Title: Ancient Olympic Games - Wikipedia
Headings: Ancient Olympic Games
Ancient Olympic Games
Contents
Origin mythology
History
Prehistory
First games
Olympiad calendar
Early history
Temple of Zeus
Imperial period
Roman conquest of Greece
Augustus
Nero
Renaissance
Decline
Location
Culture
Politics
Events
Running
Combat
Discus
Long jump
Pentathlon
Equestrian
Famous athletes
Olympic festivals in other places
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Content: Before the race, she persuaded her father's charioteer Myrtilus to replace the bronze axle pins of the king's chariot with wax ones. Naturally, during the race, the wax melted and the king fell from his chariot and was killed. After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as a thanksgiving to the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus, in order to be purified of his death. It was from this funeral race held at Olympia that the beginnings of the Olympic Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and he gave his name to the Peloponnese . One (later) myth, attributed to Pindar, states that the festival at Olympia involved Heracles, the son of Zeus: According to Pindar, Heracles established an athletic festival to honor his father, Zeus, after he had completed his labors. The patterns that emerge from these myths are that the Greeks believed the games had their roots in religion, that athletic competition was tied to worship of the gods, and the revival of the ancient games was intended to bring peace, harmony and a return to the origins of Greek life. History
The Olympic games were held to be one of the two central rituals in ancient Greece, the other being the much older religious festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries. Prehistory
Areas around the Mediterranean had a long tradition of athletic events.