what year did the olympics start in ancient greece

The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies. The ancient Olympics were held in Olympia, Greece, and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. The games were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The event was so popular that it became an integral part of ancient Greek society, and every four years from 776 BC to 393 AD, thousands of people from all over the Greek world congregated for the competition. The Olympics were named after Mount Olympus, but they were actually held in the rural sanctuary of Olympia, in Greece’s western Peloponnese region. The ancient Olympics lasted for almost 12 centuries, and all free Greek males were allowed to take part, from farmhands to royal heirs, although the majority of Olympians were soldiers. Women could not compete or even attend, but there was a loophole to this misogynistic rule – chariot owners, not riders, were declared Olympic champions, and anyone could own a chariot.