Ancient Olympic Games, Ancient Olympic Games - Events, Ancient Olympic Games - Famous athletes, Ancient Olympic Games - History, Ancient Olympic Games - Origin
ARTICLES RELATED TO Ancient Olympic Games - Origin
The Ancient Olympic Games were an athletic and religious celebration held in the Greek town of Olympia from (historically) as early as 776 BC to 393 AD.
Ancient Olympic Games - Origin.
The historical origins of the Ancient Olympic Games are lost in the fog of time, but several legends and myths survive. One of these involved Pelops, king of Olympia and eponymous hero of the Peloponnesus, to whom offerings were made during the games. The Christian Clement of Alexandria asserted that "[The] Olympian games are ...
The historical origins of the Ancient Olympic Games are lost in the fog of time, but several legends and myths survive. One of these involved Pelops, king of Olympia and eponymous hero of the Peloponnesus, to whom offerings were made during the games. The Christian Clement of Alexandria asserted that "[The] Olympian games are nothing else than the funeral sacrifices of Pelops." That myth tells of Pelops' overcoming King Oenomaus, who had challenged his daughter Hippodamia's suitors to a race, under pain of killing the loser. Twelve other sui ...
Unlike the Modern Olympic Games, only men who spoke Greek were allowed to participate in the Ancient Games. They were to some extent "international", though, in the sense that they included athletes from the various Greek city-states. Additionally, participants eventually came from Greek colonies as well, extending the range of the games to far shores of the Mediterranean and of the Black Sea.
In order to be in the games one had to qualify and one's name written down in the lists. It seems that only young people were allowed to ...
The Games were held in Olympia, Greece, a sanctuary site for the Greek gods near the towns of Elis and Pisatis (both in Elis on the peninsula of Peloponnesos). The Sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia housed a 12 meter high statue in ivory and gold of Zeus, the father of the Greek gods, sculpted by Phidias. This statue was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World.
The first written accounts of the Olympic Games date from 776 BC, although it is sure that these Games were not the first ones to be held. The Olympic Games were held in four y ...
