Introduction: Olympic Victors

This map shows the origins of the Olympic victors. In about 400 BC, Hippias of Elis set up a list of victors based on the records found in an archive at Elis or Olympia. The names of early victors are partly based on myth or family traditions or added by Hippias simply to fill out the list, which has to be borne in mind when evaluating the historical importance of the source. Nonetheless, the compilations of Hippias were widely used and continued, and a list is preserved in Book 1 of the Chronicle of Eusebius. Their importance is apparent in the use of the Olympic victor list to date events in Greek history. Thereby, the Olympic victor list is an important indicator of the effective contact area of Olympia, and their shift in origins indicates the change in the contact area over time.