The ancient origins of the Olympics - Armand D'Angour
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-ancient-origins-of-the-olympics-armand-d-angour Thousands of years in the making, the Olympics began as part of a religious festival honoring...
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Thousands of years in the making, what began as part of a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus in the rural Greek town of Olympia has today become the greatest show of sporting excellence on Earth. The inception date in 776 BC became the basis for the Greek's earliest calendar, where time was marked in four-year increments called olympiads. What could it be? Why, it's the Olympic games, of course. Competition fosters excellence, or so thought the Ancient Greeks. In addition to sporting events, contests were held for music, singing, and poetry. You can read about them all yourself in classical literary works, like Homer's "Iliad" and Virgil's "Aeneid." Even mythical heroes appreciate a good contest every...
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Thousands of years in the making, what began as part of a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus in the rural Greek town of Olympia has today become the greatest show of sporting excellence on Earth. The inception date in 776 BC became the basis for the Greek's earliest calendar, where time was marked in four-year increments called olympiads. What could it be? Why, it's the Olympic games, of course. Competition fosters excellence, or so thought the Ancient Greeks. In addition to sporting events, contests were held for music, singing, and poetry. You can read about them all yourself in classical literary works, like Homer's "Iliad" and Virgil's "Aeneid." Even mythical heroes appreciate a good contest every...
