Ancient Olympic Games

Several factions competed for power and prestige by determining who would rule the Olympian Games and the refuge. According to Pausanias, the people of Pisa hired Pheidon of Argos to take over the games in 668 BC after he successfully captured the sanctuary from the town of Elis. Elis took back power the following year. For the first two hundred years of their existence, the games were only of religious significance in their respective regions. In the early days of the Olympic Games, only local Greeks would compete. Peloponnesian athletes tended to play leading roles in triumphant narratives, proving this point. Similarly, the idea that physical energy was being wasted in a ritualistic manner may be traced back to the dawn of Greek athletics, which evolved from the socialisation and glorification of prehistoric hunting rituals. To emphasise the Greek ideals of training one's body to be as fit as one's mind, the Greeks hosted their competitions in splendid facilities, with prizes and nudity. The belief that the Greeks created sport stems from their worldview and sense of athletic superiority. As time went on, the Olympic events grew in popularity and were eventually included into the Panhellenic Games, a series of four competitions spaced every two to four years but scheduled such that at least one set of events occurred annually. The Olympic Games were the most prestigious of the Panhellenic Games, which also included the Pythian Games, the Nemean Games, and the Isthmian Games.