Uses: In Antiquity

While one may think that olives were probably used for the same purposes in antiquity, there were some uses in the ancient world that people would find unconventional today. Some uses were as medicine, lamps, prizes in sporting competitions, and a way for athletes to cleanse the body. Black olives were for eating and green olives were reserved for making oil. Victors of various competitions like the Panathenaic games would receive and amphora of olive oil. These large pots were beautifully decorated.

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To cleanse the body athletes would rub olive oil on their skin they would then use a tool called a strygil to scrape it off. This was thought to help recovery.

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This is similar to a process done today with a different kind of oil. It is colloquially known as scraping and it helps athletes recover from minor injuries. A small plastic wedge is used as the strygil.