
The Ancient Greek Olympics for Kids
The first Olympics games are usually given the start year of 776 BCE, but they probably began even sooner. The ancient Greeks loved competitions of all sorts, especially sporting competitions. The Olympics were not the only competition games held in ancient Greece, but they were the most popular.
Once the Olympics began, the Olympic competition was held once every four years for the next 1000 years! The games were held in honor of the mighty god, Zeus, king of all the gods. The games were held in the city-state of Olympia. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Athletics games to compete in the Olympics from all over the Mediterranean. The only requirements were that the athletic was Greek, male, and naked.
At first, the games were made up of foot races. But other sports were gradually added. Besides the foot races, there were boxing and wrestling matches, discus and javelin throwing, and chariot races. Other sports were added as well.
The Greeks took the Olympic games quite seriously. Nearly all the ancient Greek cities sent teams to participate in the ancient Greek Olympics. If two or more Greek city-states happen to be at war with each other when the game date arrived, war was halted for the duration of the games.
Women were not allowed to attend the games because men did not wear clothes when they competed in the events.
Everyone wanted their city-state to win! There was a winner of each competition at the games. All the winner won at the games was a crown made of leaves to wear on his head. When the winning athletics returned home to their city-state, they were treated like superstars!
The Hercules Detective Agency, Case File: Olympic Team Herc
How did the Olympic Games begin?
Story of the Olympic Games (British Museum)
The Origins of the Olympics (Ted-Ed, animated, video)
Ancient Olympic Games - compare and constrast, interactive worksheet
Ancient Olympics compared to Modern Olympics - and more

Explore Ancient Greece
For Kids: Overview
Early Greece: Minoans, Mycenaeans, Dorians
Rise of Greek City-States
- On Land: Greek Warriors
- At Sea: Greek Ships
- Trojan War
- Persian Wars
- The Delian League
- Peloponnesian War
- Alexander the Great
- The League of Corinth
Investigate Real Life Artifacts
For Kids: Art, Culture, Government
For Kids: Greek Mythology
Ancient Greek Myths for Kids, retold by Lin Donn
- Zeus, Hera, and Little Io
- The Competition, Athena and Poseidon
- Theseus, the Minotaur, and the Maze
- Dionysus and Ariadne
- Icarus and Daedalus, Wings
- The 12 Labors of Hercules
- Demeter and Persephone, Reason for the Seasons
- Apollo's Oracle at Delphi
- Perseus, Andromeda, and the sea god, Poseidon
- King Midas and the Donkey Ears
- And Many More
Ancient Greek Gods & Goddesses
For Kids: Ancient Greek Daily Life
NEW: From the Case Files of the Hercules Detective Agency: Join Herc and his friends as they solve daily life problems of the ancient Greeks
- The Misunderstood Minotaur - How Hercules made a best friend
- The Scaredly Fish
- The Tricked Bully
- The Stone Zoo
- The Bad Barber
- The Constant Chatterbox
- The Monster Under the Bridge
- The Festival Arrow
- The Amazing Matchmaker
- And many more, original short stories by Lin and Don Donn - learn about the ancient Greeks the easy way, through the case files of the Hercules Detective Agency!
For Kids: People
For Kids: Interactive Quizzes
Alexander the Great &
Gifts from the Greeks
For Teachers
For Kids and Teachers: Other Ancient Civilizations
See Also: Early Humans for Kids and Teachers