Polychares of Messenia ( grc, Πολυχάρης) was an athlete from

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

who won the stadion race in the fourth

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 764 BC.Eusebius.
Chronicon
' (English translation from Latin, original Greek lost) at Attalus.org The stadion race (about 180 meters) was the only competition in the first 13 Olympiads. According to

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 th ...

, he was involved with the outbreak of the

First Messenian War The First Messenian War was a war between Messenia and Sparta. It began in 743 BC and ended in 724 BC, according to the dates given by Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias. The war continued the rivalry between the Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans and t ...

after a

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n stole his property and killed his son. When the Spartan kings refused to punish the culprit, he decided to take revenge himself, thus triggering the war that had been long awaited by both sides.

References

{{reflist 8th-century BC Greek people Ancient Messenians Ancient Olympic competitors