Give an introduction of Ancient Olympic games.
The origin of Olympic Games belongs to Greece. Ancient Olympic Games were participated in pre-historic period and continued for many centuries as Greece’s festival. The records say that the first historic mentioning of games occurred in the year 776 B.C. These games were played in the state of Athens near the valley of Appheur river at Olympiad. The games were held with religious customs in the honour of their god ‘Zeus’.
The ceremony of Olympic Games begins from the newmoonday in July after four years. The events of Olympic continues for five days in precise order. On the first day of games, the priest performs the rituals with grand opening and burns the sacred torch. On the next day ‘Emphibians’ (animal games) were played. On the third day ‘Diaulos’ (foot races) ‘Dolichos’ (chariot races and equestrian), ‘Panthalon’ (combination races throwing jumping) were performed. On the fourth day ‘Puglis’ (boxing, wrestling, sword fighting and other contact games) were played. On the final day of closing ceremony, the prizes were given to heroes. The flock of pigeons were sent to all cities of Greece which carry the names of the champions. The prizes (crown) given to winners were made from Olive leaves. The famous heroes of these games were Homer, Atlas, Hercules, Gallen, etc. are still remembered in our stones. Ancient Olympic Games came to a sudden end when the Roman emperor ‘Theodosius’ banned these games in the year 394 A.D. The glory of these games vanished with time as ruins are still present in Olympiad.