Original Olympic Games Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Original Olympic Games - Research Paper Example Although, the spirit by which this festival was revived again in this present world involves replicating that same concept on which ancient Olympics originated. But unfortunately the cloning was not successful due to insufficient data and absence of actual essence of the festival. The fact that Olympics in ancient Greece, originated as a result of social, emotional and religious needs rather than a commercialized value is a major factor in the distinguished grade among two societies. The original Olympic festival in the time when Zeus was worshipped as god had an abundant social value as compared to today’s modern world Olympics. The Call: Let us look at the history of Olympics before we extend our debate on the above agenda. It was named after ‘Olympia’ a city in Greece located near the western coast of the Peloponnese, where these events started. According to many researchers and literature available it is estimated that these events started around 776 BC and re mained until 395 AD (Swaddling 1984). The festival was announced once every four year and on hearing the call, Greek citizens from all over the world poured in for celebrations. By land all the spectators from the neighboring areas used to flood in Olympia, the venue for all these spectacular events. Olympia was situated along the river Alpheios mainly the northern bank. It was a remote area with nice natural habitats at the foot of a famous hill called ‘Kronos’ a name given in the honor of Cronus, father of Zeus (Swaddling 1984). So one of the possible routes was over the waters and thousands of enthusiasts also joined the sea caravan from as far as Africa and Spain. Therefore, it was a call no one could reject or ignore. Despite the fact that this was not an easy journey about 40000 Greek citizens used to witness this outstanding event. This shows nothing but their commitment and respect of this enormous occasion. The distance they had to travel was huge and the means of transport not even comparable to the present world. The festival was held normally during summer in the mid august or mid September which was the hottest time of the year. Many would question the logic of keeping such a strenuous event in such an extreme weather. But in my view, the time was suitable and carefully chosen. Most of the people during that age relied on growing crops and were farmers, this time of the year was ideal as they had just finished with the hard work of harvesting their crops and were free to relax and enjoy the celebrations. There were no proper roads and the pathway was rough with many obstacles as Olympia was a far isolated place. Robbery and mugging was just few of many fears on the way to their destination (Crowther 2007). However, there was a universal Olympic truce that kept hostile forces under control. One of the best possible ways to reach Olympus was by boat but again pirates and shipwreck were a constant threat. Still, their spirits were mounta in high and they had only one common goal to be part of this auspicious event. Not Just a Sport: If we picture Olympics today, we think of a grand opening ceremony followed by hundreds of players participating in a sport contest. Representing their country they play for the honor of their homeland and for their own fame and pride. For the people of Greece, athletics was not only a sport it was a source of spiritual tranquility. As it is evident in many authentic literatures that in those ancient times athletic events were held at funerals as a ritual to gratify the spirit of the dead. In mainland Greece, when Mycenaean’