Ancient Olympic Games

Olympia, Greece. Festival of Zeus held every four years for over a millennium

Overview

The ancient festival began in 776 BC, when a cook named Coroebus won the stadion footrace, the only event of the first recorded Olympiad. Free Greek men competed for a crown of wild olives; married women were forbidden even to watch. The Christian emperor Theodosius ended the pagan festival near the close of the 4th century AD, after nearly 300 recorded Olympiads.