Ancient Olympic Games Ancient Olympic Games The ancient Olympic Games were originally a festival, or celebration of and for Zeus; later, events such as a footrace, a javelin contest, and wrestling matches were added. The Olympic Games (, "Olympia", "the Olympics"; also , , "the Olympiad") were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The first Olympics is traditionally dated to 776 BC. They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule, until the emperor
Running in Ancient Greece (Flaceliere 106). In the Olympics, there was a race in armor, the "Hoplitodromos", which reflected the games' origins as a means of training for warfare. The torch-relay race was added to entertain the crowds. This event was run the night before the ancient Olympic Games began (Olympic Sports - Foot Races). Today we honor this tradition with the Olympic torch. One event that was not ever in the ancient Olympic Games is the marathon. What is called a marathon today gets its name from the distance covered by the runner Pheidippides over the course of three to four days from