Ancient Olympics (TRIH ep 79)
776 BCE · Resource
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the ancient Olympic Games, exploring origins, mythic founders and the festival’s sacral character. They link the conventional founding date (776 BC) to literary sources, discuss mythic founders such as Pelops, Zeus and Heracles, and explain how athletic victory conferred lasting fame. The episode covers practicalities of the festival — procession, sacrifices, naked competition, the stadium and events (chariot racing, pentathlon, wrestling, boxing, pan...
On these timelines: The Rest Is History (podcast), Resources: Combined
Around 776 BCE
- Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (750 BCE)
- Founding of Rome (traditional) (753 BCE)
- Upanishads composed (800 BCE)
- Founding of Carthage (814 BCE)
- Homer (800 BCE)
- Homer's Odyssey composed (700 BCE)
- Homer's Iliad composed (750 BCE)
- Greek alphabet developed (800 BCE)
- Spring and Autumn period (771 BCE)
- Rise of the polis (750 BCE)