Greek Olympics

Greek Olympics

How did the games begin?

• The Greeks loved sport and the Olympic Games were the biggest sporting event in the ancient calendar.

• The Olympic Games began over 2,700 years ago in Olympia, in south west Greece.

• Every four years, around 50,000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and take part.

• The ancient games were also a religious festival, held in honour of Zeus, the king of the gods.

Awards

There were no gold, silver and bronze medals. Winners were given a wreath of leaves and a hero's welcome back home. Athletes competed for the glory of their city and winners were seen as being touched by the gods.

Multiple Choice

The Olympic games were

• an excuse for lots of people to get together.

• held in honour of Zeus.

• a reason for a big party.

Multiple Choice

The Olympic games were held every

• 2 years

• 4 years

• 6 years

• 3 years

Multiple Choice

Winners received

• medals

• wreath

• money

A truce for the sacred games

Before the games began, messengers were sent out to announce a 'sacred truce' or a peace. This meant that any wars should be called off so that people could travel safely to Olympia.

The main event at the Olympics was not a sporting event, but a sacrifice. On the third day of the games, 100 oxen were sacrificed and burnt on the Altar of Zeus. This altar was not made from stone. Instead it was made from the leftover ash of all the sacrificed oxen. By around 200AD, the mound of ash stood six meters high!

Running

• Running was the first event to be included in the Olympic Games. Athletes ran up and down a 192 metre track in the stadium.

  
  

• Before the race, the competitors lined up along a stone starting block. If anyone tried to get a head start, they were disqualified and beaten for cheating.

• The toughest running race was called the Hoplitodromos. In this event, runners competed wearing armour and carrying a shield. These could weigh up to 25kg!

Discus

• In this event, athletes would compete to throw a stone or metal discus as far as they could.

  
  

• The discus was much larger and flatter than the ones we use today and probably weighed almost twice as much.

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Javelin

• Ancient javelins were sharpened wooden sticks, sometimes with a metal point on the end.

  
  

• Athletes could make them fly further by winding a leather band around the javelin. This would unravel as the javelin was thrown, making it spin in the air.

Long jump

• The ancient long jump was very different from the one we have today. There was no runup and jumpers propelled themselves by swinging weights called halteres in their arms.

  
  

• The athletes would be accompanied by a man playing the flute. They would use the rhythm of the music to time their jump and the swinging of the weights.

Wrestling and boxing

• Like today's games, the ancient Olympics included boxing and wrestling. However, they were a lot more violent!

• The toughest event was the pankration. This was a wrestling match with hardly any rules. The only things competitors couldn’t do were bite or poke people in the eye. Some wrestlers were even killed!

• Boxing was tough too. The fighters wore leather gloves and a boxer was allowed to keep hitting his opponent even after he'd knocked him to the ground!

Horse racing

• There were horse races and chariot races in the ancient Olympic Games.

• These events took place on a race track called a hippodrome. There were no seats, so spectators watched from the sides of the surrounding hills.

• Competitors raced around 12 laps of the track. The most dangerous places were the turning posts at either end, because riders wanted to get the best line for the corner.

  However, it was the owners of the horses that were considered the winners, not the jockeys

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was not an event at the Greek games?

• javelin

• wrestling

• high jump

• long jump

Multiple Choice

Horse racing took place at the

• pankration

• hippodrome

Multiple Choice

In the long jump the men were accompanied by a man playing

• a drum

• a flute

Women

• Only men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Married women were barred.

  If they were caught sneaking in, they could be thrown off the side of a mountain as punishment!

• However, women could still own horses in the chariot races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their own festival at Olympia every four years.

• This was called the Heraia and was held in honour of Hera, Zeus's wife. Winners were awarded crowns of sacred olive branches, the same as men. But in ancient Greece, only Spartan women were really interested in sport.

Multiple Choice

Women were allowed to spectate at the games.

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

Married women were not allowed at the Olympic Games. However, one story tells of a mother so keen to see her son compete that she broke the no-women rule and got in disguised as a man.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

This was called the Heraia and was held in honour of

• Zeus

• Hera