古代奥运会的宗教起源

通过对古希腊人早期的祭祀活动、奥运会起源神话的分析以及对奥林匹亚早期历史的考察，发现古代奥运会与古希腊人的宗教信仰有着密切的关系。早期的奥运会是纪念死去英雄的一种方式，又是祭神仪式的重要组成部分，同时又与周期性王位更迭有关。在古希腊人看来，举办体育竞技会是人神沟通的一种方式，不仅可以抚慰亡者的灵魂，取悦神祗，而且还可以得到祖先、英雄和神祗的庇佑。正是基于这种宗教意义，古代奥运会得以创建和发展，从自发的地方性体育竞技会发展成为定期举办的全希腊人的节日庆典。

Religious origin of ancient Olympic Games

By analyzing early ritual activities carried out by ancient Grecians and myths about the origin of Olympic Games as well as by examining the early history of Olympics,the author discovered that there is a close relation between ancient Olympic Games and religious faith of ancient Grecians.Early Olympic Games is a way to remem-ber dead heroes,an important constituent part in religious ceremonies,and related to periodical changes of throne.From the perspective of ancient Grecians,hosting a sports competition gathering is a way for humans to communi-cate with God,which can not only soothe the soul of the dead and please God,but also gain the protection of their ancestors,heroes and God.It is based on this kind of religious significance that ancient Olympic Games was estab-lished and developed from a spontaneous local sports competition gathering into a periodically hosted holiday ceremony of all Grecians.