The Naked Olympics

Australian travel writer and author Tony Perrottet has written a hilarious and well-researched account of the games of Ancient Olympia.

"The Naked Olympics" takes the reader into the day by day life of – not only the athletes, but the spectators who participated in the four-day-long romp and sports festival which ran for almost a millennium.

The Ancient Greeks loved their sports, Perrottet says, and spectators walked almost 200 miles to witness the event from Athens to the city built just for the games.

Women were not allowed to compete, he says, but unmarried girls – mostly prostitutes – were able to attend.

Perrottet also says athletes accused of making a false start were
Flogged and whipped, and sex was as much a part of the games as the sports themselves.

"The Ancient Greeks were obsessed with carnality of all kinds," Perrottet says. "The Olympics was this great festival where there's much wine, and everyone was really letting free. There were amazing details about the brothels, as well as the gym culture, where the guys were praying on the teenage boys as part of the pederastic culture."