Oebotas of Dyme, the son of Oenias, was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

athlete from

Dyme Dyme ( grc, Δύμη), or Dymae, was a town and polis (city-state) of ancient Achaea, and the most westerly of the 12 Achaean cities, from which circumstance it is said to have derived its name. The location of Dyme is near the modern Kato Acha ...

who won the

stadion race ''Stadion'' or ''stade'' ( grc, στάδιον) was an ancient running event, part of the Ancient Olympic Games and the other Panhellenic Games. It was one of the five major Pentathlon events. It was the premier event of the ''gymnikos agon'' ...

in the sixth

Ancient Olympic Games The ancient Olympic Games (Ὀλυμπιακοὶ ἀγῶνες; la, Olympia, neuter plural: "the Olympics") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. ...

in 756 BC. The stadion race (about 180 meters) was the only competition in the first 13 Olympiads. He was the first winner from

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

. A statue in his honour was erected in

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

. It was customary for Achaeans who were going to compete in the Olympics to make a sacrifice to him. If they were victorious, they would lay a wreath at the base of his statue. In addition, Oebotas's tomb could be seen in the vicinity of Dyme.Pausanias.
Description of Greece, Book 7
''.

Curse

He was not honored for his victory by the Achaeans and legendarily cursed the Achaeans to never win the Olympics for that and the Achaeans did not have an olympic winner until

Sostratus of Pellene Sostratus ( grc-gre, Σώστρατος, ''Sostratos'') was an Ancient Greek athlete from Pellene, Achaea. He won the footrace for boys at the Ancient Olympic Games. He was the first Achaean to win at the Olympics since Oebotas of Dyme. According ...

won the race.

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

''Description of Greece'' 7.17.13, 7.17.14

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oebotas of Dyme 8th-century BC Greek people Ancient Achaean athletes Ancient Olympic competitors Ancient Greek runners

Curse

See also

References