The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Almost 2,800 years ago, the ancient Greeks held a sporting event every four years on Mount Olympus. The festival was part-com. The in honor of the games. Then in the 19th century, one man came up with the idea of bringing the games back to life.

Learn more about the Modern Olympic Movement on this episode of Everything everywhere daily. The Olympics get their name from Mount Olympus, which was the legendary home of the Greek

gods.

According to Aristotle, the first Olympics were held in the year 776 BC.

This state is mostly accepted by historians and archaeological evidence.

If it isn't accurate, then it's probably pretty close. The competitors came from

city, states, and kingdoms from Greater Greece who all held the same religious

beliefs and the pantheon of Greek gods. The first Olympics only had one event called the Stadion. This was a running event of a distance of about 190 meters.

The Greek word Stadion is where the English word Stadium comes from.

Over time other events were added including wrestling, discus, javelin, long jump, shot put, equestrian,

and one event called a pancreation.

Pancration was sort of a mixture of boxing and wrestling and it was probably closer to modern day

mixed martial arts.

I should note that all of the ancient competitors and spectators were men and everyone competed naked.

The Olympics continued through most of the Roman period and didn't formally end until the year

393, when the Emperor Theodosius I outlawed all paganism and pagan rights.

The Olympics were never really forgotten, but it was just a historical note, not something that anyone really had any desire to resurrect.

The term Olympics began being generally used for

organized athletic events. There were 17th century games in England called

the Kotswold Olympics. During the French Revolution there was an event called

the La Olympia de Republic.

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