GREEK EVENTS
The foot- race
It is the oldest contest that took place in Olympia. Until the 13th Olympiad (728 B.C.) when the games lasted for only one day, it was the only event at the sanctuary. The athletes were running nude, in an area whose length was determined at 600 feet (192.27m), that is one Stade.
It was this distance that gave its name to the area used for the performance of the event. These areas, the stadiums, were situated on hillsides or in small valleys, thus enabling the spectators to follow the events. Later and as the crowd of spectators grew, artificial slopes were built and the spectators sat on the ground.
Pentathlon
The pentathlon was a combination of heavy and light events. It included jumping, running, javelin, discus and wrestling. The pentathlon was considered to be a very important event because the athlete had to combine many qualities and skills of the body.
In the Olympic Games running and wrestling were conducted separately, while the other three events were independent. Jason was, according to mythology, the inventor of the pentathlon.
Jumping
It is similar to the long jump. The athlete jumped into a pit holding halters in his hands. It was accompanied by flute music.
WRESTLING
Wrestling was one of the events that the Greek gods made for the pentathlon.
Is a sport who will win all of them in the ring.
The horse races
The hippodrome, a space used for the horse races differed in size from place to place. An aristocratic event, the horse races comprised of various events and were conducted with horses, chariots and quadriga.
The most spectucular Event
The most spectacular event was the quadriga race, an event in which the most prominent historic personalities had competed. The hippodrome was the main place for exhibiting wealth and political strength during antiquity.
The Temple of Hera (Heraion)
A Doric temple dated to the end of the 7th century B.C. The Heraion is one of the oldest examples of monumental dimensioned temples in Greek architecture. Made of wood originally it was a richly ornamented large building with a three-aisled cella where the statues of Hera and Zeus stood.
The Temple of Zeus
The Doric peripteral temple, the work of the Elean architect Libon is dated at 470-456 B.C.
It was erected on the southern part of the Altis, on a free section of land.
The dimensions of the Doric temple were imposing, thus giving it an impressive image. On the same level as the Heraion, the Temple of Zeus was dominating the sanctuary due to its size, the stone columns on its sides and the magnificent pediments with sculptured compositions in the severe style, featuring Zeus and Apollo as its central figures. The twelve metopes of the temple depicted the labours of Hercules.