Title: Ancient Olympics Origins and History
Headings: The History of the Olympics
The History of the Olympics
The Origins of the Olympic Games
When Did the Games Stop?
Frequency of the Games
A Religious Occasion
The Rewards of Victory
Main Sports

Content: Earthquakes in 522 and 526 and natural disasters, Theodosius II, Slav invaders, Venetians, and Turks all contributed to destroying the monuments at the site. Frequency of the Games
The Ancient Greeks held the Olympics every four years starting near the summer solstice. This four-year period was known as an "Olympiad" and was used as a reference point for dating events throughout Greece. Greek poleis (city-states) had their own calendars, with different names for the months, so the Olympiad provided a measure of uniformity. Pausanias, travel writer of the second century A.D, writes about the impossible chronology of a victory in an early footrace by reference to the relevant Olympiads: [6.3.8] The statue of Oebotas was set up by the Achaeans by the command of the Delphic Apollo in the eightieth Olympiad [433 B.C.], but Oebotas won his victory in the footrace at the sixth Festival [749 B.C.]. How, therefore, could Oebotas have taken part in the Greek victory at Plataea [479 B.C.]? A Religious Occasion
The Olympics were a religious event for the Greeks. A temple on the site of Olympia, which was dedicated to Zeus, held a gold and ivory statue of the king of the gods. By the greatest Greek sculptor, Pheidias, it stood 42-feet high and was one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World .