Tokyo Olympics of 2020–21. An event we’ve all waited for and followed eagerly. The Olympics have always been an eye-catching series of championships that are occurred every 4 years.
But, we all knew this already. However, have we ever pondered on why exactly did the Olympics start? What is the history behind the Olympics, if there even is any? Well, it all can be explained from a little insight into Greek mythology.
There have been many legends about how these games began but let’s focus on the widely believed one, the one related to mythology.
The Olympic Games were held in honour of Zeus, the father of Greek gods and goddesses. Zeus had just defeated Cronos, the Titan king who had done terrible things, in order to get the throne of all gods. This is when Hercules, the son of Zeus, was a half-god with the strength of superhuman and extreme bravery, got an idea that had a great impact on the future, or the history and present for us now.
Zeus had helped him conquer Elis, a region in Greece, and so, Hercules wanted to do something for him. One more main reason why he started these games was that Zeus had done a lot of work and deserved something for which he will never be forgotten.
However, in 394 AD, king Theodosius I legally abolished the Olympics games. He was a Christian king who ruled a Christian Empire while the Olympics were held in honour of Zeus, a Greek god. He saw no relation of a Greek god to the Christain empire, and hence, had the games stopped.
But, we still have the Olympics games so they must have been started again, right? They were resumed again, in fact, by a Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin. Pierre had read a lot about Greek mythology and had come across the ancient Greek Olympics as well. He wanted to restart the games because believed that they would help bring peace among people and countries.
And he was right. The main aim of the Olympics is to bring international friendship and world peace. Hercules’ idea for an important event to remember Zeus really worked, didn’t it?
