Ancient Olympic Events

The Olympics are a world known event that connects various cultures and customs. The Modern Olympics hold multiple competitive events that many nations, countries, and communities participate in. The Olympics are not only a frivolous idea but a wise custom. These events can be traced back to Athens nearly 3,000 years ago where only 13 nations competed in 43 events (Williams "The Olympic Games"). Every four years, different regions came to compete in these events in honor of the Greek God Zeus. In addition to the Olympics, the Heraia also impacted Greek culture. Some research tells that the Heraia games “were even more ancient than the Olympic games” ("History of the Olympic Games"). The major differences between these events where the individuals who were

The champion of the Heraia were often “crowned with an olive branch” and the legend of this event tells that the girl often gained strength from Hera ("History of the Olympic Games”). On the other hand, the Olympic victor placed their hometown on the map (Crane “Ancient Olympic Events”). These Ancient Olympic events might seem outdated but in truth many of these events are still participated in today’s society. Olden day events included “...boxing, Chariot racing, riding, pankration [combination of boxing and wrestling], discus, javelin, jump, running, and wrestling...” (Crane “Ancient Olympic Events”). In those Ancient days, the honor to fight for your community was a great honor and often fell upon the communities champion. Not only in the Olympics but many other events portray honor of victors. For example, in Ancient Mesopotamia, the losing team often lost their lives in a sacrificial ritual to honor the victors and their Gods. For such a social and cultural impact, why did these traditional events last for so little time? The downfall of those Ancient customs was caused by the decline of honesty from political