There are many myths surrounding the origin of the ancient Olympic
Games; the most popular of which identifies Heracles and his father
Zeus as the progenitors of the Games. According to the legend, Zeus
held sporting events in honor of his defeat of Cronus, and succession
to the throne of heaven. Heracles, being his eldest son, defeated his
brothers in a running race and was crowned with a wreath of wild olive
branches. It is Heracles who first called the games Olympic, and
established the custom of holding them every 4 years.[1] The legend
diverges at this point. One popular story claims that after Heracles
completed his 12 labors, he went on to build the Olympic stadium and
surrounding buildings as an honor to Zeus. After the stadium was
complete, he walked in a straight line for 200 strides and called this
distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which
later also became a unit of distance. Another myth associates the
first Games with the ancient Greek concept of Olympic truce
(�κεχει�ία, ekecheiria). The most widely held estimate for the
inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC.[2]

From then on, the Olympic Games quickly became very important
throughout ancient Greece. They reached their zenith in the 6th and
5th centuries BC. The Olympics were of fundamental religious
importance. They featured sport events and ritual sacrifices honoring
both Zeus (whose colossal statue stood at Olympia), and Pelops, divine
hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his legendary
chariot races with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.[3] The number of events
increased to twenty and the celebration spanned several days. Winners
of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues.[4]
The Games were held every four years, known as an Olympiad. The Greeks
used Olympiads as one of their units of time measurement.

The Games enjoyed immense success. Victors were treated as conquering
heroes, their statues adorned Athens and their home towns.[5]
Gradually though, the Games began to declined in importance as the
Romans gained power and influence in Greece. In 393 AD Emperor
Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the Empire. After
nearly 400&nbspyears in existence, the Olympic Games were banned due
to their roots in paganism. [6] The Olympics were not seen again until
their rebirth 1,500 years l