History of Anceint Greek Olympic Games

Ancient Greece is one of the best beginning civilizations and without them we would not be where we are today. They have given us everything from Democracy in their government to movement in sculpture. Not only did they give us a basis for a solid society, but also the aristocrats gave birth to the idea of testing the strength of the body and the “intellectual prowess of the mind.” They created athletic festivals to honor their patron god of goddess. Each athlete has the opportunity to bring pride to their family and honor to their country. It began as a simple festival has blossomed into a global event known as the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is still a huge part of Western Civilization and the world, in which athletes compete every four years to bring honor to their country.
The first Olympic Games began in 776 BCE and every forth year athletes would compete in various events. In Judith Swaddling’s book The Ancient Olympic Games she state
The Games were held in order to honor the god Zeus, he was the supreme God to the people of Greece, and they believed that he lived on mount Olympia with all the other Gods and Goddess. Many people came to watch the games but they also came to make pilgrimages to Olympia which was thought of as a sacred place. Olympia was a very remote cite for such an event to be held, but they believed it was touched by Zeus himself; there fore it must be an important place.
In order for the games to begin there had to be a truce between all Greek cities and suspended hostilities for a specific amount of time. In the 8th century a so called Sacred Truce was signed by many Kings of the Peloponnese area. According to the Foundation of The Hellenic World, “The immediate objective was to stop the hostilities among the people of Peloponnese, but essentially it was a treaty respected by all Greeks.”2 During the truce all hostilities were suspended so that athletes could travel through enemy territories safely. All weapons and armies...