Ancient Olympics Research Paper

The first ever Olympic games can be traced as far back to 776 B.C. The Olympic Games originated in Greece and the purpose of these games was to praise the Greek God, Zeus. When only residents of Greece were allowed to participate, it was known as a religious ceremony meant to be taken seriously for Greeks. However, he Ancient Olympic Games and the Modern Olympic Games have similarities as well such as the fact that they are held every four years. This pattern of the Olympics Games being every four years has not changed ever since they started. A huge difference between then and now is that only men were allowed to participate. Now women and men can choose to be apart of the Olympics and as well represent their country as opposed to back then …show more content…
As stated above, the Ancient Olympic were a religious factor and meant to praise the Greek God, Zeus. If men participated, it showed that they owed their own purity and importance to their religion. In the first 13 years of the Olympics, the only game that was played was the foot race that consisted of a 600 foot long track. More games were introduced later on in the years such as long jump, javelin, boxing, shot put, and pankration. During the Ancient Olympic Games, there was only one participant that would be crowned due to there being only one game that was played. This person would be crowned with a crown of olive leaves and a statue of himself was placed in Olympia. According to Scholastic news, the Ancient Olympic games were held in Olympia on the eastern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula. Men from different cities came and participated in the Ancient Olympics. Before 720 B.C. men typically wore a type of garment called a perizoma that covered the bottom half of their body. However during a short sprint in the 15th Olympics, a participant named Orsippos was running the short sprint when his garment fell off his lower half. He didn’t stop and ran the