Anthony+and+Mike

by Anthony Anastasi & Michael Durkin


 * THE ORIGINAL OLYMPICS**

Most Greeks were sports fans. That is why they started the Olympics. The Olympics sporting event is held every four years. The games are believed to have started around 776 BC. It was thought to be a religious event to honor the Greek God Zeus, but no one knows for sure. The games were held in the city of Olympia. Any free man could play in the games. Women were not allowed to participate or attend the games. The city-states would stop fighting in order to go to the games. This is known as the sacred truce.

The Olympiads had to train for over 10 months. One month before the games the Olympiads had to go to Olympia to be watched by officials of the city state. Some of the sporting events were javelin, chariot racing, wresting, shot put, and discus throwing. The Greek people took the games very seriously and if you got caught cheating you were penalized. The winners got an olive crown. The games were played until almost 400 AD, when Theodosius I stopped them. The games started back up in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

The Collesium An Olympic athlete []

[|www.ancientgreece.com]

[]

[]