History of the Olympic Games Museum

After visiting the site of Olympia, we went to three different museums in the city. One of them was the History of the Olympic Games Museum. I found it quite interesting as I was exposed to many facts I hadn't known.

 The race in armor was a sprint in which the runners had to wear a helmet and greaves and carried a shield as they completed two or sometimes four lengths of the stadium. The greaves were abandoned in the 5th century BCE and the helmet in the 4th, after which runners held only the heavy shield made of wood sheathed with bronze.

Armor for Running Event.

Armor for Running Event.

Chariot Wheel.

Figurines of Horses and Bulls

Runners on Pots.

Bronze rings with Sphinxes and Deities.

After men would workout or compete, they would use a strigil to scrape off the sweat and oil and collect it in pots for sale due to its supposed medicinal qualities. 

Strigil Use in Grave Stelae.

Strigils

Women were forbidden from competing in the Olympic Games and even from entering the stadium to watch the events (as I had said in my Olympia post). At this museum I also found out that the punishment for breaking this prohibition was that the woman would be cast down from Mount Typaion.