History of the Olympic Games - Term Paper Example

The Olympics was later revived by Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France in 1894 with the formation of the International Olympic committee (IOC) which is the governing body until now. Since then, the events are held every four years during summer and winter. This paper will outline the history of Olympic Games from inception to date highlighting the major changes the games have undergone. These began in ancient Greece 3000 years ago. However, it is not known when the games actually began as some date back to 776 B.

C while others indicate earlier or later dates. From 8th century B.C to 4th century A.D, the games were held every four years between August 6 and September 19 during religious festivals at the Olympia in honor of Greek god Zeus (Crowther 45-46). The Olympia was situated in West coast of Peloponnese or what was referred as the Island of “Pelops’ who was the founder of Olympic Games. According to Olympic.org (nap), it was a meeting place for worship, political and religious practices as early as 10th century B.C. At the central part of the Olympia lay the temple of Zeus hence most events were held during religious festivals of cult of Zeus.

The games were entrenched in the aristocratic ideals of “the beautiful and the good” which included spiritual and moral excellence, harmony, skill, balance and grace (Crowther 58). These ideals are still embraced by IOC today. The games were held every four years between city-states and kingdoms and involved a period of Olympic peace during which safe passage across the Mediterranean was allowed for 3 months before and after the games. Noticeable is the fact that only men were allowed to participate in the games and married women were not allowed to be spectators.

According to Crowther “the men were to be male, of Greek city-state and tribe, free born, have legitimate