Comparison of Ancient and Modern Olympics

The first Olympic games were held in Athens, Greece in 776 B.C. in honor of the Greek God Zeus. The games were a source of competition between countries to see who was better than the other country. Over the past centuries, the Ancient and Modern Olympic games have maintained some similarities, but they have also changed in a few ways.

Since the first Olympiad in 776 B.C. to the 2012 Olympic games, the ancient and modern Olympic games hold some similarities. The ancient Olympic games were held every four years just as the modern Olympic games are held every four years today. Another similarity the ancient and modern Olympics have in common is that both of them contain some of the same games as each other. One of the biggest games that were a part of the ancient Olympics was foot racing. Still today, foot racing remains one of the most popular games that the modern Olympics have to hold. Also, the ancient and modern Olympics contain similar games, such as horseback riding, boxing, wrestling, discus, javelin, and long jumping. Also, Olympics gave the community that the games were held in a tremendous boost in their economy. During the course of the games, people would flood into the city and would spend money on food, clothing, shelter, and souvenirs. These few days would supply the people with enough income to make it through the year. This holds true for both the ancient and modern Olympic games.

Even though the ancient and modern Olympics have some similarities, the modern Olympics still changed over the centuries since the ancient Olympics. One difference in the two is the rules in some of the competitions. The rules of wrestling during the ancient Olympics were completely different from the rules of wrestling today. During the ancient Olympics, wrestling had very few rules, such as blows to the genital area were acceptable. The modern rules of wrestling definitely forbid genital area blows. Another difference between the ancient and modern Olympics is that during the ancient Olympics there was a Peace Treaty that occurred during the Olympic games. This Peace Treaty stated that two countries that were at war against one another would have a time of peace to compete in the games. Today, the modern Olympic games do not have this Peace Treaty. In the 2012 Olympic games, the United States and countries in the Middle East were at war and they did not take a break in the war for the Olympic games.

The Olympic games have been, and continue to be a source of great enjoyment and fun ever since the first Olympiad in 776 B.C. However, as time passed, the ancient Olympics experienced changes over the course of several centuries, as would be expected with the changing of human cultures. Although the ancient and modern Olympics are different in several ways, the modern Olympics have nevertheless retained several popular games from the ancient Olympics, ranging from javelin to track and boxing to wrestling. Although some of the games have changed from the time of the ancient Olympics to those of the modern Olympics, the core reasoning for the games remains the same—to help “build a better world through sport practiced in a spirit of peace, excellence, friendship, and respect” (Olympic Museum,2007,pg.2).

Works Cited

The Olympic Museum 2nd edition, 2007. The Modern Olympic Games. http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_668.pdf