776 BC - 393 BC
Ancient Greeks Use Performance Enhancing Drugs
(Olympics)
Depiction of athletes competing at the ancient Olympic Games. Source: www.britishcouncil.org (accessed June 30, 2009)
"The use of drugs to enhance performance in sports has certainly occurred since the time of the original Olympic Games [from 776 to 393 BC]. The origin of the word 'doping' is attributed to the Dutch word 'doop,' which is a viscous opium juice, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks."
Larry D. Bowers, PhD "Athletic Drug Testing," Clinics in Sports Medicine, Apr. 1, 1998
"The ancient Olympic champions were professionals who competed for huge cash prizes as well as olive wreaths... Most forms of what we would call cheating were perfectly acceptable to them, save for game-fixing. There is evidence that they gorged themselves on meat -- not a normal dietary staple of the Greeks -- and experimented with herbal medications in an effort to enhance their performances...
The ancient Greek athletes also drank wine potions, used hallucinogens and ate animal hearts or testicles in search of potency
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