Ancient Olympics Research Paper

The Olympics is a series of competitions where multiple athletes compete to find a winner. Although, the ancient Olympics had much more meaning than just that. Not only were they a time to have sporting events, but the ancient Olympics were originally held to honor the Greek god Zeus. The very first Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 B.C. (Carpenter). Over the course of time, the games have evolved to what we are used to now. In the beginning, only Greek speaking athletes were allowed to participate. Despite this, the Games were a time for people to come together and share things. Because of this, these events accomplished a lot of things for mankind. The ancient Olympics helped shape history, had a unique style of gameplay, a rich culture,

Another historical fact about the ancient Olympics was it relied on religion to draw people in. “The first Olympics were held from 776 BCE at the first full moon after the summer solstice in honor of Zeus.” (Cartwright). Ancient Olympics often mixed sport with religion. Elaborate shrines were mixed with sporting facilities which gave arenas a natural and mystical beauty. One more important part of history was how women were treated unfairly at the time. Women were not allowed to compete in any of the events during the Olympics. Married women were not even allowed to attend as spectators. This was because of the fact that male athletes competed completely naked. In later years, they included a separate festival to honor Hera, the wife of Zeus. In this festival, women were allowed to compete against each other in a foot race. The history of the Olympics not only taught us the importance of sports and women, it also gave us a phrase many people still use. During the ancient Olympics, the winner of each event would receive an olive branch as a token of the achievement. Because winning the Olympics was the greatest athletic achievement at the time, the olive branch became a symbol for victory.

The sports played in the Olympics started off simple, but as years passed they became more and more complex. The games would start with a procession which went from the host town of Elis to Olympia. All athletes and judges were sworn to oath that they would play fair and by the rules. During the first Olympic Games, “the sole event was a footrace of about 200 meters” (Carpenter). After years of this being the only activity, they created “Pentathlon.” This new sport included running, jumping, and discus throwing (“The Sports Events”). This event was for the more advanced athletes. Running was measured in “stades,” which is now today’s two hundred meters. It was a test of speed covering the Olympia track. The diaulos was two stades long. The dolichos was between seven and twenty-four times as long as a single stade race. The next event was jumping. Athletes used stone or lead weights called “halteres.” They used these to increase the distance of their jumps. The third event was discus throw. The discus was originally made with stone, and later on it was made with iron, lead, or bronze (“The Sports Events”). The newest edition in 708 B.C. was wrestling. “This was highly valued as a form of military exercise without weapons. It ended only when one of the contestants admitted defeat” (“The Sports Events”). Throughout time, many different sports were also added to the