Nemean Games
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Nemea every two years, traditionally founded as funeral games for the infant Opheltes, with victors crowned in wild celery.
The Meaning of Nemean Games
The Nemean Games were celebrated at the sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea in the northern Peloponnese. They were traditionally founded as funeral games for the infant Opheltes (also called Archemorus, "beginning of doom"), whose death foretold the disaster of the Seven Against Thebes. Opheltes' nurse Hypsipyle — former queen of Lemnos — set the baby on a bed of wild celery to show the Seven's army a spring. A serpent killed the child. The seer Amphiaraus interpreted the death as an omen: Opheltes was renamed Archemorus. The warriors founded the games in his honour, and victors wore wreaths of wild celery in mourning. The games included running, wrestling, boxing, pankration, and equestrian events. Heracles' slaying of the Nemean Lion as his first labour also connected to the site. The stadium at Nemea, excavated by UC Berkeley, preserves the oldest surviving starting mechanism for foot races.
Parents
Zeus (sacred to), Opheltes (honoured)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Nemean Games' starting mechanism — a set of grooved stone blocks with a cord system that dropped simultaneously for all runners — was the ancient equivalent of an electronic starting gun. UC Berkeley archaeologists rebuilt it and tested it with modern sprinters, proving it worked perfectly. Athletes at Nemea 2,500 years ago had fairer starts than those at most modern track meets before electronic timing was introduced in the 20th century.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Isthmian Games
💭 conceptathletics, Poseidon
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Corinth every two years in honour of Poseidon, with victors crowned in pine or celery wreaths.
Olympic Games
💭 conceptAthletics, Zeus, Olympia
Panhellenic athletic festival held every four years at Olympia in honour of Zeus
Pythian Games
💭 conceptathletics, music
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Delphi every four years in honour of Apollo, unique for combining athletic events with musical competitions.
Pan-Hellenic Games
💭 conceptCulture
The four great athletic and religious festivals that united the Greek world in sacred competition
Panathenaea
💭 conceptfestival, athletics
The most important festival of Athens, held annually in honour of Athena with a grand procession, athletic contests, and the presentation of a new peplos to the goddess.
Hyakinthia
💭 conceptfestival, death
A three-day Spartan festival mourning the death of Hyacinthus and celebrating his rebirth, blending grief and joy in a uniquely Laconian way.
Olympiad
💭 conceptAthletics and time-keeping
A four-year period between Olympic Games used as a dating system in ancient Greece, now applied to the modern Olympic Games and international athletic competition generally
Hyacinthia
💭 conceptFestival, Apollo, mourning
Three-day Spartan festival mourning and celebrating Hyacinthus at Amyclae
Amphidamas
🗡 heroKingship, funeral games
King of Chalcis in Euboea whose funeral games famously featured a poetic contest between Homer and Hesiod
God of Athletes
💭 conceptAthletics, competition, physical excellence, gymnastics
Hermes presides over athletic contests, protecting competitors and rewarding speed, skill, and fair play.
Pankration
💭 conceptathletics, combat
The ancient Greek combat sport combining wrestling and boxing with virtually no rules, considered the most brutal and prestigious event at the Olympic Games.
Olympic Truce
💭 conceptpeace, athletics
The sacred truce declared before and during the ancient Olympic Games, protecting athletes, spectators, and pilgrims from violence across the entire Greek world.