DISCOVERING THE ANCIENT PENTATHLON THROUGH A PROJECT

19th International CESH Congress, Florence (It), 2015

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1. G. Raptis, University of Western Macedonia, gioraptis@sch.gr 2. G. Delimpanidou, University of Ioannina 3. Z. Raptis, University of Thrace 4. P. Raptis, University of Cyprus & 5. A. Tsapakidou, University of Western Macedonia.

Edessa

We come from….

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The presentation .... will guide us to the magic

world of the ancient pentathlon …

… with the help of seven 11year-old pupils ….

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.. of a Greek Primary School .. (Apsalos Primary school)

.. who took part in a three-month project. 4

Aim of the project

• To help students learn about the

ancient pentathlon in an experiential way (learning by doing).

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MethodologyStarting Point: Τhe journey started when the pupils examined two Olympic torches, • A reproduction of an ancient torch & • An original one from the Olympic Games of Athens 2004.

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The pupils were asked: ‘’Οlympic torch, Athens 2004: what does it look

like?’’

They thought, looked up and discovered: it looks like a leaf from an olive tree! The holy tree of ancient Greeks.

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• They worked in groups, designed learning units, looked up historical sources, observed, benefited from their mistakes, going through the

following stages:

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Stages• 1. They investigated their prior

knowledge. They made use of written sources, photographs, laptops, tablets, projector, camera and videos on the internet.

• 2. They recorded their experiences, thoughts and propositions.

• 3. They implemented the new knowledge by training in the events of the ancient pentathlon.

• 4. They re-enacted the event with the help of ‘ancient’ olympic instruments -dumbells, javelin with α loop, discus from a plinth e.t.c.-. 9

.. when looking up for information, the pupils were led to discover clues (of

the ancient Olympic events and finally of the pentathlon).

At a certain point …

Νike of Samothrace10

Finally...

• … through talking and experiencing they discovered

that they became richer in knowledge as they had learned the following…

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The ancient pentathlon

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Pent athlon:

A combination of the words pente (five) + athlos (sport)

https://el.wikipedia.org

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• The roots of the pentatlon rest in mythology and its birth place

is Lemnos. • It first appeared in the 18th

Olympiad in 708 B.C.

• According to mythology, it was invented by Jason.

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A complex sportThere were two types of

events: Light and Heavy.

Light: long jump, running (stadion) and javelin.

Heavy: discus and wrestling. 15

What was the order of the events?

• The order of the events has been under question

and has caused controversy among

historians and scholars.

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• It probably began with the long jump…

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.. continued with discus, running, javelin ..

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• .. and ended with wrestling, which

appointed the final victor.

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Long jump • In Olympia, it took place in the stadium, in a pit 16m. long, full of soft soil.

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•After the jump, a ‘point’ was placed on the trace that the athlete’s feet left on the soil.

Then his record was measured with a wooden stick called ‘the canon’.

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• The jump was always in length, probably simple.

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Music was played during the event to provide rhythm to the jumper.

• The athletes used the Halteres.•  Those found weighed approximately 1,5 – 4,5

kilos

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Discus throw was introduced in the Olympics of 632 B.C. and was always part of the

ancient pentathlon.

Discus throw

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• They pinpointed the performance with nails or

sticks called ‘semeia’ (points). Then they measured the length

of the throw with a stick or a rope.

• The athletes used the same discus in the Games.

The records of the discus throwers.

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The discus

• It was round, made of stone and later of copper, lead or

iron. • The illustrations on the amphorae & the statues show that they used the

same technique as today.

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Running

• The oldest and most important event of the Olympic Games.

• Inventors of the event: different mythical figures like Hercules. • The runners used to run

barefoot. They used to wear a girdle which was later abolished.

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The ‘stadion’

• Sprint event of the length of a stadium (it corresponds to the

modern event of 200m).• The victor of the stadion race gave its name to the Olympiad.

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Javelin throw

• It comes from warfare and hunting.

• There were two types: ekivolos (throw in length – event of the pentathlon) & stohastikos

(aim towards a target).

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The javelin• It was a wooden pole about 1,5-2m

long, with a pointed end. • A leather strap, called ‘angili’

formed a loop at the centre of gravity of the javelin, where the athlete placed his index and middle fingers to perform the throw.

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Wrestling• A very popular event in Greece. • Inventor of the event: Theseus

& Hercules.

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Types of wrestling• The upright wrestling & the ground

wrestling.

The upright wrestling: the victor was the one who would throw down his opponent for three times

(τριακτήρ). 36

• Ground Wrestling: after the fall the fight continued until one of the two opponents accepted to surrender, in other words perform the ‘apagorevein’ (he raised one or two fingers).

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• The wrestlers competed naked, with their bodies covered in oil, in a pit.

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• One of the most famous wrestlers, Milo of Kroton (he won five times in Olympia, seven in Pythea, nine in Nemea, and ten in Isthmia).

Training: rule of progressive overload.

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How was the victor appointed?

• It remains unanswered.

• It seems almost impossible for an athlete to win in all five events.

• Supposition: in order to win, it was enough for an athlete to be first in three of the five events (one of the three should be wrestling).

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What did the pupils ‘win’?

• They developed kinetic abilities, they used New Technologies during the

P.E. class, they cultivated their imagination and

ingenuity.41

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The jump in the ancient pentathlon & the students. 2.800 years later. 776 B.C. - 2016 A.D.

Has anything changed?

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It is shown that …• the pupils discovered an

ancient event, they learned, they tried and they felt

happiness and joy, as we can detect in the words of a girl student who exclaimed:

‘’Sir, for a moment I thought I was flying!’’.

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The students presented the pentathlon events in a teachers’ meeting (Edessa, 31-3-2015),

where they enacted images of the book ‘Once upon a time in Olympia ..’ (Raptis-

Delimpanidou, 2002).

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They also took part in the ‘Olympic Day’ in Edessa, 5/5/2015.

Κωνσταντίνος, Σοφοκλής, Δημήτριος, Χριστόφορος, Κυριάκος, Ηλιάνα, Χριστίνα.Κος Ιωάννης Κοροσίδης

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Happy moments after the events.

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And happy moments of their P.E. teacher in the place where sport was born: Ancient

Olympia, stadium.

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Thanks a lot!