Olympic Sports

Olympic games were the most important athletic celebration of the Greek ancient world. They were even considered a symbol of the PanHellenic union since Olympia was transformed into an important religious center similar with the Delphi one. Since 776 B.C. with the first recording of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece until 393 A.D. that were officially canceled, there were 293 games, in which more than 170 cities participated and thousands of athletes competed. The first 14 games had only one sport, the stadium, which was a speed race. Slowly they added more sports, and on its final form the Olympic program included 16 sports and many of them are still in effect until today. On the holly valley of Olympia, in the stadium and the race course, on the open road sports (stadium, diaulos, dolixos, oplitodromia), pentathlon (disk, road, wrestling, javelin, jump), the popular chariot fights and horse racing, the weighty sports (wrestling, fisting, pankration) they competed during the 12 centuries of the Olympic Games significant athletes that amazed the crowds with their accomplishments, overcame the human limits and became legends. This book, that travels us to the Olympic Games of ancient Greece, is based on a remarkable philological, historical, epigraphic and primary archaeological information that presents and highlights the ancient Greek athletic activities.

Savalas publications. Imported. Hardcover. 47 pages. 21 X 29 cm.

ISBN: 978-960-423-019-8