Why Olive Oil Anoints Kings and Athletes Alike
To be ‘anointed’ is, literally, to be marked with olive oil. The same humble oil has crowned kings, consecrated priests and slicked the bodies of athletes — one gesture, many meanings, all flowing from the fact that in the ancient world this was the most valuable substance a people had.
The word ‘anoint’ hides an olive in it. To anoint is to smear or pour with oil, and for the ancient Mediterranean that oil was olive — the substance you reached for to mark a moment as important, whether the person before you was a king, a priest or a young athlete. Following that single gesture through royal, religious and athletic life shows how completely one tree ran through the culture.
The oil of kings and priests
In the ancient Near East, pouring olive oil over the head set a person apart for a sacred role. Hebrew kings and priests were anointed; the words Messiah and Christ both mean ‘the anointed one’. Oil was precious, fragrant and life-giving — the natural substance for marking someone as chosen, lifted out of the ordinary. The custom did not die with antiquity: monarchs are still anointed with consecrated oil at coronations today, one of the oldest continuous rituals in the world.
The oil of athletes
The Greeks took the same oil to the gymnasium. Athletes rubbed their bodies with olive oil before training and competition, then scraped it off afterwards — along with sweat, dust and dead skin — using a curved bronze tool called a strigil. It cleaned, protected the skin from sun and grit, and made the body gleam: vigour and beauty in a bottle, in an age with no soap as we know it. Victors were then crowned with olive wreaths, oiled and garlanded by the same tree that had scrubbed them.
| The word | ‘Anoint’ = to mark with oil; Messiah/Christ = ‘the anointed’ |
|---|---|
| Kings & priests | Set apart for a sacred role by pouring oil on the head |
| Coronations | Monarchs still anointed with consecrated oil today |
| Athletes | Rubbed with oil, then scraped clean with a strigil |
| Victory | Winners crowned with olive wreaths |
Why oil did the work soap does now
Here is the practical fact the sacred imagery can obscure. The Greek athlete’s oil was not a luxury flourish — it was the era’s cleaning technology. There was no soap in the modern sense, so oiling the skin and then scraping it with a strigil lifted off dirt, sweat and grime in a way water alone could not. The ‘gleaming athlete’ of classical art is really a picture of ancient hygiene at work. Seen that way, the sacred and the sweaty uses of olive oil are not so far apart : both treat the oil as something that cleanses, protects and renews — which is exactly why it also came to mean blessing.
One tree, many rites
- ‘Anoint’ literally means to mark with oil; Messiah and Christ mean ‘the anointed one’.
- Kings and priests were set apart with oil — a rite still used at coronations.
- Greek athletes oiled and then scraped the skin with a strigil, oil as ancient soap.
- Sacred and athletic uses share one idea: oil that cleanses, protects and renews.
Olive oil, kings and athletes: common questions
What does ‘anoint’ actually mean?
To mark or smear with oil — in the ancient Mediterranean, olive oil. The words Messiah and Christ both mean ‘the anointed one’.
Why were kings and priests anointed with olive oil?
Pouring precious, fragrant oil on the head set a person apart for a sacred role. The rite survives: monarchs are still anointed at coronations today.
Why did Greek athletes cover themselves in olive oil?
It cleaned and protected the skin and made the body gleam. With no soap as we know it, oiling then scraping was the era’s washing technology.
What is a strigil?
A curved bronze tool Greek and Roman athletes used to scrape oil, sweat and dirt off the skin after exercise.
How can the same oil be sacred and athletic?
Both uses treat olive oil as something that cleanses, protects and renews — which is exactly the quality that also made it a symbol of blessing.
Sacred and athletic, royal and everyday — olive oil touched all of it because it was all of it: food, light, medicine, soap and ceremony from a single plant. To anoint with olive oil was simply to bless someone with the most valuable, life-sustaining thing a Mediterranean people had. Remember that the gleaming Greek athlete is really a picture of ancient hygiene — oil as soap — and the leap from washing to blessing stops looking mystical and starts looking obvious.
Based on Near Eastern and Greek sources; the strigil and athletic oiling are well documented, as is anointing at modern coronations.