Ancient Olympic Gamges to Modern Day Olympic Games Essay

The Olympic games originated in Athens in 776 B.C. The more popular modern day Olympic games began nearly 2300 years later in 1896. The games no longer represented a religious festival, but a sports competition instead. The games can be studied via multiple aspects such as political, social, and economic, but this paper will concentrate on the economic aspect of the games and more specifically, the macroeconomic impacts the games possess.

Miller’s purpose for writing the book Ancient Greek Athletics is to teach the audience about ancient Greek Games and how this important subject can teach us more about our own world. He accomplishes this goal by using the artifacts he has studied along with the history itself to guide the audience in their journey toward appreciating Greek heritage. In this book, Miller addresses the Olympic Games that began more than twenty-five hundred years ago. I learned many different things throughout this book including: the participants, all the different athletic

The Ancient Olympic Games took place during a time of prosperity for the nation of Greece. In fact, they contributed to the success of the Greek Empire. The Olympic Games reinforced the power of ancient rulers, brought peace with the surrounding nations, and created a reliable way to track time. These ancient games have had such an influence, that they are still continued in our modern society.

As we mourned the recent loss of Muhammad Ali, boxing champion of the world to many, continued the ancient Greece's tradition of carrying the torch to light the cauldron during the 1996 Summer Olympics games in Atlanta, GA. The torch remains lit until the conclusion of competition today as it did in ancient

The opening ceremony started off with the athletes filing into the temple where they had to give their oath before a giant statue of Zeus that they will obey the rules of the game and use no unfair means to win. Similar to today's Olympics but without the religious part because of the diversity and secularism it has. Judges back then were concerned with performance enhancing potions and cursing other opponents in order for them to have a better advantage. Nudity was common during the Olympics but nobody is certain of how it occurred but there are two stories relating to the topic " One, that a winner lost his clothes in a race […] and the second one that it was the Spartans who introduced it in the 8th century" (Penn Museum, "The Games"). The Olympics had strict rules at first but later started becoming more corrupt, especially when the Romans were taking over." One instance was when Emperor Nero enters and wins the

In 776 B.C a new era began for athletes. The first olympic games were held in Olympia, Greece. “The ancient games were not only an expression and definition of common cultural values, but also an arena for intense competition between Greeks.” (Gold, silver, and bronze) The olympics were an important part of Ancient Greece culture because, it brought their civilization together, kept the greeks fit and ready for war, and the games were used to satisfy their gods.

Tony Percott’s The Naked Olympics created a vivid image of what Greek life used to be consumed by, specifically in times surrounding the Olympics. This book confirmed prior knowledge, as well as dive into greater detail about certain aspects of the Olympics, for example how athletes were treated. Several aspects written about were completely astounding, like the Greek obsession with the human body and physical fitness. All of this information has been explained by telling stories of Olympic athletes and Grecians, and how the events came to life. The Naked Olympics has provided more knowledge on certain topics and offered new concepts and ideas of ancient Greece to explore by recreating an Olympic experience in ancient Greece.

The first accounts of the Ancient Olympic games trace back to the year 776 BC. Held at Olympia, the games were thought to have been dedicated to the ‘Olympian gods’, Hera, Athena, Apollo and most prodimately, Zeus, the god of the sky and the ruler of the Olympian gods. Ancient myths associated with the beginning games stated that Zeus, the father of humanity, have fought and defeated Cronus in a battle for the throne of the gods. Others predicted demigod Herakles staged the games in Zeus’s honour, as he had assisted him in conquering Elis. Olympia, the site in which the games were held, was located in the Western part of the Peloponnese. The sacred area held numerous temples and sporting facilities, as the site was used for both the Ancient Olympic games

warfare, to the styles of art and government. In Ancient Greece, every four years rival city-states would set aside their differences and participate in what we call today The Olympic Games. Even though in present time we don't use the original traditions of Ancient Greece, the very idea of The Olympics Games came from Ancient Greece. The impact of The Olympic Games has made on American history is tremendous. An ancient Greek poet once wrote, “As in the daytime there is no star in the sky warmer and brighter than the sun, likewise there is no competition greater than the Olympic Games.” What the poet is believed to be trying to say is that The Olympic Games is very important for the city-states and always resorts in a positive outcome. Just as present day Olympics, it's a time where countries come together to compete in friendly sports like soccer, basketball, swimming, etc. It's a time of fun and competition between countries. If

Although the original ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 B.C, Homer’s Iliad indicates they may have existed as early as the twelfth century BC. The Games were then continued for twelve centuries and were devoted to Olympian deities. Olympia turned into the site of these memorable ancient Olympic games that scattered the seeds for the largest global sporting events of current times, the Modern Olympics. The location of the Ancient Olympics is situated in the western part of Peloponnese. The Ancient Olympic Games continued until 393 A.D when Emperor Theodosius I of Rome discontinued them. There were not any more Olympic games for fifteen hundred years before they were resurrected in 1896 in the city of Athens. The man in charge of the recreation of the Olympic games was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who introduced the thought in 1894. He proposed to stage the games in Paris in 1900 but representatives, from thirty-four nations were so captivated with the idea that they persuaded him to move the Games up to 1896 and have Athens serve as the host.

The Greek games were very nationalistic and it is said that “states were said to have

The Olympic games provided ancient times with entertainment. "spectators came not only from mainland Greece, but also from as far as what are, today, the countries of Spain and Georgia" as stated from paragraph 7. People from far away lands would come to watch. The chariot races "were both exciting and dangerous"

While there are clear contrasts between the ancient and the modern Olympics there is still the respect for the athlete striving to perform at the highest level. Today, the Olympic Games are the world's largest carnival of athletic skill and competitive spirit. They are displays of nationalism, commerce, and politics. These important elements of the Olympics are not a modern invention, as the first Olympics was in 776 BC in Ancient Greece. After 1503 years, in 1896 the Olympic Games were recreated as what we know today. The Ancient Games were once dedicated to the Olympian God, Zeus Olympios and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia, which is also how the word ‘Olympics’ originated from. The modern Olympics is the largest international sporting event, which feature both summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of respectable athletes from over 200 different nations compete against one another. There are clear contrast between the modern and ancient forms of the Olympic Games regarding uniforms, participants, religion, events, politics and the concept of amateurism. However both the Ancient Greeks and the people in the modern world still respect and admire the athletics achievements of the participants making the Olympics the most highly regarded contest in sport.

One exceptionally significant custom of the Greeks still observed today is the Olympics. These ancient games incorporated a concept of free athletic competition without bloodshed. If the Greeks

Honor plays a significant role particularly in Ancient Greece. Participating or competing in the ancient Olympic Games is one of numerous ways to gain honor for the Ancient Greeks. Today, we will notice the impact that honor has in Ancient Greece, the various games that were played in the ancient Olympics, and how the ancient Olympics differs from the modern day Olympics.