How Did Ancient Greece Change In The Ancient Olympics

While some say the Olympics is a direct cultural aspect plucked from Ancient Greece, it has been drastically changed since its inception. According to Kelley Duddleson, a student at George Mason University, “ the ancient Olympic games were held as a religious event to honor the Greek God, Zeus”(Duddleson). The man who reincarnated the Olympics, Pierre De Coubertin, brought it back as a way to unite thousands of international athletes. The ancient Olympics was seen as a very sacred event that only a select few should attend and compete in. Also, “only men were allowed to compete in the ancient Greek games”(Duddleson). Greek men were raised from birth to train in Athletics as a part of their education. At the time men were thought to be superior to women in every way so they were the only ones holy enough to attend and compete in the games.

Finally, “The ancient Greeks never thought of featuring cold-weather events”(Duddleson). The winter Olympics were a modern incorporation to the games and were first featured in 1924. Since the ancient games were only held in Greece the climate was never close to cold enough for these events to be considered for the games. The Olympics changed from a sacred ritual that every man trained for in hopes of being the victor to a game based around equality and celebrates peace. Despite them sharing a name there is no longer any Greek influence on the games which is displayed by the absurd amount of events that are changed year to year. The Olympics is now a gathering for big business, advertising, and politics and is no longer based around its Greek