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Article: How the Olympic Games began: a love of sport and competition inspired the ancient Greeks to create the greatest athletic contests ever.(World History)
- Article from:
- Junior Scholastic
- Article date:
- May 10, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Of all the athletic contests ancient Greece, none rivaled the Olympics. The Games, which honored Zeus, the king of all gods, served many purposes: religious, political, and athletic. The ancient Greeks even measured time in Olympiads, the four-year intervals between Games.
Pindar's Olympian Odes, written around 470 B.C., tell us the significance of these events: "Water is best, and gold, like a blazing fire in the night, stands out supreme of all lordly wealth. But if, my heart, you wish to sing of contests ... let us not proclaim any contest greater than Olympia."
No one knows exactly why the Games began, but the Greeks liked to turn almost everything ...