The Olympic Games began in ancient Greece in July 776 BC at Olympia however, it is thought the games began many years before.. As a festival with athletic events staged to honor the god, Zeus, the ...

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — At a temple in Ancient Olympia, a flame is drawn from the sun to begin its journey to the Winter Games. The choreographed ceremony inspired by ancient Greece is designed ...

A view of the ancient ruins of the Stadium at Olympia with its centerpiece 210-yard track. Roger Wood/Corbis In the hills above Olympia, I awoke before dawn, feeling bleary-eyed from the Greek wine ...

The modern Olympics remain both a sporting competition and a symbolic institution shaped by history and aspiration.