Olympic winners of the Archaic period

Ancient Olympia
Event	Ancient Olympic Games
Subject	Ancient Olympic winners
Catalog of the Archaic period
Period	776 BC to 480 BC
Previous	no data available
Next	Classical period

Just how far back in history organized athletic contests were held remains a matter of debate, but it is reasonably certain that they occurred in Greece almost 3,000 years ago. However ancient in origin, by the end of the 6th century BC at least four Greek sporting festivals, sometimes called "classical games," had achieved major importance: the Olympic Games, held at Olympia; the Pythian Games at Delphi; the Nemean Games at Nemea; and the Isthmian Games, held near Corinth.[1] The Olympic Games were perhaps the greatest of these sporting events, and all Olympian victors were highly appreciated among the Greeks.

History

The sophist Hippias of Elis was the first who drew up the list of Olympians in his work "Olympians inscription", based perhaps on the records of Olympia, and the oral tradition memories of the older Olympiads were still live in Olympia. Conventional beginning was considered the Olympiad of 776 BC, when Coroebus of Elis win the foot race named stadion. The work of Hippias revised and continued in the 4th century BC by Aristotle, later by Eratosthenes, then by Phlegon of Tralles (Seleucia of Caria) and many others. Thus formed a kind of Olympians' chronicle, which was already in 3rd century BC the base of the ancient dating system.[note 1] Than younger tables survives complete the list of stadion winners by Sextus Julius Africanus (for the first 249 Olympiads), which included in a book by Eusebius of Caesarea.[2][3]

List of Olympic winners in the Archaic period

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 222

The table below is an attempt to give a list (as complete as possible) of Olympic winners in the Archaic period (776 BC to 480 BC) combining all surviving sources. The work is based on records in the surviving historical and literary sources, race inscriptions, the texts of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, the testimony of Pausanias and the list of Sextus Julius Africanus. The first column shows the serial number of any Olympiad, the second column the same date, the third column contains the game and the fourth column lists the name and origin of the winner, or marked with [...] if the element is not readable on the papyrus and giving whenever possible a version of what could contain when an investigation exists over this element.[2][3][4][5]

Olympiad	Year	Game	Winner	Sources
001st	776 BC	Stadion	Coroebus of Elis	[2][3][4][5]
002nd	772 BC	Stadion	Antimachus of Elis (or of Dyspontium)	[2][3][4][5]
003rd	768 BC	Stadion	Androcles of Messenia (or Androclos)	[2][3][4][5]
004th	764 BC	Stadion	Polychares of Messenia	[2][3][4][5]
005th	760 BC	Stadion	Aeschines of Elis	[2][3][4][5]
006th	756 BC	Stadion	Oebotas of Dyme (or Oebolas)	[2][3][4][5]
007th	752 BC	Stadion	Diocles of Messenia (or Daicles)	[2][3][4][5]
008th[note 2]	748 BC	Stadion	Anticles of Messenia	[2][3][4][5]
009th	744 BC	Stadion	Xenocles of Messenia (or Xenodocos)	[2][3][4][5]
010th	740 BC	Stadion	Dotades of Messenia	[2][3][4][5]
011th	736 BC	Stadion	Leochares of Messenia	[2][3][4][5]
012th	732 BC	Stadion	Oxythemis of Coronea (or of Cleonea)	[2][3][4][5]
013th	728 BC	Stadion	Diocles of Corinth	[2][3][4][5]
014th	724 BC	Stadion	Desmon of Corinth (or Dasmon)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Hypenus of Pisa	[2][3][4][5]
015th	720 BC	Stadion	Orsippus of Megara	[2][3][4][5]
		Dolichos	Acanthus of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
016th	716 BC	Stadion	Pythagoras of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
017th	712 BC	Stadion	Polus of Epidaurus	[2][3][4][5]
018th	708 BC	Stadion	Tellis of Sicyon	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Eurybatus of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Pentathlon	Lampis of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
019th	704 BC	Stadion	Menus of Megara (or Menon)	[2][3][4][5]
020th	700 BC	Stadion	Atheradas of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
021st	696 BC	Stadion	Pantacles of Athens	[2][3][4][5]
022nd	692 BC	Stadion	Pantacles of Athens	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Pantacles of Athens[6]	[4]
023rd	688 BC	Stadion	Icarius of Hyperesia (or Icarus)	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing	Onomastus of Smyrna[note 3]	[2][3][4][5]
024th	684 BC	Stadion	Cleoptolemus of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
025th	680 BC	Stadion	Thalpis of Laconia (or Thalpius)	[2][3][4][5]
		Tethrippon	Pagon of Thebes (or Pagonus)	[2][3][4][5]
026th	676 BC	Stadion	Callisthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Pentathlon	Philombrotus the Lacedaemonian[7]	[2][3][4]
027th	672 BC	Stadion	Eurybus of Athens (or Eurybotus or Eurybate)	[2][3][4][5]
		Pentathlon	Philombrotus the Lacedaemonian[7]	[2][3][4]
		Boxing	Dahippus of Croton	[3][4]
		Public Tethrippon	Dyspontium town[8]	[3][4]
028th	668 BC	Stadion	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)[note 4]	[2][3][4][5]
		Pentathlon	Philombrotus the Lacedaemonian[7]	[2][3][4]
029th	664 BC	Stadion	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)[note 5]	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)[6]	[3][4]
030th	660 BC	Stadion	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)[6]	[3][4]
031st	656 BC	Stadion	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Chionis of Laconia (or Carmis or Charmis)[6]	[3][4]
032nd	652 BC	Stadion	Cratinus of Megara	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing	Comaeus of Megara	[2][3][4]
033rd	648 BC	Stadion	Gyges of Laconia (or Gylis)	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium	Lygdamis of Syracuse	[2][3][4][5]
		Tethrippon	Myron (Tyrant of Syracuse)[note 6]	[2][3][4][5]
		Keles	Crauxidas the Crannonian (or Craxilas)	[3][4][5]
034th[note 2]	644 BC	Stadion	Stomas of Athens	[2][3][4][5]
035th	640 BC	Stadion	Sphaerus the Laconian	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Cylon of Athens	[2][3][4][5]
036th	636 BC	Stadion[2] orPancratium[9]	Phrynon of Athens	[2][3][4][5]
037th[note 7]	632 BC	Stadion	Eurycleidas of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Stadion boys	Polynices of Elis (or Polyneices or Polyneites)	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling boys	Hipposthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
038th	628 BC	Stadion	Olyntheus of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling boys	Eutelidas the Lacedaemonian[note 8]	[2][3][4]
		Pentathlon boys	Eutelidas the Lacedaemonian	[3][4][5]
039th	624 BC	Stadion	Rhipsolaus of Laconia (or Rhipsolcus)	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Hipposthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
040th	620 BC	Stadion	Olyntheus of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Hipposthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
041st	616 BC	Stadion	Cleondas of Thebes (or Cleonidas)	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Hipposthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing boys	Philotas of Sybaris (or Philytas)	[2][3][4][5]
042nd	612 BC	Stadion	Lycotas of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Hipposthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
043rd	608 BC	Stadion	Cleon of Epidaurus	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Hipposthenes of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
044th	604 BC	Stadion	Gelon the Laconian	[2][3][4][5]
045th	600 BC	Stadion	Anticrates of Epidaurus	[2][3][4][5]
046th	596 BC	Stadion	Crysamaxos of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Stadion boys	Polymnestor of Miletus	[2][3][4]
047th	592 BC	Stadion	Eurycles of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
		Tethrippon	Megacleus of Athens	[3]
048th	588 BC	Stadion	Glaucias of Croton (or Glycon)	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing	Pythagoras of Samos	[2][3][4]
049th	584 BC	Stadion	Lycinus of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
050th	580 BC	Stadion	Epitelidas of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
051st	576 BC	Stadion	Eratosthenes of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
052nd	572 BC	Stadion	Agis of Elis	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium	Arrhichion of Phigalia (or Arrhachion)	[2][3][4]
		Tethrippon	Cleisthenes (Tyrant of Sicyon)[7][10]	[3][4][5]
053rd	568 BC	Stadion	Agnon of Peparethus (or Hagnon)	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium	Arrhichion of Phigalia (or Arrhachion)	[2][3][4]
054th	564 BC	Stadion	Hippostratus of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium	Arrhichion of Phigalia (or Arrhachion)	[2][3][4]
		Keles	Callius of Athens (son of Phaenhippus)	[3][4]
055th	560 BC	Stadion	Hippostratus of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
056th	556 BC	Stadion	Phaedrus of Pharsalus	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing	[...][11] the Lacedaemonian (son of Chilon of Sparta)[note 9]	[3][4]
057th	552 BC	Stadion	Ladromus of Laconia	[2][3][4][5]
058th	548 BC	Stadion	Diognetus of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
059th	544 BC	Stadion	Archilochus of Corcyra	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing	Praxidamas of Aegina	[3][4][5]
060th	540 BC	Stadion	Apellaeus of Elis	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing boys	[...]creon of Kea[7][12]	[3][4]
		Wrestling boys	Milo of Croton[7]	[2][3][4][5]
061st	536 BC	Stadion	Agatharchus of Corcyra	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium	Rexibius of Opous	[3][4]
062nd	532 BC	Stadion	Eryxias of Chalcis (or Eryxidas)	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Milo of Croton[7][note 10]	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium orBoxing	Eurymenes of Samos	[13]
		Tethrippon	Cimon Coalemos (son of Stesagoras of Athens)	[3][4]
063rd	528 BC	Stadion	Parmenides of Camarina	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Milo of Croton[7]	[2][3][4][5]
		Tethrippon	Peisistratos of Athens (son of Hippocrates)	[3][4]
064th	524 BC	Stadion	Evander of Thessaly (or Menander)	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Milo of Croton[7]	[2][3][4][5]
		Tethrippon	Cimon Coalemos (son of Stesagoras of Athens)	[3][4]
065th	520 BC	Stadion	Anochus of Tarentum (or Anochas)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Anochus of Tarentum (or Anochas)[6]	[3][4]
		Hoplitodromos	Damaretus of Heraea (or Demaretus)	[2][3][4][5]
		Wrestling	Milo of Croton[7]	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing boys	Glaukos of Carystos	[3][4]
		Tethrippon	[...] of Thebes	[4]
066th	516 BC	Stadion	Ischyrus of Himera	[2][3][4][5]
		Hoplitodromos	Damaretus of Heraea (or Demaretus)	[3][4]
		Wrestling	Milo of Croton[7]	[2][3][4][5]
		Pancratium	Timasitheus of Delphi[7]	[3][4]
		Tethrippon	Cleosthenes of Epidamnus (or the Illyrian)	[3][4][5]
067th	512 BC	Stadion	Phanas of Pellene	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Phanas of Pellene	[2][3][4]
		Hoplitodromos	Phanas of Pellene	[2][3][4]
		Pancratium	Timasitheus of Delphi[7]	[3][4]
		Wrestling	Timasitheus of Croton[7]	[3][4]
068th	508 BC	Stadion	Isomachus of Croton (or Ischomachus)	[2][3][4][5]
		Hoplitodromos	Phrikias of Pellene[7]	[3][4]
		Wrestling	Calliteles of Laconia[7]	[4]
		Keles	[Sons of Pheidolas of Corinth]	[3][4]
069th	504 BC	Stadion	Isomachus of Croton (or Ischomachus)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos orDolichos	Thessalos of Corinth[7]	[3][4]
		Hoplitodromos	Phrikias of Pellene[7]	[3][4]
		(unknown game)	Titas of [...][6]	[4]
070th	500 BC	Stadion	Nicasias of Opus (or Nicaestas or Nicias)	[2][3][4][5]
		Stadion boys	Philon of Corcyra[7]	[3][14][15]
		Boxing boys	Agametor of Mantineia	[4]
		Apene	Thersius of Thessaly	[3][4][5]
071st	496 BC	Stadion	Tisicrates of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
		Boxing	Kleomedes of Astypalaia[16]	[3][4]
		Wrestling	Exaenetus of Agrigento	[3][4]
		Keles	Empedocles of Agrigento (son of Exaenetus)	[3][4][5]
		Kalpe	Pataecus of Dyme	[3][4][5]
072nd	492 BC	Stadion	Tisicrates of Croton	[2][3][4][5]
		(foot race)	Hippokleas of Pelinna	[3][4]
		Keles	Crocon ο Eretria	[4]
073rd	488 BC	Stadion	Astylos of Croton (or Astyalus)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Astylos of Croton (or Astyalus)	[3][4]
		Hoplitodromos orDolichos	Hippocleas of Pelinna	[3][4]
		Pentathlon	Euthycles of Lokroi	[4]
		Stadion boys	Asopichos of Orchomenos	[3][4]
		Boxing boys	Agiadas of Elis	[4]
		Keles	Hieron of Syracuse[6]	[5]
		Tethrippon	Gelon (Tyrant of Syracuse)	[3][4][5]
074th	484 BC	Stadion	Astylos of Croton (as of Syracuse)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Astylos of Croton (as of Syracuse)	[3][4]
		Hoplitodromos	Mnaseas of Cyrene	[4]
		Dolichos	[Dromeus of Stymphalia][7]	[3][4]
		Wrestling	Theopompus of Heraea[7]	[3][15]
		Pancratium	Agias of Pharsalus[7]	[4]
		Boxing	Euthymos of Locri (or the Italian)	[3][4]
		Tethrippon	Polypeithes of Laconia	[4]
075th	480 BC	Stadion	Astylos of Croton (as of Syracuse)	[2][3][4][5]
		Diaulos	Astylos of Croton (as of Syracuse)	[3][4]
		Hoplitodromos	Astylos of Croton (as of Syracuse)	[3][4]
		Dolichos	[Dromeus of Stymphalia][7]	[3][4]
		Wrestling	Theopompus of Heraea[7]	[3][15]
		Boxing	Theagenes of Thasos	[3][4]
		Pancratium	[Dromeus of Mantineia]	[3][4]
		Stadion boys	[Xe]nopithes of Chios[17]	[3][4]
		Wrestling boys	[...]con of Argos	[3][4]
		Boxing boys	[...]phanes of Heraea	[3][4]
		Tethrippon	[Dae]tondas and Arsilochus of Thebes	[3][4]
		Public Keles	Argos town[8]	[3][4]

Supplementary list

The supplementary list contains Olympic winners of this period known from literary and epigraphic records, but who have been dated only approximately and cannot be included in specific Olympiads.[3]

Chronology	Game	Winner	Sources
700 BC to 650 BC	Dolichos	Phanas of Messenia	[3][4]
c. 636 BC	Stadion	Arytamas of Laconia	[3][4]
612 BC to 592 BC	Tethrippon	Alcmaeon of Athens (son of Megacles)	[3][4]
672 BC to 532 BC	Tethrippon	Euagoras the Lacedaemonian (three consecutive times)	[3][4]
late 7th or early 6th century BC	Tethrippon	Periandros of Corinth (son of Cypselus of Corinth)[7]	[3]
early 6th century BC	Wrestling	Hetoimocles of Laconia (son of Hipposthenes) (five times)[18]	[3][4]
572 BC to 528 BC	Boxing	Tisandros of Sicilian Naxos (four consecutive times)[19]	[3][4]
c. 560 BC	Tethrippon	Miltiades of Athens (son of Cypselus of Athens)	[3][4]
550 BC to 500 BC	Keles	Pheidolas of Corinth	[3][4]
c. 520 BC	(unknown game)	Philippus of Croton (son of Butacides)	[3][4][20]
late 6th century BC	Tethrippon	Pantares the Sicilian (son of Menecrates of Gela)[6][21]	[3][4]
510 BC to 491 BC	Tethrippon	Demaratus (King of Sparta)	[3][4]
c. 500 BC	Pentathlon	Akmatidas the Lacedaemonian	[3][4]
c. 500 BC	Stadion boys	Meneptolemos of Apollonia	[4]
5th century BC	(unknown game)	Damarchos of Parrhasia	[3]
early 5th century BC	Keles	Echecrates of Pharsalus (or Echecratidas)	[3]
early 5th century BC	Pentathlon	Theopombus of Heraea (son of Damaretos) (two times)[22]	[3][4]
500 BC to 488 BC	Boxing	Philon of Corcyra (two times)[7][23]	[3][4]
500 BC to 484 BC	Tethrippon	Callius of Athens (son of Hipponicus) (three times)	[3][4]
c. 488 BC	Boxing	Diognetus of Croton[7]	[4]
c. 484 BC	Wrestling	Telemachus of Pharsalus[7]	[4]
before 484 BC	(unknown game)	Praxiteles of Syracuse	[3]
before 480 BC	Boxing boys	Epikradios of Mantineia	[3][4]
492 BC to 480 BC	Pentathlon	Hieronymos of Andros	[4]
500 BC to 476 BC	Apene	Anaxilas (Tyrant of Region)	[3][4]
500 BC to 450 BC	Boxing boys	Protolaus of Mantineia	[3]

Notes

According to Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Chronology (§ Olympiads).
None-Olympiad for Elis. Organized by Pisatans.
It was Onomastus who established the rules of Boxing, according to Eusebius, p. 196.
According to Eusebius, p. 198, Chionis was not the winner of this Olympiad, but Charmis of Laconia, who trained on a diet of dried figs.
Chionis could leap a distance of 22 feet (about 6,71 meters), according to Eusebius, p. 198.
Myron, son of Andreas, tyrant of Sicyon, according to Müller, p. 452.
Were performed for the first time the games for boys.
According to Eusebius, p. 199, exceptionally, only in this Olympiad, the boys fought in pancratium, and the name of winner was Deftelidas of Laconia.
Chilon died of happiness after the victory of his son (according to Diogenes, ch. III (Chilon), pp. 72-73).
He won six times at the Olympic games, six times at the Pythian games, ten times at the Isthmian games, and nine times at the Nemean games, according to Eusebius p. 202.

References

Encyclopædia Britannica 2006, The ancient Olympic Games.
According to Eusebius.
According to HHN.
According to FHW.
According to Müller.
The chronological value is considered to be uncertain.
The chronology is considered to be relevant.
The victory belongs to this town.
According to Diogenes, ch. IV (Pittacus), p. 74
This was in 584 BC, according to Müller, p. 454.
Mentioned as Damagetos, HHN, p. 503.
Mentioned as Leocreon (according to FHW) or Neocreon (according to HHN, p. 503).
According to Greek base Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine of FHW.
According to FHW, this was on previous Olympiad.
There is also a reference in the supplementary list below.
According to FHW, this was on next Olympiad.
According to FHW was from Kea.
According to FHW the first one as a boy.
Beginning (the most likely) from the 60th Olympiad (according to HHN) or maybe the 52nd Olympiad (according to FHW).
According to Herodotus Book 5: ch. 47, 1-2.
In 508 BC according to FHW.
In 484 BC and 480 BC according to FHW. Also there are references to wrestling by athlete Theopombus according to HHN, p. 503 (wrestling) and p. 507 (pentathlon).
In 500 BC and 496 BC (according to FHW), or in 492 BC and 488 BC (according to HHN, p. 503).

Sources

Diogène de Laerte. Des Philosophes (in Greek and French). I. Paris: Charpentier (1847). pp. 72–74.
Eusebius of Caesarea. Chronicon: Olympiads of the Greeks. Schoene-Petermann. pp. 191–220.
"Archaic Hellenism". History of Hellenic Nation (in Greek). 2. Athens Publishing. 1971. pp. 502–507. ISBN 960-213-097-0. OCLC 636806977. OL 18546042M. Athens Academy Award 1980
Foundation of Hellenic World. "The Olympic Victors". Archaic Era.
Karl Otfried Müller (1839). The history and antiquities of the Doric race. 2. Translated by Lewis, George Cornewall; Tufnell, Henry. London: Murray (Robarts - University of Toronto). pp. 446–462 App. VI.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chronology (Olympiads)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 312–313.