The origin of The Olympic Games.

Essay by Anonymous UserCollege, Undergraduate April 1997

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In the present the Olympic Games bring together thousands of fine athletes to compete against one another. But as for when they first started, the Olympics have improved much and bring us all together to celebrate one great festival.

During religious festivals of the ancient Greeks, athletics played an important role. It was to be believed that the competition of the athletics pleased the spirits of the dead . They were also held in honor of the Greek gods, Thanksgiving or of a living person . The religious festivals held by Greek tribes or cities were celebrated about every four years. The Olympian Games are known to have evolved from the religious festivals of the ancient Greeks. It is recorded that they began at some time before 1400 B.C.

The first celebration of the Olympian Games took place at the house of worship of Zeus at Olympia in 776 B.C.

The sanctuary had room for 40,000 spectators, for many years the Olympian Games were for male contestants and male spectators only. Every four years in the summer, this athletic celebration would take place.

In preparation, representatives from the organizing committee would go to Greece and invite the city-states to join in paying their respects to Zeus, so basically by paying their respects they would come to view the Olympian Games. All of the competitions were welcome to only decent Greek men capable of the work to participate in the games. Anything involving the games, the rules were very strict such as, only men could be spectators and they had to be decent strong men. The people of Greece treated these games with a great deal of respect.

In the few days of the Olympian Games the athletes would participate in certain activities or sports each day:

Day One: The...