Olympics

Ancient Greek Olympics

Beginning  The Olympics are believed to have begun in 776 BC, and held in honor of the gods. They were held every four years at the valley Olympia, made up of many different buildings. Women weren't allowed to attend or compete in the games, since the men competed naked. Only citizens of Greece were allowed to compete in the games. The first Olympic games were only one day with wrestling and some athletics. They were later expanded to these five days of various sports. The first day of the Olympics was mainly a sacrificial day. The athletes would arrive, and make sacrifices to Zeus. But before that, they, their fathers, and their trainers had to swear an oath to Zeus that they will obey the rules and have trained for ten months. They then have a delicious meal, and athletes between the ages of twelve and eighteen competed in running, boxing, and wrestling. Day 2 ** The contests start this day, beginning with chariot and horse races. The chariot races take place in the hippodrome, as do the horse races after them. The games then move onto the pentathlon, which takes place in the stadium. The pentathlon is made up of five different events: javelin, discus, wrestling, jumping, and running. They then close the night by honoring the first chariot race winner, Pelops, then having a great feast.
 * Day 1 **
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Day three starts of with a sacrifice to Zeus. The people of the city Elis sacrifice 100 oxen to him, in the biggest religious event of the festivals. All of the athletes and their city's ambassadors march in a parade to the altar where the oxen are sacrificed. (This is now known as the Parade of Nations, in the modern day Olympics, but now we don't sacrifice animals) Then comes the long-distance running race, followed by the sprint race. The sprint race is the most highly anticipated event, since the winner of this event has the games named after him. The day is then ended with a banquet.
 * Day 3 **

Today is a day for the contact sports. The day starts out with wrestling, then moves into boxing. For boxing, only the toughest athletes compete, since there are no gloves, only strips of leather tied around their fists. The Pankration is a combination between boxing and wrestling. The competitors are allowed to harm each other in any way except for weapons, biting, and gouging with the fingers. This is followed by the last event of the games, the race in armor. This event is meant to demonstrate how hard it is to run in armor, and it is a sign of strength. The men run up and down the track two times in armor.
 * Day 4 **

The last day of the Olympics starts out with a procession to the temple of Zeus. This procession of everyone is led by the winning athletes. Once they get there, the winning athletes are crowned with olive wreaths. The athletes now know they honored Zeus greatly. The night before everyone starts to go home, there ae a lot of parties and great feasts all around Olympus.
 * Day 5 **

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by: Rachel