In August or September, the ancient Olympics would be taken place
Every four years the games were held in Greece
The Olympics started in 776 B.C. and ended in 393 A.D.
The games were held to honor Zeus
People came from all over to see the games take place
Wars would be on pause to watch the games
Spectators would have to sleep outside and in tents because there wasn't a city in Olympia
Olympia only had a sanctuary and sporting venues
Spectators and Events
The Olympic games were five days long
There
were religious ceremonies for addition to the events
Only
males were able to compete
Slaves,
women, and men who have committed certain crimes were exclude from the games
Women
were not allowed to even watch
Some
little girls were able to go and watch the games
Some
modern Olympic games where from the Greek Olympic games
There
were less events at the ancient Olympics
The
games were taken place nude, except for the chariot race and the
foot-race wearing armor
Foot-races of approximately 200, 400, and 4000 meters
Pentathlon
(discus, long jump, javelin, running, and wrestling
Wrestling
Boxing
Pankration
(a combination of wrestling and boxing in which anything was
allowed except biting and gouging; kicking, strangling and
breaking fingers were all permitted)
A
foot-race wearing armor
Prizes
Winners get a crown of wild olive leaves
Towns wanted one of their citizens to win the games
Towns would give gifts if a citizen was from their town
Front row seats to festivals
Free meals for life
Erect a statue of himself at Olympia
Poems written about the winner
No second or third prizes
Other Competition
Another competition was for young women
To honor Hera, the competition was called Heraia and was also held at Olympia
Foot-race was the only event there
Women would be split up by their age
Heraia was very four years, but on different years than the Olympics
Young women didn't compete naked
Wore tunics that ended a little above their knee
The games weren't only big in Greece
There were games at other places too to honor gods
Delphi to honor Apollo
Nemea to honor Zeus
Isthmia to honor Poseidon
There was at least one competition a year
The games started again in 1896
Pierre de Coubertin was the one who started them again
Some things have stayed the same, some things changed