Isthmian Plays

The Isthmian Jeux were celebrated with the isthmus of Corinthe. They belong to the period and are celebrated the first and the third year of each Olympiad, in the honor of Poséidon. The sanctuary panhellenic of Poséidon to Corinthe was arranged into 690 before JC.

One said that they had been founded by Sisyphus in the honor of his/her relative Mélicerte or, according to the Athenian tradition , by Thésée in remembering his exploits at the time of his voyage of Trézène in Athens, but their historical existence dates from the years 580.

It is at the time of these plays, in 196, that Flaminius proclaimed the independence of the Greeks, released of Philippe V of Macedonia.

When the poet Pindare wrote his odes for the winners with the Isthmian Plays, in first half of the fifth century BC, the winners were crowned of wild celery, whereas at other times the crowns were made of pine.

See too

public Plays in ancient Greece
Plays panhellenic

Random links: