There are many different stories about the beginning of the Olympics. One myth says that the guardians of the infant god Zeus held the first footrace, or that Zeus himself started the Games to celebrate his victory over his father Cronus for control of the world.
Another tradition states that after the Greek hero Pelops won a chariot race against King Oenomaus to marry Oenomaus's daughter Hippodamia, he established the Games. Athletic games also were an important part of many religious festivals from early on in ancient Greek culture.
In the Iliad, the famous warrior Achilles holds games as part of the funeral services for his best friend Patroclus.
The events in them include a chariot race, a footrace, a discus match, boxing and wrestling. The footrace was the sole event for the first 13 Olympiads.
Over time, the Greeks added longer footraces, and separate events. The pentathlon and wrestling events were the first new sports to be added, in the 18th Olympiad.The Vase Footrace. Two nude youths are racing while two men watch. In the center of the scene, the two nude youths run toward the right. They have fillets around their hair. On either side stands a cloaked spectator looking toward them. Their chitons are black and their himations red, they wear little red caps, and they are clean shaven.
