What Role Did Greek God Play In The Olympic Games

The Olympic games began in 776 B.C, as a ceremonial series of events to honor the Greek King of the gods, Zeus. It included sports such as wrestling, chariot races, discus throwing, and javelin. The Olympics in these ancient times, were regarded as extremely important and anyone who had lost had to face severe repercussions from their own countrymen when they went back. However, victors were held in high esteem and were honored greatly when they returned home.

“Although the ancient Games were staged … from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return” (The Games). The Olympic Games were very important to the Greeks just like the Games are a huge spectacle for the world now. The Games were always important to the Greeks because the Olympics tied into their religion. The Greeks used the Olympics to worship their gods by showing their strength and gifts that the gods had given them. Once the Greeks lost their empire, the Olympics died off. Modern day people did not warm up to the idea of the Olympics until the 1900s. Once they warmed up to the idea of the Olympics, they took off with it, and it is now a global spectacle. The Olympics has a rich history, significant purpose,

According to the Olympics Game timeline, the first ever Olympic Games was held in 776 BCE, in Olympia which is in Athens, Greece. They were held there at olympia for 13 years. We don't know how the games began according to Robert Woff, some stories say the Zeus started the game. According to this story, it started out with Zeus and his father, Kronos were wrestling in olympia, who knew it would turn into what it has become. Wrestling wasn’t the only sport in the ancient greek olympics, there were many more that were involved. Some of the original events according to “Ancient sports” are boxing, equestrian events (chariot racing & riding), pankration, pentathlon (discus, javelin, jump, running, wrestling).

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

The Olympic games were an athletic competition help in Greece around every four years from 776 B.C.E. In 776 B.C.E, the first olympics were held in Athens where many competitors clashed during the sporting events. The olympics then stopped in 393 C.E. due to Theodosius I’s orders on stopping the olympic events. Later during 1896, the modern olympics began to take place. The olympics were different from the ancient olympics in that the competition was shaped due to social, political, and economic reasons.

The Greeks set up athletic events in honor of Zeus for which the Olympics was made.

At the end of the dark ages in ancient Greece, nothing was more important to Greek men, than reaching their divine potential. At a young age Greek males were taught many legends, such as the Odyssey, which gave them a desire to accomplish their own heroic journey. The importance to be recognized and remembered as a hero surprisingly led to the creation of a religious festival called, the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games created an opportunity for all free men to discover their divine role in society, by letting them present their skills in athletic competitions, which often led to the victors gaining a sense of immortality. The Olympics provided what was needed in the Greek society to continue the teachings of having a sound body and mind in order to fulfill ones divine purpose.

Third, Greece valued competition and because of their desire for the perfect body and their intense passion for competition, they founded the Olympic Games. Modern day society continues to celebrate the Olympic Games, and the games still bring nations together, to converse and share ideas. Additionally, three things remain constant from the original Greek Olympic Games; they are held every four years; they have opening and closing ceremonies, and the winning athletes are still treated with abundant importance. (“The Ancient Olympics.”)

The olympics were one of the greece favorite things they were celebrating it in honor of there gods like in todays olympics it took place every four years in olympia the first olympics was said to be held in 700 B.C. in honor of zeus and women could not watch the games on only greeks could participate. In 472 B.C. the games went from a one day festival to a five days with many

The Olympics originated from Greece in 776 BCE and are still seen every four years, with the summer and winter Olympics in alternating two years. In the Greek Olympics they would hold various sports including running, jumping, disc throwing, wrestling, chariot races, and much more. Since then many games and events have been added and some have been removed, but the idea of showing strength and having different peoples come together is still there. The ancient Olympics were a time that all free citizens could come together and compete; even unmarried women were allowed to participate. The modern day Olympics is still a huge event for people to come together.

In addition to basically creating the first fairly functioning government, Greek scholars helped master forms of entertainment still relevant today. Considerably one of the most influential activities started by the Greek was the Olympic Games. First held around 776 B.C. to honor the god Zeus, the Olympic Games became a Greek tradition . The games were held close to Olympia, where Greeks believed all the deities lived, every four years. Competitions such as boxing, running, long jump, discus, javelin, chariot racing, and pankration were held. Approximately 2,600 years later, on April 6, 1896, began the modern Olympics taking place in Greece with 14 countries participating . The long jump and running races first seen in

In 776 B.C., a new era began for athletes. The first Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece. The Olympic Games we have come to watch today are only part of what the first Olympic Games used to be. In the ancient games people also competed in poetry, mathematics, architecture and sculpture. At the first Olympic Games there were only foot races as sports events, but as the Olympics grew more popular events like wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, horse racing, javelin tossing, Discus throwing, and the Pankration were added.

"The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us,” said John Williams, the composer for theme music for the Olympics (8). The Olympic Games are international sports festivals that began in ancient Greece. The first ancient Olympics can be traced back to 776 BC when people held this religious festival to honour Zeus, the father of all the Greek gods and goddesses. The participants were male citizens from Greece, and these athletes participated in only one event — foot race. Unfortunately, this ancient Olympics did not last forever. The first olympic in 776 BC in Olympia was an significant event

Stephen G. Miller, an expert Yale professor in the field of Ancient Greek athletics states that the Olympics were held “in honor of Zeus in the city of Olympia” (Miller). “The element of religion is evident in this historical event. Many people have heard of the concepts of the Greek Gods, but this level of religious involvement is interesting. These games were held “for four days every fourth summer”, a tradition that partially continues to this day (Miller). “Many festivals in ancient Greece were dedicated to the Gods” (Miller). In addition to the Olympic Games, there were also other athletic festivals which included the Pythian Games at Delphi, the Isthmian at Corinth, and the Nemean at Argos (Miller). However, the Olympics at Olympia were “the oldest and most prestigious of the four great ancient Greek athletic festivals.

The Olympic Games, was once a significant athletic festival that originated in ancient Greece as a religious festival which was revived in the late 19th century as a secular competition to