Olympics in Ancient Greece History Assignment

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Olympics in Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, the Olympic Games started in Olympia more than 2700 years ago in southwest Greece. Originally the games were considered part of the Greek religious festival. The Greek Olympics began at around 776 BC and are considered to be a major inspiration to the modern Olympics which started in 1896 (Spivey & Spivey, 2005). The ancient Greek Olympics were held in Zeus’ honor that was regarded as the ‘king of the Gods.' The games were staged periodically after 4 years in the Olympia valley near Ellis city. Over the years the games gained prominence and people from Greece and other parts of the world came to either take part in the games or watch. Often, the Greek city-states were at war. Therefore, it made it difficult to travel across the cities. As a result, messengers from Elis announced a peace treaty, a ‘sacred truce' which lasted for a month prior to the games (Spivey & Spivey, 2005). In that time, Greece attached more importance to the games than war since they were regarded part of a religious festival. Therefore, during the games, the Olympic Truce was established to ensure that both the athletes and the spectators traveled and returned to and from Greece in safety. Additionally, the games became a fundamental political tool for the city-states. For instance, they became essential in asserting dominance by the city-states over their rivals. During this time, politicians would form alliances that proved crucial in times of war. On top of that, the Greek Olympics became an important element in aiding the spread of Hellenistic culture in the Mediterranean region.
Spectators also came to Greece to see spectacular phenomenon such as ‘The Statue of Zeus.' The stature was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was located inside the Zeus Temple covered in ivory and Gold. Made in 435 BC, its height was approximately six times the height of an average man (Spivey & Spivey, 2005). Most of the ancient poets and sculptors congregated at Olympia to showcase their artworks. Unlike the modern games, the ancient Olympics had considerably fewer events. For instance, during the first day of the event, the short sprint was then the only event undertaken from one end of the field to the other. Other events were added gradually to make the whole competition a four-day event. Such events included chariot racing, javelin and discus throwing, wrestling, long jump, and boxing. There were five events that made up the Pentathlon (Spivey & Spivey, 2005). They included javelin and discus throwing, running, long jump, and wrestling. Of all the events, hoplites were one of the toughest events whereby men wore armors and carried shields. The e...