Remembering the 724 BC Olympic Games Faisal Hamza
I’m thinking of that special time of leap year. The Great War of the East had been respectfully suspended. Personal beefs, like my feud with Aegeus regarding my livestock count, had been put on hold. Bandits and mercenaries took a break of honour for people to safely make their way. People of all creeds and classes gathered eagerly, for the love of the game, and to avoid committing sacrilege against the great Zeus. Else, you would be struck by lightning, and guaranteed a barren crop. Of course, I’m talking about the 724 BC Olympic Games. There were some big names competing that year. Desmon, of the proud village Corinth, was the favourite to take the stadion. It would be the second win in a row for Corinth, who had not stopped blabbering on about it. Notably absent was their victor from the 66
previous games, Diokles, whom naturally Desmon had to slay in order to compete. Not one to be counted out, the famed nude runner Orsippos, feeling confident that year, had been separated within the village from Leandros of Messenia - who famously commented, “(it’s) easy to run nude when there are few prohibitions below the belt. Do you get it? I mean his di-”. He was unable to finish due to a strike from Orsippos. Naturally, all the competitors were Greek, as it should’ve remained. Apologies, (but not apologies) to the pesky Roman riff-raff. Yet, we mustn’t forget those who couldn’t make it. The hopeless competitors that were weeded out in trials of strength and endurance to qualify for the games. To the masses, they were but no-names unworthy of our attention. But cousin Decius attempted to qualify that year. We miss him every day.
UWA Love Letters is modern-day Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids.
