder of the games in Doric legend, would have been the first legendary agonothete. However that may be, the agonothetes of the historical Olympic games were the Hellanodikai. Originally, perhaps, if only in legend, there may have been only one ''Hellanodikas'', but this expanded, reaching as high as twelve members and then settling on ten in 348 BC. They supervised individual events, with a senior ''Hellanodikas'' as an overseer.
Selection and Training
''Hellanodikai'' were handpicked from people living in the region of
Elis
Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...
, as Elis was responsible for the running of the Olympics. Originally the post was
hereditary, but this was changed, and an Elean from each of the ruling families were elected as a ''Hellanodikas''. Their post only lasted for one
Olympiad
An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games.
Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...
, and
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
took place for each of the subsequent games.
In the ten months preceding the games, the ''Hellanodikai'' lived in a specially made building in Elis, called the ''Hellanodikaion''. This building was close to the
gymnasiums where the
athletes trained in preparation for the games. While staying at the ''Hellanodikaion'', they were trained by the ''nomophylakes'' (νομοφύλακες, meaning 'guardians of the law') in the rules and regulations of the olympic games.
Function
Judgement
The ''Hellanodikai'' were renowned for their fairness, and the public held them in high regard. While bribery and cheating among the athletes was commonplace, there was only one recorded case of corruption among the judges, where a ''Hellanodikas'' won two
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
events. To remain impartial, the ''Hellanodikai'' were no longer allowed to participate in the games, and this remained the only blemish on their otherwise impeccable record.
Another task for the ''Hellanodikai'' was to supervise the training of the athletes, where they selected those who were well trained, rejecting those who were not performing at a satisfactory level. The trainers for the individual athletes had to be present, but could not intervene or they were punished accordingly. They evaluated each athlete on behaviour, character and morality, as well as the more standard attributes such as power, stamina, and resistance. Those that were approved were entered into a special list called the ''leukoma'' (λεύκωμα).
Ritual
Besides being judges and
umpire
An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection.
The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...
s, the ''Hellanodikai'' also were the general organisers, and were present at every
ceremony and event that took place, having the honour of presenting the crowns and palm branches to the winners. They were also expected to police the games.
Two days before the games, the athletes who were eligible left Elis for
Olympia, in a procession led by the Hellanodikai.
References
External links
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Ancient Olympic Games
Ancient Greek titles