Essay+Map+on+Greece


 * Ancient Greece was a society rich in culture it was also where the original Olympic games started. The Greeks worshipped gods, Godesses and heroes. The original Olympic games were inspired by the gods and it was a great honor to participate in them. __The ancient Greeks thrived on competition and the people that participated in the games had a great appreciation and pride for being the best__.

The Greeks invented many things one of those things is ancient Olympics.**."The Olympics were always held at the Temple of Zeus." The ancient Olympic Games were always held at Olympia in the western Peloponnese. Here, at the heart of the sacred precinct of Zeus, stood the magnificent Temple of Zeus, the chief god of Greek mythology, who was believed to bestow on athletes the prowess and skills that enabled them to excel in sport, and was thus inextricably bound up with the ancient Games." "The sprinting event in the ancient Olympics was inspired by Hercules. "At the Olympic Games, the sprint was always the most important race. It was run over a distance of a little more than 192 meters, the distance that Hercules (or Herakles), the mythical founder of the Games, was said to have been able to run in one breath."[]"First and foremost, the Greeks, as noted above, viewed the Olympic Games as a religious festival. It was therefore their duty to attend and/or participate in the Games, and duty to the gods was more important than duty to their city-states." The Greeks saw the games as a symbol of peace in their war ridden country. Even though the ancient olympics were fiercely competitive, their peaceful nature was always a distinguishing characteristic that made them unique. in this regard, one of the more extradornary stories about ancient Greece is that during the Olympic games, All fighting stopped it was considered disrespectful to the gods to engage in conflict during this period." "For seven days before and after the Olympics, all fighting was forbidden in order to allow for safe travel for both spectators and athletes to and from the games. If any of the city-states violated this truce, they were fined and punished severely."[]

In the Events of the Ancient Olympic games women were not able to participate in the events. Women back then weren't really able to participate in sports except in the city of Sparta. "Women in ancient Greece were rarely allowed to take part in sport, except in Sparta, where it was believed that mothers who were tough and strong would produce good Spartan soldiers." The women were only allowed to participate in only one event and that was the foot race."Like the Olympics the Heraia were celebrated every four years, but the only event was the foot-race, with contests for three separate age-groups. The races were held in the stadium but with the track being shortened by one sixth, making it 158m long, instead of the 192m run by the men." "Perhaps this reflected the Greek male view of the physical inferiority of women. Religious conservatism probably also played a part in the exclusion of women from many sports." []