The students will learn how to dive into the turbulent history and mythical origins of the ancient Olympic games in a critical manner, and will learn how to observe and discuss artifacts and archaeological sites related to the ancient Olympic Games.

They will be introduced to ideas such as the so-called "Olympic truce" and Olympic ambassadors, the non-monetary prize of the games, the participation of elite Greeks invested with prestige and power, and the heroic status of winners back into their home towns. Also, the students will learn how historians read between the lines of stories written about Olympic winners to praise their accomplishments. The class will help students put the organization of the games in their own ancient perspective, contextualize the exclusion of women, judge the role of gods and magic, and critically assess the ancient athletic morals. 

I am offering this class to show to students that studying ancient worlds, and comparing them with our own modern world, opens our horizons and feeds our own imagination of faraway lands and heroic times. But it also gives us critical thinking, perspective and makes us learn to respect the "other" and the "unfamiliar".

Most important of all, by using all the information in this class learners will be able to analyze which aspects of the ancient Olympic games we have deliberately changed in modern times and which aspects we think we preserved, in which ways we bettered them, and in which ways we failed to surpass them. 

I have a B.A. and M.A. in ancient Greek history and archaeology, as well as an M.A. in history and philosophy of religions. I have excavated in ancient Greek sites, I speak ancient and modern Greek and I am currently finishing my PhD. 
I have studied both the ancient and the very early modern Olympic Games, participating in University graduate classes, museum exhibitions, scientific conferences and scholarly publications. I am, also, specialized in various other cultural and social aspects of the society that gave birth to these games (i.e. the ancient Greek world). I have, also, personally visited the places I am going to show to learners. I will talk about places and artworks I have seen and visited myself.

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I do not believe that a letter grade is meaningful for a summer camp on mythology. However, as I often do with my camps, I communicate with the parents and the children directly, providing my personal comments, private feedback and an informal assessment.
In addition, at the end of the series of six classes a (optional) quiz will be distributed to learners, to be filled out by them and sent back to me via my e-mail. 
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A great introduction to the subject is given in the book of Stephen G. Miller, Ancient Greek Athletics (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004) which I have partially consulted for this camp.
Stephen G. Miller (died on August 11, 2021) was a prominent American archaeologist who excavated the archaeological site of Ancient Nemea in the Peloponnese, in south Greece, the place which hosted one of the four prestigious games of ancient Greece (Olympian - Pythian - Isthmian - Nemean).