Distribution of prizes for second and third place in the Olympics - Herod's idea

Over the course of hundreds of years, a wreath of olive leaves was given only to the winners of the Olympic sports, who also received considerable funding from the cities that represented, until about a decade before the end of the first century BC, King Herod held games similar to the Olympic Games to inaugurate the sports facilities he built in the new city and there he instituted the consolation prizes, and from there It carried over to the original Olympic Games and was adopted by the re-inventor of the Games - Pierre de Coubertin

Almost every sports competition - local, regional, national, international and certainly Olympic - crowns its winners with a ranking between first and third place in the various medals, sometimes, each other in their metallic context of course.

If we asked ourselves - why? How does that happen? Where did it come from? Well, here we have the answer, interesting and no less surprising. This did not happen in ancient Greece. Not in the Olympic games, not in the Pythian games at Delphi, not in the Nemaean games, not in the Corinthian contests in Isemia, and not in the ancient Pan-Athenian contests. The basic starting point of the physical/spiritual essence in ancient Greek sports, that in competition there is only one winner. And it makes a lot of sense if we look at it from an intrusive and comprehensive perspective. This deep consciousness was immortalized in various historical and essential circumstances and occupied an honorable place in the concept of Greek philosophy. Greek society, elitist and the accumulation of assets, was built on personal mistakes on the one hand and contribution to the community/police on the other. She appreciated very much the sweaty contestants who were tired of training and for some reason did not manage to stand on the winners' podium. However, she also knew that in the competition there is and must be only one winner.

Moreover, the winner, as mentioned the one and only, was decorated in the presence of an entire and emotional public, with a wreath woven from the olive branches in Olympia, from the laurel branches in Delpoi, from carob, from ivy and more. The branches of the braided wreath might have wilted and crumbled in a matter of days, so what was the point in giving such a short-lived reward. The idea behind such a "ridiculous" giving was rather significant, namely that the competitors would not rest on their "laurel wreath" in the literal sense of the word. Rather, they should train and sweat hard for the next competitions and sports meetings. This was also a proof of the classical Greek integration, as is evident in many other fields, between the individual and the general and nature, as in nature, sacred powers are stored.

However, Bell fell into naivety. A Greek athlete who won the competition won a lot of financial support from the city, the Polis, which he represented. This is a concern for all of his lack and beyond in order for her to represent in the following competitions.

And more in the same matter, at the entrance to the "Olympic Village" an eye-opening inscription was emblazoned as follows: "Not with the power of money but with the strength of the body and the speed of the feet do you win in the Olympia." This sounds like a leap from the depths of sports fairness, but the address hinted that quite a few athletes were punished for bribing judges and generally came from a high socio-economic background that creates a clear differentiation between athlete and athlete, and the competitions were meant to draw a line of equality between the classes and at least encourage the appearance of less able athletes.

The punishments imposed on the Spartans for bribing officials, harming the purity of morals and even the sanctity of the competitions, consisted of heavy fines that financed the purchase of golden statuettes of the god Zeus (which were called "Zanas" - the cock in Kametz and the new in Zira). These were put on display at the Olympics and engraved with the athlete's name, the offense he was convicted of and when - in which Olympics. And at the ancient Olympic site there were dozens of such.

And we remained in the pursuit of reaching a solution to the question presented above - when, why and by whom were three "medals" offered for the first time.

King Herod was responsible for this. Hela inaugurated the buildings in the city of Jerusalem, which included the temple on the one hand and the sports facilities on the other, in 28 BC. And on the occasion of the inauguration of the city, Olympic-style competitions were held with a touch of Roman sports. His motives were personal political, economic and even purely sporting. These games were supposed to be held in the city of Jerusalem once every four years.

About 16 years later, Herod inaugurated the city building of Caesarea Maritima (until then it was a kind of fishing village called "Stratonis Pyrgos" - "Migdal Charshon" in our sources), its buildings, the ant and the sports facilities. Was it as a result of drawing a lesson regarding some minority of athletes in the Jerusalem games, or simply to increase the number of athletes who would come to the competitions in Caesarea, even for economic and prestigious motives, Herod acted as follows: "Herod even instituted games (athletic competitions) that took place (in Caesarea Maritima) every four years (that is Olympic style) and named them after the emperor (Augustus). And he himself inaugurated the competitions in the 192nd Olympiad (that is, between the years 12 and 9 BC), and distributed (for the first time) valuable prizes not only to the winners of the first place (but) also to the winners of the second and third places" (Yosef ben Matathiu, Wars of the Jews A. 415, XNUMX).

Here we have the solution to the question: who determined the procedure, when and why? It was King Herod. And the motive? To attract as many athletes as possible to the Caesarea Games, the quasi-Olympic games once every four years.

The ancient Olympic Games were finally concluded in 393 AD after 292 Olympiads. And this by the decree of the Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius II/III (and there is a chronological dispute about this) due to their connection to idolatry and the bitter fate of Christians who were thrown into the Roman kirkos, prey to wild beasts.

The Olympic Games will resume in 1896, the result of the initiative of the French nobleman Pierre de Coubertin, who wanted to preserve quite a few of the ancient Olympic Games, such as emphasizing the peace sign and determining the host city and not the country as an expression of cosmopolitanism, the restoration of the ancient Greek stadium, discus throwing in the ancient style, the absence of team games (in particular for the gymnastic exercises) the lack of participation of women and... the prize for the one and only winner - a wreath braided from the branches of the olive tree (the tree sacred at the time to Zeus).

And what about the medals? Gold, silver and bronze medals were already distributed in the first renewed Olympics hosted by Athens. Whether Pierre de Coubertin knew who was the first to choose to award prizes to the second and third places as well, we do not know. In any case, Joseph's testimony immortalized the "winner".