The ancient Greeks attached great importance to physical culture. After all, every healthy adult man was obliged to defend his hometown in case of war. Only a strong, hardy person could make long hikes, then fight in heavy armor, and even in the heat. Therefore, all kinds of sports were very popular. Of these competitions, the most significant and famous were the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Games are so named because they were held in the city of Olympia, in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Once every four years, the heralds dispersed to all the cities and villages of Greece, announcing that it was time for the next games. From all over the country, people flocked to Olympia. If there was a war, a truce was concluded for the period of the competition.
According to myths, these games were started by the great hero Hercules. The first reliably established date for the Olympics dates back to 776 BC. Initially, athletes competed only in running a distance equal to one stage - about 190 meters. Then the number of types of competitions increased. The most dangerous of these were fistfights and chariot races. The winner became a real idol of his hometown, he was honored almost like a god.
In Greece, many similar games were held, but the Olympic Games were the most significant, as they were dedicated to the supreme god - Zeus. Here, in Olympia, there was a temple, which housed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - the statue of Zeus, the work of the famous sculptor Phidias. She was so magnificent that the Greeks did not spare the most enthusiastic words to describe her.
For over a thousand years, these wonderful competitions have been held, even in the days when Greece was conquered by the Romans. And then, by decree of the Roman emperor Theodosius, who became a zealous Christian, the games were banned as pagan, and the stadium and other sports facilities of Olympia were badly destroyed. Archaeologists discovered them only in the 18th century.
A little more than a hundred years later, a group of enthusiasts led by the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin achieved the resumption of the Olympic Games. The first modern Olympics took place in Athens in 1896.
