At the first Olympic Games back in 776 BCE, competitors did not receive medals. Instead the top athletes were crowned with wreaths made of olive leaves. This tradition continued until Roman emperor Theodosius I (or perhaps his son) abolished the Olympics around the year 400 CE. The revival of the Olympics dates from the late 19th century, with the first modern Games taking place in 1896. The awarding of medals arose around this time as well, though its roots lie in ancient Greek mythology.
The materials gold, silver, and bronze play a major role in the Ages of Man, which form the basic timeline of Greek mythology. The Golden Age refers to a time when men lived among the gods in peace and harmony. The Silver Age is characterized by impiety and human weakness, and in this time, youth lasted 100 years. The Bronze Age marks a period of war and violence. Following these ages are the Heroic Age (the time when the heros of the Trojan War lived) and the Iron Age (modern times). The Greek poet Hesiod includes all five ages in his famous didactic poem Works and Days, written around 700 BCE. However Ovid’s Metamorphoses, written around 8 CE, omits the Heroic Age.
Gold has long been thought to be a precious metal thanks to its scarcity and its luminous color. In his play Plutus, first produced in 408 BCE, comic playwright Aristophanes jokingly suggests that the winners of the Olympics would receive gold as their prize, if only Zeus weren’t so poor:
Why, Zeus is poor, and I will clearly prove it to you. In the Olympic games, which he founded, and to which he convokes the whole of Greece every four years, why does he only crown the victorious athletes with wild olive? If he were rich he would give them gold.
Perhaps this humorous passage, or others like it, inspired the fathers of the modern Olympic Games to present gold to the top athletes, though the implementation of this coveted prize didn’t happen right away. At the first modern Olympic Games, which took place in Athens in 1896, winners received silver medals and olive branches (there wasn’t enough money to mint gold ones), and the runners-up received bronze medals. The second modern Games took place in Paris in 1900, and winners actually received valuable paintings and works of art rather than gold medals. Four years later in St. Louis, the first-, second-, and third-place athletes were awarded the gold, silver, and bronze medals. The tradition of awarding solid-gold medals to champions was short lived, ending after the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. The gold medals of today are mostly silver and are gilt with six grams of gold.
In the 18th century, the term medal was widely used to refer to an award of recognition, though back then medals were not strictly associated with athletic pursuits. While the Olympics were not the first event to feature gold, silver, and bronze medals, this worldwide sports competition is certainly the most famous event that awards these prizes to date.
66 Comments
Bruh
That you are the best of the best
O
sneaky beaky like
Atheist for sure!!!
Can’t remember the philosopher, but he created the buoyancy test to see if the King’s Crown was made of real gold or plated!!!… interesting fact I thought I’d share!!!
No. The majority of academia uses CE. Especially Jews, Muslims, Hindi, Buddhists, etc.
Of course,ALLL BUT the Christians will jump ship to try to marginalize the over-arching influence of Christendom on Western Civilization and the culture.
Since this terminology along with the more proper A.D. & B.C. has been easily accepted in modernizing our calendar used worldwide was chosen by a Catholic Pope, why do we have to shoehorn in a look-alike set of terms. They appeal to the same event, the birth of the World’s Savior.
“Common Era”? Common among whom? What changed in the Buddhist world making the work of the calendar now to have a commonality with Buddhism? Any ideas?
Let’s try the Hindus. I don’t know of a single argument to answer the question.
I’m guessing it was just the Jews who started it; so they could use a western calendar and not have to say the name of the Savior, Jesus. Similar to their aversion to saying the name of Deity they were given in their own Scriptures to use. Jews also use the Hebrew for, “The Name,” “Hashem,” to avoid saying G-d’s name in that way as well.
Archimedes is the one you meant, I believe. He found out the principle of buoyancy.
The Principle of Buoyancy or Principle of (Water) Displacement.
I HATEBTHE OLIMPICS
You are being rude to the people that do. ISAIAH.
He is being a lot less rude than the Christians who insist the the majority of the planet (the non-Christians) refer to dates using the archaic Christian terms BC and AD.
ma’am, i don’t appreciate how you seem to think that all christians are like this.
1)B.C.–Before Christ. Ex.:”That event was in 15 B.C.”
A.D.–Anno Domini (fr. Latin, “In the year of our Lord.”*
Ex.:”Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70.”
*–It would sound awkward in English to say, “Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 in the year of our Lord.”
2)NAME CALLING–”archaic” It is still used today. How can you call it, “Archaic”?
3)”INSIST”–It is a Christian-created calendar. (Don’t forget Pope Gregory is referenced as the creator of the calendar.) Are you offended that the Muslims “force” us to say, “Hijab”. How offensive to us Christians who simply call it a mask. Hope I got the correct Muslim woman’s accessory.
Are you on the other side of the fence now?
Yeah
ME TOO(Just kidding)
We didn’t ask.
I want to learn words every
@Anthony A:
CE stands for Common Era (or sometimes Christian Era), and BCE stands for Before the Common (or Christian) Era. As Jim said, it’s “politically correct garbage…thought up so one or two out there won’t get their noses bent out of joint;” no matter what your religion or lack thereof, Jesus Christ was – and still is – real.
While I am not disputing your claim on the reality of Jesus, most academic use CE because it is offensive to the 70% of the planet who are Buddhists, Hindi, Muslim, Jewish, and other Non-Christian faiths.
Hindi is a language, Alana
And a culture.
What does BCE & CE mean ?
It’s the atheists’ version of Before Christ (BC) and After Death (AD).
BCE is Before Common Era, CE is Common Era.
It’s not only a more ‘politically correct’ way to say it, it’s also a way for people to avoid having to talk about God if they don’t want to.
You know, that religious freedom that we’re supposed to have, but people don’t like to respect, because of tradition and xenophobia.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but AD does not mean After Death, it means Anno Domini, meaning The Year Of Our Lord in Latin.
Just wanted to add this in. I also though that it was BC (Before Christ) and AD (After Death), but its BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini). Anno Domini is Medieval Latin for ‘The year of our Lord.”
yes that is correct. I take Latin.
The term “Common Era” was originally used in the 17th century by European Christians! It started being used in academia in the mid-19th century by Jews and is now used by the MAJORITY of academics (including biblical scholars) regardless of their faith. This allows non-Christians the religious freedom of not having to refer to dates in a Christian manner.
Religious freedom means that people do not have to follow the laws and traditions of religions other than their own. So Christians do not have to fast for a month during Ramadan, Muslims do not have to keep the Passover kosher food laws, and Jews do not have to go to church of Christmas and Easter. Christians also do not have to keep all 613 of the Lord’s commandments in the the Old Testament.
The use of “Common Era” was a Christian invention and the abbreviation “CE” was introduced by Jewish scholars over 150 years ago. Most academics use it now because “AD” is offensive to the approximately 70% of the world population that are not Christian.
From Wikipedia:
The expression “Common Era” can be found as early as 1708 in English,[7] and traced back to Latin usage among European Christians to 1615, as vulgaris aerae,[8] and to 1635 in English as Vulgar Era.[c] At those times, the expressions were all used interchangeably with “Christian Era”.
Use of the CE abbreviation was introduced by Jewish academics in the mid-19th century. Since the later 20th century, use of CE and BCE has been popularized in academic and scientific publications and more generally by authors and publishers wishing to emphasize secularism or sensitivity to non-Christians, because it does not explicitly make use of religious titles for Jesus, such as “Christ” and Dominus (“Lord”), which are used in the BC/AD notation, nor does it give implicit expression to the Christian creed that Jesus is the Christ.[9][10][11]
BCE= Before the Common Era
CE= Common Era
not to be confused with the christian terms
BC= Before Christ
and
AD: After Death
1)B.C.–Before Christ. Ex.:”That event was in 15 B.C.”
A.D.–Anno Domini (fr. Latin, “In the year of our Lord.”*
Ex.:”Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70.”
*–It would sound awkward in English to say, “Jerusalem was destroyed in seventy in the year of our Lord.”
HINT:Check some old awards or certificates.
I completely agree with Jim. It is The Year of Our Lord – Anno Domini/A.D., with BC (Before Christ) not this ridiculous CE (and the corresponding BCE) garbage.
The use of BCE/CE is not garbage! Most academics use it because it is offensive to the 70% of the planet who are Buddhists, Hindi, Muslim, Jewish, and other Non-Christian faiths.
For the first time I have ever heard of such an explanation about CE and BCE. I’ve been to the Middle East and everybody there as well uses BC and AD without taking offense of any sort. Its just a calendar, nothing more nothing less. CE and BCE is for the people trying to sound ultra-modern and end up sounding more hermaphroditic (gay) in the process.
I don’t see why people are judging those who choose to use BC/AD or BCE/CE. Who the heck cares? Use whatever you feel comfortable with and if you have to explain it to others, then do it! I get having strong opionions on things, but something like this doesn’t matter. Unless your an academic or historian or someone who has to follow standardized language, call it whatever you want. There are so many better things to be offended about than if our era notation refers to the Christian God or not.
For instance – the belief that hermaphorodite = gay. (Which is does NOT). Get bent, people.
i agree with you, but i don’t agree with the way you say it. you are basically bashing other people’s beliefs. instead, you should respect them.
Jim well said. I completely agree with you. I also support the riddance of CE, for AD. AD means Anno Domini, The year of our Lord.
Jesus is only the Lord of the 30% of people who happen to be – or claim that they are – Christian. Buddhists, Hindi, Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians (the 70% majority of the planet) do not recognize Jesus as divine.
Muslims and Jews recognise Jesus as a prophet and hence divine. Hindis are not a thing.
@anonymous:
Yep, I’m at iron ore now! Gotta love those cave systems…
You play Minecraft?
To H112233
Silver will not be entirely out because it is still an object in the cycle of exchange, meaning people will eventually melt down some silver, such as in silverware or broken machines, to be reused for other creations.
1) Silver won’t be gone because it is still being made in nucleosynthesis
2) IF and I say somehow IF the silver was suddenly gone, humans will just go to the next big thing, such as platinum, and if that’s all gone, the next thing, et cetera. Human, me included, go for the shiny and/or rare items that are known to man. Silver has not as much use (no offense ladies) as something such as oil or something. Trust me, if silver was gone, the world won’t end.
What is with the PC thing of “BCE”? The article was interesting, but it was like you were trying hard to say “BCE” and “CE” to where you were overcompensating. Let B.C. be B.C. and A.D. be A.D. America tried to change it, it didn’t stick. Reminds me of trying to change standard/english to metric. Sure, it makes sense, but we will keep doing what we do and no harm/no foul.
Just because BC and AD are more commonly used in informal English doesn’t mean they should discontinue the use of the more appropriate words. Don’t try to fault them for it, especially since it really doesn’t make a difference. If you know what BCE and CE means, you can’t complain about them using it.
I don’t think that is correct!
Then you would be in error.
Since this is an academic article, the terms BCE and CE were used. The huge majority of academics (including biblical scholars) use this term because only about 30% of the Earth’s population is Christian. It is demeaning to non-Christians to force them to use christian terminology.
Great info, as always. But let’s get rid of that idiotic BCE garbage. It’s BC. No, I’m not a very religious person, but for centuries we’ve used Before Christ as a kind of marker for historical times. There’s no good reason at all to change this. It doesn’t matter if you’re an atheist, a Muslim, Catholic, whatever, this BCE is politically correct garbage. Jesus was a real and very important historical person, no matter what your religion or lack of. “BCE”…sounds like some childish fool thought that up just so one or two out there won’t get their nose bent out of joint.
Totally agree.! How come what I think doesn’t count? I didn’t ask for or agree BCE and the other garbage but I must have it rammed down my throat. How come when I get upset about things, nobody pays attention. May be will boycott Dictionary.com until they grow-up.
“Common Era has been in use for over 300 years and was first coind by Christians.The perfectly good reason to change to BCE/CE: it is disparaging to the nearly 70% of people who are not Christian.
While I do not argue that Jesus wasn’t real, I maintain that there are other historical figures who were more important (either for good or bad) that Jesus was, like Hitler who exterminated over 6 million people and dramatically altered the course of Europe, or Christopher Columbus who found the New World (which led to a fresh start to Europeans facing religious prejudice but also contributed to the deaths of the majority of the native population in N and S America).
Contributed? More like had a direct role…
The only reason I don’t agree with the usage of BCE/CE is bc it still uses the same time frame, still centers around Christ. Nothing changes, and there’s no logical point in it…
Also, to say that there were more important people than Christ e.g. Hitler and Columbus, especially these two peoople, is arguable. Christ has a significant role in shaping this world, for better or worse- same as those other two, perhaps arguably more so.
@wolf tamer and coal miner
The games are in Sochi, and as for you bob, it’s with a ch.
@H112233
I agree. This year, they are also making the largest and thickest medals ever (10 cm wide and 1 cm thick). The gold medals weigh slightly more than the silver and bronze, mainly because of the gold plating.
Also, wolf tamer and coal miner, are you at iron ore yet?
GOLD is for: goldfish on long doors
SILVER is for: soup in long vases every round
BRONZE is for: big red oval neon zebra elephants
GSB is for: gold sucks badly
SBG is for:silver beats gold
BGS is for: bronze gives shivers
So out of these 3,I would say the best prize but most scary is bronze.
SOCHI:See ozone clearly here, indoors?
OLYMPICS:Oh…loopy,yucky,milky poison is carried somewhere
SEEYA:submitting everyone’s every yellow award
777:a young virus.
While ancient Olympic winners were only given laurel wreaths at the ceremonies, wealthy merchants often presented them with massive amphoras (ceramic containers) of olive oil. The capacity of a single terra cotta amphora held approximately US1,000 worth of oil. Some individual Olympic champions received as many as one hundred amphoras (or “amphorae”), which they then sold. Aristophanes probably was well aware of all this commercialism, but it didn’t fit into his play.
Interesting. Thanks!
olymics- soji
the winter Olympic games are being held in Soji Russia
they could start giving them something else
bronze > a lot of candy
silver > yeartime supply of klondike bars
gold> lifetime supply of sausage gravy
[...] the 1900 Paris Olympics, the winners received valuable works of art instead of gold [...]
If you guys make a big deal that the “gold medals” have more silver than gold, think of it this way:
We can’t keep our natural resources forever. Soon, silver will be gone, then what? If gold medals were completely gold, boy would they be expensive. If the the medals have silver in them, what’s wrong with silver? It’s pretty.
What about The Wenlock Olympian Games? Widely regarded as the forerunner to the modern olympic movement, even serving as the inspiration for it.
“Baron Pierre de Coubertin visited the Olympian Society in 1890, which held a special festival in his honour. He was inspired by Dr Brookes and went on to establish the International Olympic Committee.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenlock_Olympian_Games
“On his return to France, Coubertin gave a glowing account of his stay in an article, “Les Jeux Olympiques à Much Wenlock”, and referred to his host’s efforts to revive the Olympics. He wrote : “If the Olympic Games that Modern Greece has not yet been able to revive still survives there today, it is due, not to a Greek, but to Dr W P Brookes”. Although Coubertin later sought to downplay Brookes’s influence, he corresponded with him for several years and sent him a golden medal (made of silver) in 1891 to be presented to the winner of the Tilting Competition.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penny_Brookes
You maybe also forget the role that Demetrius Vikelas played in the organization of modern Olympics. Because a dream is better when someone helps you to make it real
1st comment!
The Winter Games are this year, right? Can anyone tell me where they’re being held?
Hmmm…less gold in a gold medal than I thought. I wonder what Aristophanes would say if he knew Olympic winners won gold medals today?
Ms. Solomon, I believe you meant “a precious _metal_,” not “a precious _medal_.” Not to be a Grammar Nazi, but this is a dictionary, after all!
yep i know… Sochi
very informative
THIS IS a very useful page.
Helped a lot.