Origins of the Olympics
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 4 August 2024
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Olympics. It’s the most famous sporting event in the world, and the 33rd Olympiad is taking place in Paris right now. But how did it all begin?
It's a story that takes us back more than 2,000 years. Featuring mythological heroes like Heracles, ancient athletes that became celebrities and the great sanctuary of Olympia in western Greece, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
In today's episode of The Ancients Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr. Judith Swaddling to delve into the origins of the Olympic Games, uncovering how they were founded and what the earliest Olympics looked like.
Presented by Tristan Hughes. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.
The Ancients is recording our first LIVE SHOW at the London Podcast Festival on Thursday 5th September 2024!
Book your tickets now to be in the audience and ask Tristan and his guest your burning questions.
Tickets on sale HERE https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/the-ancients/
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘ANCIENTS’. https://historyhit.com/subscription
Vote for The Ancients in the Listeners Choice category of British Podcast Awards here.
You can take part in our listener survey here.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Whilst you're sunbathing with Sarah in Sardinia, who's at the door? |
| 0:05.0 | It's okay, it's only Dave the delivery driver. |
| 0:08.0 | Because you've installed Ring, you can chat to him from the beach and tell him where to leave the parcel. |
| 0:13.0 | With Ring, you can have complete peace of mind during the summer. |
| 0:16.0 | Whether you're in holiday or just out and about, you'll know that your home is safe and secure. |
| 0:21.0 | You can even check up on your pets like Charlie the Chinchilla. |
| 0:25.3 | Never miss a thing with Ring. Learn more at Ring.com. |
| 0:30.1 | This is an ad by Better Help. How often do you compare yourself to others? |
| 0:34.0 | It's easy to envy Friends Lives on social media, |
| 0:37.0 | but comparison is the thief of joy, |
| 0:39.0 | and in reality nobody has it all together. |
| 0:41.0 | Online therapy can help you focus on what you want, |
| 0:44.0 | not what others have, because your best life is better |
| 0:46.7 | than the idea of someone else's. |
| 0:49.0 | Stop comparing and start living with better help. |
| 0:52.6 | Visit better help.com to learn more and save 10% on your first month. |
| 0:57.4 | That's better H-E-L-P.com. The Olympics. Today it's the most famous sporting event in the world. But how did it all begin? |
| 1:19.0 | Well it's a story that takes us back more than 2,000 years, featuring mythological heroes like Heracles, |
| 1:25.9 | ancient athletes that became celebrities, and the great sanctuary of Olympia in Western Greece |
| 1:31.6 | that was the sacred setting for the original ancient Olympics, home to |
| 1:36.6 | one of the seven wonders of the ancient world in the statue of Zeus. It's the ancients on history hit. |
| 1:45.0 | I'm Tristan Hughes your host and today we are exploring the origins of the Olympic Games. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.