Lexi+and+Natalie

=﻿The Olympic Games﻿ =
 * By: Lexi Shattuck and Natalie McCastland **

The Olympic games were extremely popular in ancient greece. The sacred truce was also called Ekecheiria. The first Ekecheiria was made for a month between Iphitos, of Elis, Kleosthenes, of Pisa and Lykourgos of Sparta. Also, it meant "holding of hands" and wars were suspended during that time. It allowed visitors to travel safely. The reason for the games were to honor the Greek god Zeus, and the goddess Hera. The games they competed in were wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, riding, jumping, throwing, javlin, discus, running, equestrain, and many more. As you can see the games that they competed in were violent, rough, and involved a lot of energy. The ancient Greeks were very competitive and wanted their own state to win.

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The Olympic Games were held in Olympia once every four years, and almost every city-state in Greece participated. The first Olympic game was in 776 B.C. It was not the only competition in Greece at that time, but it was the most popular. At that time, women didn’t have the same rights as men so they weren’t allowed to compete in the games, and slaves weren’t allowed to compete either. Also, if you had done anything that went against the gods, you couldn’t participate in the Olympic Games. So, only men who were fairly wealthy could be in the games because they had to take time off work and pay a trainer. Men played for pride and honor however, they did still get prizes. The winners received a wreath made from a special olive branch. The story behind this was that the branches were cut from a tree planted by Hercules that grew on the property of Zeus’ temple. There are conflicting stories dealing with when the wreaths were given to the winners of the games. The first version says that immediately after their contest, the winners were crowned. The other version states that after the contest, the winner was given a ribbon to tie around his head. This ribbon represented a temporary prize until all the winners received their actual awards in a single ceremony in the Temple of Zeus at the end of the games. ===== =Bibliography =
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