英语小报-古代奥运会

The Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions held for representatives of various city-states of Ancient Greece held in honour of Zeus. The exact origins of the Games are shrouded in myth and legend but records indicate that they began in 776 BC in Olympia in Greece. The Games were usually held every four years, or olympiad, as the unit of time came to be known. During a celebration of the Games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to the Games in safety. The prizes for the victors were wreaths of laurel leaves The Parthenon in Athens, one of the leading city-states of the ancient world The ancient Olympics were rather different from the modern Games. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete。 As long as they met the entrance criteria, athletes from any country or city-state were allowed to participate. The Games were always held at Olympia rather than alternating to different locations. Olympia in Ancient Greece In 484 or 480 BC, Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium, won the mule biga event, and this tetradrachm was struck in commemoration. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games