Pankration

2. Pelops was a king of Elian Pisa Peloponnesos. He was the founder of the house
of Atreus. He was a local hero of Olympia thought to be the mythical founder of
the games.

3. The first Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776
BCE in Elias. At this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis),
won the sole event at the Olympics, the stade - a run of approximately 192
meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in
history.

4. The Hellanodikai were the judges of the Ancient Olympic Games. It was their
responsibility to enforce the rules of the games and continue the legacy and
standard of the games. For the first Olympics, there was only one Hellanodikai
but over time this changed and the number of Hellanodikai got up to twelve,
with one senior Hellanodikai as an overseer.
The Hellanodikai were handpicked by the people living in Elis, because it was
their duty to run the games. As the judges and umpires of the games, the
Hellanodikai were also the general organisers and were supposed to police the
games. They had the honour of presenting the winners with the crowns and
palm branches to the winners.

5. Zeus was the most important of all the Olympic gods. He looked like an older,
bearded man. His symbol or attributed was the thunderbolt which represented
power. His strengths were being highly powerful, strong, charming, and
persuasive.

6. The Ancient Olympic games were different to the modern Olympic Games as
there were much fewer events. The events in the Ancient Olympics were boxing,
equestrian events including chariot racing and riding, running wrestling, the
Prankation and the Pentathlon. The Pentathlon had five events which were
discus, javelin, running, jumping and wrestling.

7. The winners were presented with a simple olive wreath crown which also is the
fact that the participants taking part were competing for themselves, and not
any material rewards. The pride that the felt after winning an event was
overwhelming.

8. The Ancient Olympic games ended in 393 AD by the Roman Emperor at the time,
Theodosius. He put an end to the games as a bid to make Christianity as a state
religion. He thought ending the Olympics would help his campaign because the
Ancient Olympics were held in honour of Zeus. Zeus was not part of the Christian
religion and was part of another religion.