According to ancient Greek authors, the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC. The competitions were part of a religious festival dedicated to the god Zeus. They were originally local in nature and were held in Elide, an area in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese, where today's Olympia is located. Later, the games spread to the entire Peloponnese peninsula, and then became Greek in general. It is believed that the Spartan legislator Liking played a major role in the formation of the Olympic Games. It should be noted that Olympia is often confused with Mount Olympus, located on the border of Greece and Macedonia, where, according to legend, lived Zeus and other Olympic gods. Of course, the Olympics have never been held near Mount Olympus. The Olympic Games were part of a cycle of all-Greek competitions. The Olympic Games (with emphasis on sports disciplines) and Pythias Games (with emphasis on music and poetry) were held every four years, while the Isthmian Games (near Corinth) and the Remark Games (in the north-east of Peloponnese) were held every two years. The winner in all the competitions of the cycle was called a periodicals and enjoyed the greatest honor and respect. Since the 4th century B. C. the Greeks have been using the Olympics to date events, such as the 3rd year of the 101st Olympics.
How the Olympics were conducted
The Olympic Games were a mixture of sporting and poetic competitions, a religious festival and a trade fair. They gathered about 40-60 people from different policies - a huge number by Greek standards. Here they traded, read poems, drank and ate. All strata of the population of Ancient Greece were allowed to play. But competed in the games, of course, only citizens of Greek policies. In later (Hellenistic and Roman) time in competitions took part not only ethnic Greeks, and all who identified with the Greek culture, spoke in the Greek language. Greeks glorified corporal beauty, therefore sports competitions played an important role in Ancient Greece. In each policy, there was a gymnasium — a special place where young men were preparing for sports games. There, too, were trained edemas - young men of draft age.
Despite the fact that the winner of the first games was the chef from Eliza, most of the winners in the first centuries of the Olympics were aristocrats, because it was the aristocrats who had freed time and money and could afford expensive training. In addition, each Olympian had to sit on a special diet which involved the consumption of large quantities of meat. For the Greeks, meat is more of a luxury: it was eaten on sacrifices, and meat was not included in the daily diet. Contrary to popular belief, Greek athletes were usually professionals.
Belladonna judges were the most honorable people in Eliza. Appeals were possible, but as a rule was not considered. Nothing is known about the atrocities of the fans at the ancient Olympics. The atrocities happened later, in the Roman Empire, and Byzantium. For example, in the VI century AD was the famous uprising of “Nike” in Constantinople. When the blue and green party fans almost arranged the overthrow of the Emperor. In Olympic Games participated separate athletes, team sports were not present. Therefore, the concept of team spirit which is praised today, did not exist in ancient Greece. Spectators were cheering for their relative, compatriot, and there were no reasons for fights and atrocities. Besides, it was forbidden to bring wine to the stadium. On the wall of the stadium in Delphi there is an inscription about a significant fine for those who carried a drink with them. This is how the Greeks ensured order during the competition. The Olympic Games originally lasted one day, but later expanded to five days. The final ritual of the festival was the religious sacrifice of Zeus. Such sacrifices were called Hecatomb.
The Greeks brought a hundred bulls to the altar, burned their insides, and ate meat. It was a large-scale feast with plenty of meat and wine. (Sports) disciplines The first sport discipline was running on different distances: one stage, two stages, long heats from seven to 24 stages, and so on. Stages are a Greek measure of length. The fact is the Olympic Games were dedicated not only to Zeus, but also to his son Heracles, known for his power and a high growth. According to myths, his height was about 192 meters. This is where the first sports discipline comes from — the two-hundred-meter test. It had a ritual character: the athlete had to run to the temple of Zeus and set fire to the ritual fire. They ran with or without torches, we do not know exactly.