The home of the ancient Olympics

today is a day trip to this ancient site.
the highlight was viewing the spot where the Olynpic torch is lit every two years. a chic greek fashion model or someother noteworthy and beautifyl woman takes on the role of a goddess.

Origins
The Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions held for representatives of various city-states of Ancient Greece. Records indicate that they began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece. They were celebrated until 393 AD.The Games were usually held every four years, or olympiad, as the unit of time came to be known. During a celebration of the Games, an Olympic Truce was enacted to enable athletes to travel from their countries to Olympia in safety. The prizes for the victors were laurel wreaths, palm branches, sometimes even food for life. The ancient Olympics were rather different from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete (even though a woman is also mentioned as a winner, she deceived the organisers, ). Athletes from any country or city (famous athletes from as far as Rome and Armenia are mentioned) were allowed to participate. The Games were always held at Olympia instead of moving around to different places at each separate Olympic event as is the case for modern Olympics.


The origins of the Ancient Olympic Games are unknown, but legends and myths have survived. One myth about the festival at Olympia involved Pelops, king of Olympia and eponymous hero of the Peloponnesus, to whom offerings were made during the Games. The Christian writer Clement of Alexandria asserted, "[The] Olympian games are nothing else than the funeral sacrifices of Pelops."[3] That myth tells of how Pelops overcame the king and won the hand of his daughter Hippodamia so that he could become king, with the help of Poseidon, his old lover. This is a myth linked to the later fall of the house of Atreus and the sufferings of Oedipus. Another myth tells of the hero Hercules, or Herakles, who won a race at Olympia and then decreed that the race should be re-enacted every four years. Yet another myth claims that Zeus initiated the festival after his defeat of his predecessor, the Titan Cronus. Some people state that the Greeks believed that the gods enjoyed watching sporting events. These games also served as a way to ready men for battle with skills like running, wrestling, throwing the javelin for accuracy, and throwing the discus for distance.

Another myth tells of King Iphitos of Elis, who consulted Pythia, the Oracle at Delphi, to find a way to save his people from war in the ninth century BC. This was the most respected temple in Greece, a religious center originally founded for the worship of Python. The prophetess advised him to organize games in honour of the deities. The Spartan adversary of Iphitos then decided to stop fighting during these games. They were called Olympic Games, after the sanctuary of Olympia where they were held. Had they been named after Mount Olympus, the mountain on which the Greek deities were said to live, they would have been called Olympian games rather than Olympic. Participation in the classical games was limited to male athletes except for women who were allowed to take part by entering horses in the equestrian events. In 396 BC, and again in 392 BC, the horses of a Spartan princess named Cynisca won her the four-horse race. It is thought that single women (not betrothed or married) were allowed to watch the races. Also priestesses in the temple of Zeus who lit the candles were permitted.

The athletes usually competed naked, not only as the weather was appropriate, but also as the festival was meant to celebrate, in part, the achievements of the human body. Olive oil was occasionally used by the competitors, not only to keep skin smooth, but also to provide an appealing look for the participants. Competitors may have worn a kynodesme to restrain the penis.

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