Olympic+Games

Patience Walker



 Once every four years, men from all over Greece came to compete in a great athletic festival in Elis, in western Greece (Women were not allowed to compete). This was called the Olympic Games because the place was called Olympia. It was a religious festival to honor the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. When it was time for the games, the rulers of Elis sent out messengers all over Greece and to the Greek colonies around the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. They declared a truce throughout the Greek world for a month. No matter whom you had a war with, you had to stop the war and let their athletes and performers go through your city-state safely to get to the Olympic Games. At first, the only athletic competition at the Olympics was a single short foot race, 170 meters long. Over the years, more events were added: boxing, wrestling (pale), a very bloody pankration (regulated full-contact fighting, similar to today's mixed martial arts), chariot racing, several other running events, as well as a pentathlon, consisting of wrestling, //stadion(//the most prestigious race; the winner was often considered to be the winner of an entire Games), long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw. The winner of an Olympic event was awarded an olive branch and often was received with much honor throughout Greece and especially in his home town, where he was often granted large sums of money.