The Olympic Games :: Olympics History Greek Olympia Essays

The prodigious GamesThe Olympic Games are an international sports festival that began inancient Greece. The original Greek games were staged every poop class forseveral hundred days, until they were abolished in the early Christian era.The revival of the Olympic Games took place in 1896, and since then they havebeen staged every fourth year, except during World War I and World War II. by chance the basic difference between the ancient and newfangled Olympics isthat the former was the ancient Greeks way of saluting their immortals, whereas themodern Games are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of citizens of onlynations. The original Olympics featured competition in music, oratory, andtheater performances as well. The modern Games have a more expansive athleticagenda, and for two and one-half weeks they are supposed to replace the rancorof international conflict with comradely competition. In recent times, however,that lofty ideal has not always been attained.The ear liest reliable date that recorded history gives for the premiereOlympics is 776 BC, although virtu every last(predicate)y all historians presume that the Gamesbegan well before then.It is certain that during the midsummer of 776 BC a festival was held atOlympia on the highly civilized easterly coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula.That festival remained a regularly scheduled event, pickings place during the pre-Christian golden age of Greece. As a evidence to the religious nature of theGames, which were held in honor of Zeus, the most important god in the ancientGreek pantheon, all wars would cease during the contests. According to theearliest records, only one athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics--a cull race of about 183 m (200 yd), or the length of the stadium. A cook,Coroibus of Elis, was the first recorded winner. The first few Olympics hadonly local appeal and were control to one race on one day only custody wereallowed to compete or attend. A second race--twice the length of the stadium--was added in the fourteenth Olympics, and a still longer race was added to the nextcompetition, four years later.When the powerful, warlike Spartans began to compete, they influenced theagenda. The 18th Olympics included wrestling and a pentathlon consisting ofrunning, jumping, spear throwing, disk throwing, and wrestling. Boxing wasadded at the 23rd Olympiad, and the games continued to expand, with the additionof chariot bucket along and other sports. In the 37th Olympiad the format wasextended to five days of competition.The growth of the Games fostered professionalism among the competitors,and the Olympic ideals waned as royalty began to compete for personal gain,