According to tradition, the first Olympiad it was inaugurated in 776 BC, the year it became for the Greeks the beginning of one of their dating systems.
They were essentially religious feasts deriving from a collective commemorative cult of the great founding ancestors and monarchs of some cities of the Peloponnese.
Later, after about a century, they were able to attract all Greeks including groups that had founded new cities in non-Greek territories.
In the beginning, the Olympics featured only the running race of a stadium, about 192 meters, in Olympia. Later other running competitions were added, then the pentathlon test was introduced (running, long jump, discus throw, javelin throw and wrestling) With this discipline the sporting ideal of the ancient Greeks took shape, which connected, in great harmony, strength with skill and skill .
Then boxing was introduced . Extreme sport because it is absolutely unsafe, but, perhaps for this reason, very popular. The boxers wore gloves, but these were of solid leather .
Then it was the turn of the “ pancrazio “, A fight with no holds barred.
The most extreme race, however, was the one with horses and the wagons introduced in the 25th Olympiad . Horse races were very popular and also sensational. The military aristocracy competed with kings, tyrants, rich people:they spent entire assets to maintain the stables (but the horses were bred and trained mostly for war). The chariot was light and was pulled by 4 horses. The stroke length was 12 times the stage length . Only one person could get on the wagon. Running was very dangerous, especially when turning left. The owner (i.e. the aristocrat) of the wagon was proclaimed the winner while the driver was offered a crown and a woolen ribbon .
The competitions took place in the summer. The most strictly religious ceremonies took place on the first day of the Olympics, including a great sacrifice to Zeus and to the other gods.
The decadence of the ancient Olympic games came when the competitions, the gymnastic games from funeral commemoration of heroes and great ancestors were transformed into a sporting event and an exhibition of male strength.
Before the start of the event, the " spondofori for about three months kirikes "(Announcers, auctioneers), all citizens of Elide , crowned with wild olive branches and holding a stick (symbol of the " kirikes "), They visited all the known cities of the Greek world, from the colonies of Marseille up to Kirine in north Africa , from Macedonia , Thrace and Asia Minor up to the coasts of Bosphorus and announced the “ sacred truce “, Which particularly interested the area of Elide in which absolute tranquility was to reign. Those wishing to go to Olympia , he could cross with absolute tranquility even cities with which his city was at war. No one could enter the Elis with armed forces . He had to leave his weapons at the borders. Any interruption of the truce was considered disrespect to Zeus, in whose honor the races were held. Furthermore, those responsible were subjected to very heavy penalties, as well as exclusion from competitions.
Precisely because of the sacred truce, the Olympic competitions played an important role for the national and psychic unity of the Greeks:on that occasion, misunderstandings and different ways of feeling reality were forgotten and importance was given to the things that united them, such as language, roots and religion. Precisely due to the fact that only the Greeks could participate in the competitions, the Olympics assumed a role of national union, strong and significant .
The modern Olympics they were designed by the French baron Pierre De Coubertin , on April 6, 1896, and represent an opportunity for all peoples and nations to meet. At their base is Olympism which is, mainly, a 'state of mind', made up of internationalist and democratic values. The baron therefore indicated in respect of cultural differences, of different identities, the basis of mutual understanding between peoples and nations. The occasion of this meeting between peoples was the competition, the sport, which the baron believed had a great didactic and formative force. Sport, of course, amateur, an end in itself, pure, or better preparatory to life and work. The races, the technical result was secondary for the baron who proclaimed:" The important thing is not to win, but to participate “.