Ancient Greek Olympics :: essays research papers

Ancient Greek Olympics Reporting today's Olympic games is like a technological masterpiece. The athletes compete in many events, their times and scores are tallied and sent worldwide by satellites and high-tech computers within seconds. Each event is carefully watched and recorded with a sense of history. There was no such sense of history or records when the first Games began in Ancient Greece. The first recorded champion in Greece was a sprinter, Coroebus, he was a cook in a near by Greek city called, Elis. He ran naked on a sanded course in front of thousands of spectators. The course was about 630 feet long "or one stad-from which the word stadium was derived." His victory won him a wreath of olive leaves. That was in 776 BC and this year became very important to later Greek Historians. In 300 BC all time was dated by Olympiads, a time span of four years between the games. The Olympiad began with the first recorded foot race. As far back in Greek time as anyone can remember, the human body was a very beautiful thing. "A body of a man had glory, as well as his mind, that both needed discipline, and by that such discipline men best honored Zeus." From time to time the Greeks held ceremonies of Games in honor of their god Zeus. They held these ceremonies for the areas in which they took place. These places were, Pythian, Isthmian, Nemeam, and of course, Olympian. The Olympian games go back to the time of the first people to live in the valley of Alpheas River. There in Elis, in the western Peloponnesus was Olympia, "the fairest spot in Greece." This land was filled with beauty and snowcapped mountains. This area was a perfect spot for the ceremonies held every four years, for Zeus. In 1875, the most important ruins of Ancient Greece were uncovered. One important ruin that was discovered was the temple of Zeus, that was in use about 2,500 years ago. Near it was the temple for his wife, Hera that was even older. It was used about 2,900 years ago. Another important discovery was the finding of the statue of Hermes. Hermes was sculpted by the Praxiteles. This statue was found in the Hera's Temple. Contained in the Temple of Zeus was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it was a statue of Zeus sitting on his throne, it was larger then a two-story house. This great masterpiece was made by, Phidias, it was made of ivory and gold. Soon everyone wanted to win the favor of their god, Zeus.