Where do the Olympic Games Come From?
Why do we have the Olympics? And where did the tradition come from? Read a quick refresher on the Olympic Games here.
A photograph of the opening ceremony of the 1896 Olympics (Athens), the first modern Olympic Games.
The history of the Olympics stretches back over two thousand years. The modern Olympic Games have their origin in the ancient Olympic Games, which took place in Greece for several centuries, starting around 700 BCE. Although taking place several centuries ago, the format of the ancient Olympic Games largely corresponds with the games as they are played today: in the ancient Olympic competitions, men from various Greek city-states met to compete in sports every four years. Also like today, while sports were at the forefront of the Olympics, it was impossible to ignore the political overtones. City-states celebrated their victors, politicians used the games as an opportunity to cement alliances, and a period of peace was proclaimed across Greece for the duration of the games. However, there were also some features that distinguished the ancient games from the Olympics as they are played today: artists and sculptors, for instance, also participated in the ancient event. Although existing for centuries, the ancient Olympic Games fell out of practice after the Roman invasion of Greece, likely around the 300s CE.
For 1500 years, the Olympic Games were not played, until they were revised in the 19th century to be the modern Olympic Games. The first modern Olympics were played in 1896 in Athens, Greece, as a tribute to the ancient games. These games were much smaller than they are today. In 1896, athletes from roughly fourteen countries competed. The Games were deemed to be an incredible success: crowds overflowed the stadiums for the events.
What prompted this rebirth of the games in the late 19th century? One reason for the start of this international sporting competition in this time was simply the ease of travel. These years in the late 19th century saw increased opportunities for manageable long-distance travel—steamships, railroads, and carriage systems connected cities and countries in ways that would have been unimaginable even a few decades before. This ability to travel long distances for just a short trip meant that national and international sporting events became more feasible in the late 19th century. Moreover, this was an age of great interest in developing sporting competitions. In the US, the mid-19th century saw a dramatic increase in collegiate athletics, especially the formation of school teams that regularly competed against colleges. In Europe at the same time, official football clubs started being formed to professionalize the sport. Beyond athletics, there is a third reason for the interest in reviving the Olympic Games during this time: the 19th century saw a sustained interest in classicism. In this sense, the Olympic revival corresponded to revivals of other aspects of ancient Greece and Rome, like architecture and the writings of ancient thinkers.
Moving through the 20th century and into the 21st century, the Olympic Games continued to grow in importance. Host nations have used the international stage of the Olympic Games as propaganda opportunities to show off their best characteristics, both for good and ill. Smaller countries have used the global stage of the Olympic Games to gain recognition. At the same time, especially mid-century dictatorships used the Olympic Games as a way to lend the veneer of international approval to their deadly regimes. Moving into the Cold War era, the Olympic Games became one of the most dramatic popular moments in which the capitalist western bloc faced off against the socialist eastern bloc.
While the particular events have changed, and while the abilities of the athletes have improved almost unimaginably since the first Olympic Games, there are clear similarities that continue to link the ancient games to the games today.
