The Olympics

Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "The Olympics." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.

Term Paper Title	The Olympics
# of Words	2392
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	9.57

The Olympics
     Two and a half years ago, 1996 A.D., the world watched as the city of Atlanta, Georgia hosted the modern Olympics over a span of twenty-one days.  The first modern Olympics were held 103 years earlier in 1886 at Athens, Greece.  Many people don't know that there was an actual Ancient Greek Olympics that started over 2,500 years ago.  These Olympics were also held in Greece, but not in Athens.  They were held at Olympia a now archaeological site/town in the part of western Greece called Peloponnese.

     As stated above the Ancient Olympics were held in Olympia, Greece.  In pre-historic times though, Olympia was home to temples of Cronus and Rhea (parents of Zeus) and Gaia, Mother Earth..  A low cone shaped hill called the Hill of Cronus dominates the area.  Dorian invaders who came from Thessaly, ruled the land sometime before 1000 B.C.  They worshiped Zeus and brought a new mythology to the area.  They even named a pair of neighboring mountains Ossa and Olympus in memory of their native region.

     Olympia was not just the site of the games; it was also a place of worship.  The sacred site was known as Altis, which occupies a meadow where the two rivers Apheios and Kladeos meet..  It is here where two important temples lay, the temple to Zeus, the king of gods, and the temple of Hera, his wife.  The foundation of the temple of Hera was laid in the mid-seventh century B.C., and is among the oldest remaining examples of Classical Greek architecture.  The temple stood for over 1,000 years and contained a statue of Hera enthroned with Zeus standing at her side.  It is here, on a sacrificial altar, in front of her temple that the sun lights the torch for the modern Olympics with the aid of mirrors.

     The building of the temple of Zeus from 470 B.C. to 456 B.C. at the height of Classic Greek Architecture, coincided the successful defense of Greece against Persia.  The temple had six enormous columns front and back and thirteen on each side.  Each of the columns were made with the local conchiferate stone which was covered with a fine coat of lime.  The temple itself is 210 feet long and over 90 feet wide and was the largest temple in the Peloponnese.  The temple contained a huge statue depicting Zeus enthroned, made of gold, ivory, and chryselephantine.  It was built by Phidias one of the best sculptor of the times, and is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  It is said to have stood forty feet high, but no one is sure because it was removed...

This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.

Membership Plans	Credit Card	Check

1 month membership

3 month membership (You Save 50%)

6 month membership (You Save 67%)

Copyright © 2002-2007 Mid Term Papers. All rights reserved. This term papers website is used for research purposes only.
If you have forgotten your username or password, please click here.
If you like to cancel your account, please click here.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22