The very first Olympic games were held in
Olympia, Greece, in the year 776 BC and they were
stopped in 393 AD. In the beginning, the games were
conducted for participants from various cities of
Ancient Greece. It was one of the important
ceremonial rituals that were held at that time. The
games where held in the sanctuary of Olympia and not
on Mount Olympus, where Greek gods were assumed to
dwell, and hence, the name Olympic was derived.
Otherwise it would have been Olympian games.
There are many stories about how the Olympic games
originated. One of the stories is that Heracles, the
well-known hero of that time had won a race in
Olympia, after which he declared that the race would
be held every four years. According to another myth,
the king of Olympia, Pelops defeated Oenomaus to
marry his daughter, Hippodamia. For this his former
lover, Poseidon, helped him. In the beginning
funeral sacrifices were offered to Pelops, but now
there is no sacrifice, only offerings, at every
Olympic games. While another story claims that king
of Elis, Iphitos sought the help of Pythis, who was
the Oracle at Delphi, to protect his kingdom from
war and foreign invasion. Pythis ordered him to
please the gods by holding games in honor of them.
Others say that Zeus started it after he defeated
Titans Cronus, the leader of a very powerful race of
deities.
The sanctuary of Zeus where the first Olympic games
were staged has a twelve-meter tall gold and ivory
statue of Zeus, the father of all the Greek Gods.
This status was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of
the World. The only game that was held in the
beginning was Stadion or Stade race. It was an
ancient two hundred yard foot race, which was
considered to be of great supremacy, and the winner
was given great respect and large amount of money.
Participants had to pass five stakes, divisions in
the racetrack, and there was no time limit for the
race. Who ever reached the end line first was
declared as the winner. Two stade, four hundred
meter long, race was started in 724 BC, in the
fourteen Olympic games, and was known as the Diaulos.
The racetrack was made out of clay and sand.
Hoplitodromos was the last running game added to the
Olympics. In that, the athletes were made to wear
Armour, carry shied and wear helmet. This was to
demonstrate the military capacities and the Armour
made it vulnerable to trip and fall. Other games
that were added later on were wrestling, boxing,
mixed martial arts, chariot racing, long jump,
discus thro and javelin throw. The Spartans or the
Megarian Orsippus started the tradition of athelitic
nudity in 720 BC. As many people fought for the
authority of the sanctuary hence it was considered a
matter of prestige to conduct the games.
At first, slaves and women were not allowed as
spectators or participants. Only free men were
allowed to participate in the Olympics. They came
from all the states of Greece and when the word
started spreading, people started coming from as far
as the Mediterranean and the Black sea. Participants
had to file their name in the list and had to meet
certain standards to qualify for the games. Only
youth were allowed to participate and every
participant had to take an oath that he had been in
training for the past ten months, before the statue
of Zeus.
The Heraea Games were started for women and featured
foot games like races, just like for men. It was
started in the Olympic stadium, was administrated by
a group of sixteen women gathered by Hippodameia.
All the games, including Olympic Games, which was
the most famous, were a subordinate of Panhellenic
games. The interval between each game was two to
four years, but at least one game was held once in
four years. Historian, Ephorus, named the time
period between two Olympic games as Olympiad.
Theodosius I or his grandson, Theodosius II ended
the tradition of the Olympic games in 435 AD, when
they wanted to establish Christianity as a state
religion. An earthquake also destroyed the sanctuary
of Olympia in the sixth century AD.
