The ancient Greeks worshipped their own gods in order to make them like them; They will hold a ceremony to worship the gods. Every celebration should be accompanied by sports competitions and cultural performances. The ancient Greeks who pursued freedom and peace had a special interest in sports, and they did not forget this activity when they fabricated myths. Legend has it that after the Greek hero Ashley was shot by Trojans, his goddess mother came from the sea specially to hold a funeral competition for her son. She took out many precious relics of her son as prizes for heroes who won wrestling, boxing, discus, archery, running, long jump and chariot competition.
Among the competitions of offering sacrifices to the gods for various purposes, the one held in Olympia is the grandest and most enthusiastic. Because it is held for Zeus, the king of the gods. Olympia is located in the northwest of Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greece, where the Temple of Zeus was built. There is a simple gym, wrestling field and racecourse near the temple. At first, people held some simple competitions here to add festive atmosphere to the sacrifice to Zeus. Later, it gradually developed into a religious festival for all Greek city-states to commemorate Zeus. Every time a festival comes, every city-state implements a "holy truce", and thousands of people gather in Olympia from all over the world to participate in the activities of offering sacrifices to the gods. Olympia suddenly became the center of attention of all Greece. Political envoys conduct diplomatic activities, athletes participate in competitive competitions, artists exhibit their works, speakers give speeches, scholars discuss academic issues, poets recite poems, and businessmen take the opportunity to sell goods. The God Sacrifice Conference has become an economic, trade and cultural activity.
I don't know when this great event began, but the first recorded sports meeting was held in 776 BC. The Greeks regarded this year as the first year of their time. From now on, it will be held every four years At that time, all the city-states will send the best athletes to participate in the competition. There is only one competition in the first sports meeting, the distance is 192.27 meters, and the competition date is one day. Later, middle and long distance running was added. By 18, wrestling, long jump and throwing were added. Later, boxing, chariot, armed race, horse racing and gladiator were included in the competition, and the competition time was gradually extended to three or five days.
On the last day of the competition, a very grand award ceremony will be held. The host of the conference will put a wreath made of olive branches on the winner of the gold medal in the competition, and announce the winner's name, resume, parents' names and from which city-state. At this time, poets, speakers and audiences sang carols for the winners and congratulated them on their good results. Don't underestimate the ordinary olive wreath. Greek young people value it more than gold and treasures. If an athlete wins three times in the competition, people will build a memorial statue for him. When they return to their city-states and hometown, they will be warmly welcomed. Excited people stood on both sides of the road, lining the streets to welcome the winner back. Some people also build the Arc de Triomphe or ride a white horse to greet the victorious hero.
During the competition, a "holy truce" was implemented throughout Greece, and all military actions between the city-states must be stopped, initially for one month, and later changed to three months. No one is allowed to enter the Olympia area with weapons. All roads in Greece should be unimpeded and competitors should not infringe. Any city-state or individual who violates the principle of "Holy Truce" will be punished. In 420 BC, during the "Holy Truce", Spartans were deprived of the right to participate in competitive competitions and were fined for mobilizing their troops. The stipulation of "Holy Truce" embodies the purpose of peace and friendship of the Olympic Games.
There is a strange phenomenon in ancient Greek competitions, that is, the contestants and spectators are all men. It is blasphemous to say that women participate in sports. At the same time, men are naked and must avoid women. In this way, women are excluded from the competition, and they can neither participate in the competition nor watch it. Once found, it will be thrown off the cliff. There was a Greek woman named Felenica, who was born in a sports family. Her father, husband, brother and son all won the competition. She is strong and brave, loves competition and is also her son's wrestling coach. When she learned that her son was going to participate in the wrestling final, she couldn't restrain her inner excitement, so she disguised herself as a man and went to the stadium to watch. Seeing her son win by trying to beat his opponent, she couldn't sit still any longer and couldn't help running to the arena to congratulate her son. Unexpectedly, exposed their identity, leading to beheading disaster. Later, due to the contribution of his family to the sports meeting from generation to generation, he was saved from death.
Since the Macedonians conquered Greece in the 4th century BC, the ancient Olympic Games began to decline. Later, the Romans defeated the Macedonians and ruled the Greek peninsula, and the competition continued to decline. In 392 AD, the Roman emperor Diodo declared Christianity as the state religion, and Olympia was related to offering sacrifices to Zeus, which was regarded as a pagan activity. So in 394, Dior banned Olympia. From 776 BC to this time, the Olympic Games lasted for 1 170 years and were held for 293 times. Since then, the sports meeting has been interrupted 1500 years. Later, there was a great earthquake in Olympia, and the original arena and surrounding ancillary buildings and facilities became ruins and were buried underground.
After the "Renaissance" in Europe began, people admired Greek classical culture and thought of competitive games. Since then, people have been investigating and excavating the Olympia area. By the end of19th century, the ruins and cultural relics of the Olympia Arena were rediscovered, which further aroused people's nostalgia and interest in the ancient sports meeting. Many people hope to resume international sports activities like Olympia, so as to promote the development of sports in all countries and friendly exchanges between people of all countries. During the period after independence, Greece held four competitive competitions in which only its own athletes participated. 1894, with the continuous efforts and initiative of French educator Coubertin, the International Sports Conference decided to restore Olympia and continue to use the name of Olympia in ancient Greece as the Olympic Games. Two years later, 1896, the first Olympic Games was held in Athens, Greece. Since then, according to the ancient Greek tradition, it has been held every four years, taking turns in member countries. This is the origin of the modern Olympic Games.