The ancient Olympic Games, one of the four great national festivals of ancient Greece. The other three are the Isthmian Games, the Pythian Games, and the Nemean Games. The Olympics is the most famous of the four. The ancient Olympic Games were held in the summer every four years. They took place in the sanctuary of the god Zeus at Olympia. The history of the games date back to 776 B.C.
Early in the history of the Games, envoys were sent throughout all of Greece. They were sent to the various city-states to gather participants to pay tribute to Zeus. The city-states dispatched groups to fight for the splendor with their athletic feats. The only people allowed to participate were honorable men of Greek descent.
The order if events is not known with certainty, but the first day of the festivak was a day of sacrifices. The second day was occupied by footraces. On the other days boxing, wrestling, and the pancratium (a combination of the two) took place. Horse racing was a popular event, but was confined to the wealthy, who had to use their own horses. After the horse racing was the pentathlon, a series of 5 events (wrestling, discus throwing, javelin hurling, long jumping, and sprinting). The closing event was a race run in armor.
The victors were awarded crowns of wild olive. The victors often lived the rest of their lives at public expense. They were also celebrated by poets.
The height of the ancient Olympic Games was reached in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. In circa 393 A.D. the Roman Emperor Theodosius I suppressed them. The concept of the Olympic Games was revived in the 18oos.
The graphic is the stadium at Olympia.
