Where is the birthplace of the Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are waiting for them with special trepidation, they are prepared for many years and it is on them that people from all over the world come together to measure their strength and sports skills. But in order to fully understand them, it is necessary to know which country is the birthplace of the Olympic Games and how they passed from the very beginning. About this and talk.

Greek homeland

The birthplace of the Olympic Games is Ancient Greece. It was there, in the sacred place of Olympia, for the first time these contests were born. The name of the place and the name of the games. It was located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, in its north-western part.

The first competitions were held in 776 BC. The sporting nature of the game was not worn, they were arranged as a special ritual of veneration of the supreme god Zeus. Emerged as competitions of local significance, they quickly acquired a large-scale character. On a huge oblong stadium from all policies of Greece, athletes gathered to first train, and then to measure themselves by force. The homeland of the Olympic Games hosted people from all the cities, from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

Ancient legends

About how exactly the idea of such games came, several legends are composed. According to one of the most famous versions, the country of the Olympic Games has been immersed in endless wars for a long time. As a result, the king of Elida Iphit, having seen enough of the sufferings of the entire Greek people, decided to find a way of peaceful coexistence. And he managed to find a solution in Delphi, with the help of the priestess of the Apollo cult. She gave him the will of the gods: arrange athletic celebratory games acceptable to the gods, and unite all of Greece in them. Iphit listened to the words of the priestess, and together with the reformer Kliosphenom and legislator Likurg established the order of the sacred games. The question of which homeland of the Olympic Games will be chosen was resolved quickly - it was Olympia, proclaimed a sacred and peaceful part. Everyone who came to its limits with a weapon was recognized as a criminal.

But as it was said before, the myth is not the only one. According to another legend, the founder of the Olympic Games was Hercules, son of the great Zeus. In Olympia, he brought a branch of olives and established games in which athletes will compete.

Organizational matters

To participate in the Olympic Games was not allowed to all. The athlete was to be a free-born citizen of Greece. Only men were allowed to participate. Persons of non-Greek origin, or as they were then called barbarians, as well as disenfranchised slaves, criminals (even of Greek origin) had no right to participate. Participants in the competition even resented the desire of Alexander the Great to take part in the competitions, but he in turn was able to prove his Greek origin. The athletes received special training during the year before the start of the games, and after that they passed the examination of the Ellandik Commission (judges of the competitions). Having passed the Olympic standard, the athletes fell for training with the elladonists themselves, this training lasted about a month.

The motherland of the Olympic Games in the face of the judges carefully monitored the integrity of all participants. Before starting the competition, each of the participants had to swear an honest fight. Fraud in the competition led to the deprivation of the title, a fine and even corporal punishment. Women during the games in Olympia were not allowed, and they could not enjoy the sporting performance. However, there was still an exception to the rules, it concerned the priestess of the goddess Demeter. She proudly watched everything from the marble throne. Men went to the games for free.

Program

At first, the birthplace of the Olympic Games did not really please viewers with diversity. Running was the only match, then gradually other disciplines began to be added. On 18th in the account games in the program struggle and pentathlon including struggle, running, throwing of a disk and spears, and also run has been added. Next came fist fights, chariot races, horseback riding, single combat. Along with the expansion of disciplines, the duration of the competition also increased. If they first took a day, then a week later, it eventually came to a full month.

Honorable victory

The country, which is the birthplace of the Olympic Games, was especially honored by the victories of the athletes. The winner traditionally received an Olympic wreath (a symbol of games) and a purple ribbon. But this his laurels did not end there. This merit allowed him to become one of the circle of the most important persons of the city, which he represented at the competitions. In addition, he was freed of many state obligations. The athlete who won, was called the Olympian.

The first Olympic champions

The birthplace of the Olympic Games for the first time immortalized the memory of an athlete from Elida named Korab. His victory he won in the race. After him began to win young men from all corners of the great and great Greece. And here in 532 BC. The legendary athlete from Croton, the wrestler Milon, became the winner. True, then no one had any idea that he would become legendary. A young man was born in a Greek colony, and even was honored to become a pupil of Pythagoras. But he found his calling on the Olympic arena and soon began to be called "the strongest among the strong." He won the Olympics six times. Even when he was forty years old, he still took part in them, but younger rivals did not allow him to win the seventh award.

Knowing which country is the birthplace of the Olympic Games, it's easy to guess which of the great people of antiquity managed to take part in them. Socrates, Plato, Democritus, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Demosthenes and Pythagoras - all of them showed the world not only their mind, but also excellent physical data.

Decline

The Olympic Games gave rise to many other competitions. Thanks to them appeared Nemeisky, Pythian games, as well as a modern sports Olympics. But, unfortunately, their collapse was inevitable. Along with the decline of the whole of ancient Greece came the decline of games. Appearing initially as the worship of a deity, the sacred contest in a peaceful place began to turn into a fun program. When Ellada began to obey Rome, one of the main rules of the game was violated - citizens of other countries, in particular the Romans became participants. 394 AD became decisive for games, they were banned. This was promoted by Emperor Theodosius I, forcibly forcing Christianity. Games Olympia were recognized as pagan.

And now, several centuries later, in 1887, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman by birth, began to return the Olympic Games to the world. At first he created a committee whose main task was to promote physical education. After raising the issue of creating international sports competitions similar to the ancient Greek Olympic Games. In 1896, at the birthplace of the competitions, the first ever international Olympics took place.