Centuries in
the past, life was often brutal and short. In hard times, efforts concentrated
on survival; the struggle for food and shelter sometimes took all the energy
that people had. But not always. Sometimes there was time for play, time to run
and dance, time to show off physical prowess.
Was this a
way to attract members of the opposite sex? Maybe that was part of it but
religion also played a part. In Mesoamerica playing the game of ball was an act
that related to their mythology. In some cases, this could be taken to extremes
with the losing team’s captain, or even the whole team, being sacrificed at the
end of the game. There’s winning incentive for you.
The Olympic
Games in Ancient Greece also had a religious background. The city states
competed with each other to honour Zeus and the origin of the games was
attributed to the gods.
In the
western world religion also played a part in the sporting calendar. In Britain,
the medieval sporting year began at the time of the spring fertility rituals
and games were played on holy days, which were the only times that most people
were free from work. Some activities like animal baiting are associated with
the period, but others that were popular in medieval times are still around
today. Think of bowls, wrestling, tug-of-war, football and tennis. Many other
sports have their original far in the past as well. These include ball games
similar to those of the Maya and traditional Olympic games such as discus
throwing, running and chariot racing.
Sources
Brailsford,
Dennis. British Sport: A Social History, The
Lutterworth Press, Cambridge, 1992.
The Ball Game of Mesoamerica http://www.ancient.eu/article/604/
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