ISTHMIA PANHELLENIC GAMES

The Isthmian Games or Isthmia were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece and were named after the isthmus of Corinth where they were held. Both the Isthmian and Nemean Games were held the year before and the year after the Olympic Games (the second and fourth years of an Olympiad), while the Pythian Games of Delphi were held in the third year of the Olympiad cycle.

The Games were reputed to have originated as funeral games for Mericertes . Theseus, legendary king of Athens, expanded these funeral games from a closed nightly rite into fully-fledged athletic-games event, dedicated to Poseidon. Open to all Greeks, was at a suitable level of advancement and popularity to rival those in Olympia, which were founded by Heracles. Theseus arranged with the Corinthians, the Athenian visitors to the Isthmian games to be granted the privilege of front seats.

At least until the 5th century BC the winners of the Isthmian games received a wreath of wild celery; later, it was altered to pine leaves’ wreath. Victors could also be honored with a statue or an ode. Besides these prizes of honor, the city of Athens awarded victorious Athenians with an extra 100 drachmas. From 228 BC or 229 BC onwards the Romans were allowed to take part in the games.

The Games were always under the ownership of Corinth, apart a rather small period during the Roman empire after which, they flourished until Theodosius I suppressed them as a pagan ritual

Before the games began, a truce was declared by Corinth to grant athletes safe passage through Greece. In 412 BC, even though Athens and Corinth were at war, the Athenians were invited to the games as usual.