93:), magistrates chosen specifically for the purpose of establishing and maintaining public games. The method of selection depended on the type of government of the founding state. Different states might give particular names to the agonothetes of particular games; for example, the agonothetes of the Pythian games at Athens were called athlothetes. As Athens was a democracy, they were democratically elected. The origin of the agonothetes of the Olympic games is lost in prehistory. The legendary Hercules, founder of the games in Doric legend, would have been the first legendary agonothete. However that may be, the agonothetes of the historical Olympic games were the Hellanodikai. Originally, perhaps, if only in legend, there may have been only one
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was to supervise the training of the athletes, where they selected those who were well trained, rejecting those who were not performing at a satisfactory level. The trainers for the individual athletes had to be present, but could not intervene or they were punished accordingly. They evaluated each
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were renowned for their fairness, and the public held them in high regard. While bribery and cheating among the athletes was commonplace, there was only one recorded case of corruption among the judges, where a
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athlete on behaviour, character and morality, as well as the more standard attributes such as power, stamina, and resistance. Those that were approved were entered into a special list called the
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and event that took place, having the honour of presenting the crowns and palm branches to the winners. They were also expected to police the games.
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were no longer allowed to participate in the games, and this remained the only blemish on their otherwise impeccable record.
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also were the general organisers, and were present at every
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trained in preparation for the games. While staying at the
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was a type of Greek public official termed generally the
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lived in a specially made building in Elis, called the
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were handpicked from people living in the region of
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245:"Ancient Judges (Hellanodikai)".
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