Ancient Olympic Games

ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES.

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres. The event was instituted in commemoration of the run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September, 490 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "We wοn", before collapsing and dying.

The ancient Greeks dedicated the Olympic Games to the god Zeus. The original games were held on the city of Olympia. The Greeks held the first Olympic games in the year 776 BC (over 2700 years ago), and had only one event, a sprint (a short run). The race was run by men who competed in the nude. A wreath of olive branches was placed on the winner's head. The olive tree was the sacred tree of Athens, Greece. Women were neither allowed to compete in the games nor to watch them.

The four-year period between the Olympic games was called an olympiad. Every four years, for 1,170 years, the Greeks held an Olympics. Many other sports were added, including other races, wrestling, boxing, pentathlon (five events, including the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, foot race, and wrestling), and equestrian events (events with horses and people, like chariot races and horse races). The Olympic games were banned by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II in the year AC 394. ACTIVITIES.

1. Write down and translate the words underlined in the text.

2. Read the third paragraph and write down the verbs in past, infinitive and the meaning in spanish.

Past Infinitive Meaning

3. Responde a las siguientes preguntas: a. ¿En qué se parece la actual carrera del maratón con su origen griego?. b. ¿Cuáles eran las pruebas atléticas que se celebraban en Olimpia?. c. ¿Podían las mujeres asistir a las pruebas atléticas?. d. ¿Qué llevaban puesto los atletas en las competiciones?. e. ¿En honor de qué dios se celebraban los Juegos?.