Rise Of The Ancient Olympics

The ancient olympics were a series of events that only highly ranking people in society could attend. In the beginning the olympics only consisted of one event and only rich men could compete and attend. The main reason the olympics were so significant is because they honored the mythical god Zeus. The olympics at first only consisted of one event but eventually grew to have many more. The olympics came to be because of a fight between Greek god Cronus and his son Zeus. The ancient olympics was an event that not everyone could attend, but was significant to people all over Greece.

The ancient olympics began approximately in 776 BC. The only event in the first olympics was a stadion race. A stadion race was a run of one hundred and ninety
Legends say that Zeus and his father Cronus were fighting for control over the world because a random citizen told Cronus one of his children was competing for his spot on the throne. King Cronus obviously did not want to be overthrown by one of his many children, so he swallowed them. Zeus did not want to be eaten by his father, so he went to his mother Rhea for help. Rhea was very tired of her husband swallowing her children so she was willing to help Zeus. Rhea helped Zeus find a “potion” that Cronus thought would make him invincible, but really released all of his children. This is why Zeus and his Father fought. Zeus won the battle and became king. Hercules then came up with idea of the olympics as a symbol of his honor and for Zeus’ accomplishment. This is the story many people believe and why we now have the olympics. A very large statue of Zeus was created and placed in a valley in Greece. This valley was later named Olympia. Olympia was created approximately 5,000 years after Hercules came up with the idea. Women were not allowed to attend the event because they were considered a pollutant and a distraction to men competing. An event similar to the olympics was created in the 6th century for women called the Hera Games. The olympics were so important to everyone in Greece because they worshiped their most important god Zeus. The value of the awards were also very important to not only the athletes but their families and the people of Greece. Winners in the olympics became very widely known and praised for winning. Now the olympics unite different cultures and promotes peace and unity throughout the