Krater from Capoue, Italy, with a red-figure representation showing the preparation of athletes in the palaestra (wrestling ring). An athlete is shown pouring olive oil from an aryballos to coat his body (510-500 BC).

Relief marble base showing athletes scraping oil and dust from their bodies. From the northwestern section of the Acropolis in Athens (500 BC).

Olive oil was used in athletic activities all over the ancient Greek world. Before training or games, the athletes would coat their bodies with oil for hygienic purposes. After the physical exercise, they would remove the oil, along with the dust and sweat, using a metal scraper specially designed for that purpose. After the games, massaging the muscles with oil helped the athlete to relax. The panathenian amphorae were vases which the Athenian state was responsible for producing and awarding. These vases were the prizes which were given, full of oil, to the first- and second-place winners of the Panathenian Games. The Panathenian Games were held every four years at the end of the month of Hekatombaion, which was in the middle of [our] August. The number of panathenian amphorae which were given as the prize ranged from 1 to 140. The winners of the races received from 50 to 70 amphorae as prizes. The panathenian amphorae held about 36 kg of olive oil. This oil was collected from Athena's sacred olive trees, called the Mories. The total quantity of oil needed by the city to fill the prize-amphorae is estimated to have ranged from 43 to 72 tons.