The Ancient Greek Olympics

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FAMOUS ANCIENT GREEKS

~Religious Games

~Ancient Greek Games

~What is the History and Meaning of Ancient Greek Games?

RELIGIOUS GAMES

        The ancient Greeks were huge sports fans. Every four years, the Olympic Games were held in the stadium at Olympia. The best athletes in Greece competed in different events that were a part of religious life.
        The games began with a sacrifice to the god Zeus. Because the games were religious, anyone who was caught cheating during the games was never allowed to compete again because cheating was considered disrespectful to the gods.

ANCIENT GREEK GAMES

Greeks playing a kicking/throwing game called Episkyros. 

This marble relief is from the National Museum of Archeology in Athens

The Greeks took Games very seriously. The Greeks believed that their gods particularly loved to see strong, fit, graceful human bodies, especially boys' and men's' bodies.

WHAT WAS THE HISTORY AND MEANING OF ANCIENT GREEK GAMES?

    The Olympic games were the ancient Pan-Hellenic celebrations at Olympia in honor of Zeus. They were  held every four years beginning in 776 B.C. 

     Ancient Olympic Games originated in Greece and were held from 776 B.C. to A.D. 393. The games were always held at Olympia instead of moving to different sites every time. The ancient Olympics were rather different from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete, instead of athletes from any country.

    The ancient Olympics (athletic contests) seem to have begun in the early 700 BC in honor of Zeus. The first day of the  Olympics festival was devoted to sacrifices. The first Olympics was a one-day event. Only men, naked or half naked, were allowed to  play or watch. The first day of the festival was devoted to sacrifices. Second day- the foot-race. The main event of the games, took place in the stadium.

 

The Ancient Olympic Games in Ancient Greece had a wide variety of games. These are only a few descriptions of the games that are passed on to this day:

  1. Foot-races

  2. Wrestling

  3. Boxing

  4. Pancratium-a combination of wrestling and boxing held between the winners of the two events. 

For more information about ancient Greek Olympics go to:

http://ancientgreece.com/html/olympics_frame.htm

Pictures from Yahoo, Google Images.

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