The Olympic Games are just over two weeks away, and I know that we are all wondering about the history of the competition. I know I was curious, so I travelled to Greece and uncovered some ancient historical documents, which I am quite willing to share.
The History of the Ancient Games
The Ancient Olympic Games
The first games were held in the year 776 BCE in the small town of Klazomenai, but was moved to Olympia to be closer to the gods, and due to the fact that no one could say "Klazomenaic".
There were only two events that first year: The Marathon, which after the initial race was changed to an out and back after the racers wound up 26.2 miles away and the crowds at the stadium were extremely disappointed. The second event was the ever popular, hotdog eating contest. The symbol for the games was a single ring representing pita bread.
It was for many years just for Greek citizens until the Etruscans were invited to participate, mostly because they had better wine. A second ring was added to the flag by the committee led by Vennisus who would go on to fame in the field of diagrams.
Wrestling between the two countries was added, hence the name Greco-Etruscan Wrestling (or GEW as the kids called it). The winner of the first gold medal in the sport was won by fan favorite, Hulkus Hoganakis.
Athletes began to complain—mostly because didn't want to do it every year because it interfered with their summer holidays. It was suggested that they could alternate between summer and winter games, to which they said, "Huh? What's winter?". It was finally decided that the event would be held every four years, on the condition that everyone shows up.
The Games were only missed twice between 779 BCE and 393 CE, the first time because of the great olive fiasco, and the second time because there was a Taylor Swift concert scheduled in the stadium. The games were finally cancelled by Roman emperor Theodosius I because they wouldn't include actually stabbing in fencing competition.
The games finally reappeared in England in 1616,but that's another story.
-Leon
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Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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