The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games  were a series of athletic competitions held for representatives of various city-states of Ancient Greece held in honour of Zeus. The exact origins of the Games are shrouded in myth and legend but records indicate that they began in 776 BC in Olympia in Greece. They were celebrated until 393 AD when they were suppressed by Theodosius I as part of the campaign to impose Christianity as a state religion. The Games were usually held every four years, or olympiad, as the unit of time came to be known. During a celebration of the Games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to the Games in safety. The prizes for the victors were wreaths of laurel leaves. (From which we get the adage, "resting on one's laurels.")
The Games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political alliances at the Games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The Games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations and artistic competitions. A great statue of Zeus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world was erected in Olympia to preside over the Games. Sculptors and poets would congregate each olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons.
The ancient Olympics were rather different from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete (although a woman, Bilistiche is also mentioned as a winner). As long as they met the entrance criteria, athletes from any country or city-state were allowed to participate. The Games were always held at Olympia rather than alternating to different locations as is the tradition with the modern Olympic Games.^[1] There is one major commonality between the ancient and modern Games, the victorious athletes are honored, feted, and praised. Their deeds were heralded and chronicled so that future generations could appreciate their accomplishments.

Ancient Greek Words

academic - akadimaikos 
angel - angelos
basic - basikos
biography - biographia
calligraphy - caligraphia
catastrophic - catastrophikos
democracy - dimokratia
economic - oikonomikos

Ancient Greece

Greece is a mountainous country and the ancient Greeks were a hardy, independent people. Their first civilization, the Mycenaean, rested on agriculture but also extended trade networks. A Dark Age followed the collapse of the Mycenaeans (1100 BC), but by the 8th century BC a growing population saw the emergence of small city-states - urban centers dependent on their local territory. The city-state fostered sophisticated politics, marble temples, drama and philosophy. There were also religious shrines - Olympia and Delphi among them - that offered a cultural focus for all Greeks, including those who migrated through the Mediterranean. After success in the Persian wars (490 and 480 BC) there were no limits to Greek self-confidence, and the 5th century BC saw the achievements of the Classical period. In the late 5th century BC, however, the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (which Athens lost) heralded the decline of the city-state and Greece was crushed by Macedonian expansion in the late 4th century BC. Following Alexander the Great's conquests, Greek culture spread throughout Asia and into Egypt in the Hellenistic period, and remained intact after absorption into the Roman Empire.