The Cloning: The Role Of Olympic Events In Ancient Greece

The history of Olympics is far more interesting and intriguing than anyone would imagine it to be. The role played by the Olympic events in the ancient Greece was in contrast from what it contributes today. This owes mainly to the difference in the underlying notion and the laying foundation between the two sets of events, separated by centuries of time span. Although, the spirit by which this festival was revived again in this present world involves replicating that same concept on which ancient Olympics originated. But unfortunately the cloning was not successful due to insufficient data and absence of actual essence of the festival. The fact that Olympics in ancient Greece, originated as a result of social, emotional and religious needs

According to the ancient Greek mythology Zeus is considered to be the supreme God. He is believed to be the father of gods and men, sky and thunder were under his command. The great event at the Olympiad was celebrated in the honor of Zeus. For many this event was not at all a usual gathering but a religious pilgrimage for obtaining the contentment from their supreme lord. Zeus was the son of Cronus and Rhea and was by far the most popular god in the Greek history. He is believed to rule Olympiad Mountains or Mt Olympos and he showered his blessings to the participants of the game. It was a common assumption that those competitors who used to win their contest were greatly favored by him and used to help them become victorious over others. Olympus was a home of more than 70 altars of different gods including Zeus. According to many historians the first athletic race was of a small duration and towards the altar of Zeus. The victorious will lit the fire considered to be sacred by making a sacrifice to the god. So it can be concluded that not only the origin of these events was deep rooted in religious believes but the direction in which the race was run had a religious aspect as well. Similar evidences of grand sacrifices were found by the historians. It is believed that during the games many offerings, mostly animal sacrifices, were made to the Olympic god Zeus in order to obtain his blessings and favor. Among many other religious statues and sacred articles, Olympus houses an important oracle; oracle of Zeus. As mentioned before lots of offerings in the form of sacrifices were burnt in the altar fire and a priest used to read the oracle and predict the future by interpreting what he saw in the fire. He also used to predict the most favored athletes in the eyes of Zeus indirectly predicting champions of the tournament. From all these historical evidences it can be argued that the