Olympic Games
Panhellenic athletic festival held every four years at Olympia in honour of Zeus
The Meaning of Olympic Games
The Olympic Games were the most prestigious of the four Panhellenic athletic festivals, held every four years at the sacred site of Olympia in Elis from 776 BCE for over a millennium. They honoured Zeus, king of the gods, and featured events including the stadion sprint, wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, and the pentathlon. A sacred truce — the ekecheiria — halted all Greek wars during the games, allowing safe passage for athletes and spectators. Victors received olive wreaths cut from Zeus's sacred tree and became heroes in their home cities. The games were so central to Greek identity that the four-year Olympiad became the standard unit of chronology across the Greek world.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
The ancient Olympic Games ran for over 1,100 years before Emperor Theodosius banned them in 393 CE
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Pan-Hellenic Games
💭 conceptCulture
The four great athletic and religious festivals that united the Greek world in sacred competition
Panathenaea
💭 conceptfestival, athletics
The most important festival of Athens, held annually in honour of Athena with a grand procession, athletic contests, and the presentation of a new peplos to the goddess.
Olympiad
💭 conceptAthletics and time-keeping
A four-year period between Olympic Games used as a dating system in ancient Greece, now applied to the modern Olympic Games and international athletic competition generally
Olympic Truce
💭 conceptpeace, athletics
The sacred truce declared before and during the ancient Olympic Games, protecting athletes, spectators, and pilgrims from violence across the entire Greek world.
Pythian Games
💭 conceptathletics, music
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Delphi every four years in honour of Apollo, unique for combining athletic events with musical competitions.
Isthmian Games
💭 conceptathletics, Poseidon
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Corinth every two years in honour of Poseidon, with victors crowned in pine or celery wreaths.
God of Athletes
💭 conceptAthletics, competition, physical excellence, gymnastics
Hermes presides over athletic contests, protecting competitors and rewarding speed, skill, and fair play.
Olympian
💭 conceptExcellence, supreme achievement, athletic greatness
Pertaining to supreme mastery or athletic competition, from Mount Olympus, home of the gods.
Panathenaia
💭 conceptFestival, Athena, Athens
Greatest Athenian festival honouring Athena with processions, contests, and the sacred peplos
Hermaia
💭 conceptFestival, Hermes, youth
Festival honouring Hermes as patron of the gymnasium with athletic contests for boys
Pindar Odes
💭 conceptLiterature
Pindar's victory odes celebrating athletic champions at the great Panhellenic festivals of ancient Greece
Pentathalon
💭 conceptathletics, excellence
The five-event Olympic competition combining running, jumping, discus, javelin, and wrestling, considered the test of the complete athlete.