Ancient Olympic Games

brief history of olympic games.

Ancient Olympic Games

ancient festival and olympic games,

unframed past history will explain.

from an ancient foot race,

back in the day. 

now  a multi-sport event 

worldwide.

the best of the best athletic's can

benefit as they take front

stage in a grand competition,

a repeat in history. 

ancient olympic games primarily,

were part of a religious festival. 

although games were played,

honor was given to their gods. 

mythical zeus being the father

of greek gods and goddesses,  

homage and sacrifice did suffice.

it was their culture and custom

among them. 

this special event was held

in olympia, a rural sanctuary 

site in western peloponnesos.

greeks came from many lands,

and shared their religious beliefs,

at hand.

after this they did compete.

mount olympus, being the home 

of the greatest greek gods 

and goddesses of all.

olympic games went on from

from 684 BC through 393 AD.

and onward.

for a time they stopped 

the competition.

perhaps a lack of not pleasing

their god's needs.

maybe an increase in superstition.

nevertheless it took 1503 years 

for them to start it up again,

with full throttle thrust.

yet it is said and suggested that

there were other olympic festivals 

and those games were as

early as 5th century BC.

from the 8th century B.C. 

to the 4th century A.D., 

and were held every four years 

in Olympia,.

there, continued religious festival and 

olympic games did take place.

an olympiad in 684 BC through

200 BC.

those events were:

running, boxing, pankration, long jump,

javelin, shot put and equestrian

events,

competition was fierce.

anyways the athletes were all men,

in those days. 

from every corner of the greek world 

they came. 

they spoke the same language,

preventing confusion and anguish.

their ancient olympic games began 

in 776 BC and were held every four

years for about twelve centuries 

extending.

during opening ceremony,

there was no torch relays displayed.

flames were used to light altars

for sacrifice inclined.

the idea of torch and flame

came about in 1836,

food for thought.

and was first inaugurated in 1896,

during the summer olympic games 

in berlin, germany 

most definitely.

first ancient olympic games,

was only one event called 

the stadion race,

It was a foot race of 600 feet.

athletes were eager to participate

and complete.

the grand prize for winning

was an olive wreath of honor.

closing celebrations were extravagant 

and truly amazing.

festive activities, eating feasting, 

red wine drinking,

singing and even reciting poetry.

I bet that was really neat.

performing ritual sacrifices honoring 

their gods was never forgotten.

this olympic festival and game went from

776BC until 724BC regardless of rain,

from the highest mountain in mainland.

however evidence does suggests,

that these olympic events,

were held as early as 5th century BC.

tripods were found that were used 

for victor prizes going to athletes.

as they strived to win.

this was a good incentive,

indeed.

don't confuse marathon 

with the olympic games.

these two are not the same.

marathon was a modern 

stepping stone that introduced 

the first modern olympic games 

back in Athens, Greece in 1896.

summer olympics games came

and did reign. 

this is an undisputed truth too.

back to the ancient past,

northwest of the aegean 

sea peninsula, western peloponnese,

southwest of the mediterranean sea, 

five miles into the bay is the place, 

athens the city of the gods.

it's history at large.

once again, those athletes 

did compete and defeat.

the golden age brought 

about more spectacular 

olympic games.

ancient greece had many cultural

achieves that laid the foundation of

Western civilization's piece.

idea was presented by 

baron pierre de coubertin in 1894,

underscored.

so in 1896 the first summer olympics

flourished.

also called the games of the I olympian. 

it was a multi-sport event 

held in modern athens, greece,

ooh wee!

so many athletes attended and

were involved,

there was so much attention,

millions did applaud.

opening and ending ceremony went 

something like this:

"I declare the opening of the first 

international olympic games in athens. 

long live the Nation. 

long live the greek people."

this speech was very creative.

events consisted and are listed: 

athletics, sailing, wrestling, weightlifting,

shooting, swimming, cycling, gymnastics, 

tennis and fencing.

relay, running flamed torch began.

medals awarded at the end.

2016 summer olympics begin August 5th,

in rio de janeiro, an event not to miss.

highest level of athletic competition.

young men and women.

and this is such an honor.

good luck to all!. 

Go team USA Go!

let the games begin!

Author's Note

2016 Summer olympics are starting... Rio de Janeiro! Please read my poem. I am open to comments.

Reviews

[Aidan Oberholtzer]

This so awesome! You teach in a beautiful way.

[D]

Well, we've got two gold medals for a start this time...so.... RIA-RIA-HUNGÁRIA!!!! :D

[Marianne Rose]

Your poetry is unlike any I have read, filled with history and facts which it seems you took such care to research and pass on. You are like an ancient scribe writing the history to date of what civilization deems important. So interesting to read your journeys down the roads of history on so many different subjects.

[revalatia]

Oh f#ck yes! Truly awesome. You delivered this in just the perfect context. Woken up to similar knowledge of the ancient games myself, and couldn't have found a better way to word this. Thank you so much for sharing this piece! ~~~~~~~ & peace! :)

[Coyote Poetry]

Thank you my friend. I enjoyed the history shared about the Olympics. I enjoy the Olympics. It seem the world can gather as one in a single event.
Coyote

[GalaxyGhost]

That's interesting! I didn't know some of this. I don't often keep up with the Olympics, but I still enjoy finding out what goes on.

[wordman]

buddy you covered it all,almost as good as being there

[Desirée Tolliver]

This is a very intriguing poem. I really enjoyed reading about the history of the Olympics and I thought it was quite interesting that the Greeks didn't use a torch for their games until 1920. I find your knowledge of the Olympics very detailed and I would like to commend you for posting this on WritersCafe. Keep up the good work and good luck in your future endeavors. I look forward to reading more writing by you in the future.

[Ruth]

Goodness, this is in-depth and enlightening, has a passionate and tense pace as well, how times change, made me think, a great insight and brought something unique to my eyes :)