Olympic games originated as aristocratic festivals, not democratic institutions

Evidence

The games were not introduced into Greece by the popular democracy. In fact, when the democracy came into power it lifted another type of celebration [the tragic drama] to a position of eminence to which the games soon took second place. … The Olympic Games had been a festival of the feudal aristocracy and the bourgeoisie of Greece. Only the bourgeoisie had the money to stand the expense of the competitors… . Only the aristocratic families were in a position to take part in the chariot races. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1252

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the ‘immodesty’/‘moral panic’ lens in the soma article — elite-appropriated popular phenomena repackaged as legitimate culture.