The first recorded Olympic 
Games were held in 776 B.C. but 
may have been in existence more 
than 500 years before that.   
Conceived to honor the god 
Zeus, the Olympic Games were 
one of 4 classical Greek sporting 
festivals and were held every 
four years, until they were 
abolished by the Roman emperor 
Theodosius I in A.D. 394.  

At first, there was only one 
event in the Olympics, a foot race 
of about 200 yards, but 
eventually other events were 
added and the Games extended 
from one day to several.  By the 
late 7th century B.C., the games 
included foot races, discus, 
javelin, wrestling, boxing, horse 
racing and chariot racing.  The 
prize for the winner, and there 
were no prizes for any but the 
winner, was a wreath woven 
from the branch of a wild olive 
tree.  

Only men competed in the ancient 
Olympics, and only men could be 
spectators, with the exception of 
the priestess of  Demeter.  Any 
other female who attended the 
games would be hurled to her 
death from a cliff.  Once, the 
mother of one of the competitors 
disguised herself as a male 
trainer in order to watch her son 
compete.  When he won his 
event, she jumped over a fence 
in her excitement and revealed 
her true identity.  Only because 
her father, brothers and son 
were all Olympic champions was 
her life spared, but thereafter all 
Olympic trainers were required to 
enter the arena without clothes.  
The athletes traditionally wore no 
clothes during their events.  

In the 6th century A.D., an 
earthquake destroyed the 
Stadium of Olympia.  It wasn't 
until 1875 that the ruins were 
discovered, and the idea of the 
modern Olympics was born.