of the Games

, the Greek poet wrote in the 5th BC:"As in the there is no star in the sky and than the sun, there is no than the Games.

to , the first Games can be back to 776 BC. They were to the Gods and were on the of . they had a and a of , many of which were based on Greek myths.

The Games an in the life of the Greek . An was a time unit, the four-year two Games. came to from every of the Greek world at the prize: an olive and a "" to their city-. But apart from the , it was the which to the Games: noble and the to body, will, and mind in a whole.

As the Games , so did a set of such as a of and the of the Truce. They for 12 , until , in 393 AD, that all such 'pagan cults' be . He that the Games an focus on and . The games was until the 19th . such as and who in the of noble and the , lent their and to the of the Games.

, it was Baron de who the re- of the Games, by the of and Greek , the way to the first Games in 1896.

The Greek the , and the to the Games. Any faced by the Greek state at the time, were met the of and alike. The of the that the first Games was by , a Greek from .

With the of the Games, a of were also and (i.e. the , the Creed, the Flag, the Flame and Torch).

Over the years, the Games to and , and now in 2004, they to the of their birth and the city of their for the of the Games.

公元前五世纪的希腊抒情诗人品达曾写道：“正如在白天天空中没有星星比太阳更温暖，更明亮，同样，没有比奥运会更激烈的比赛。

据历史记载，第一届古代奥运会可以追溯到公元前776年，为纪念奥林匹亚神在奥林匹亚的古代平原上举行。起初他们信仰宗教并综合了许多古代运动项目，其中很多都源于古希腊神话。

古代奥运会在古希腊人的生活中占据了很重要的地位。奥运会每四年举行一届，来自希腊各地的参赛者参与角逐，目标就是最终奖赏：一个橄榄花圈和“英雄”般的返乡。除去胜利的光荣，奥林匹克价值本身赋予了奥运会特殊的意义：高尚竞争，把身体、意志和精神平衡的结合于一体。

随着奥运会的发展，一系列程序，如标准化的项目时间表和奥林匹克休战的实践也在完善。这样持续了近 12个世纪，直到西奥多斯大帝在公元393年颁布法令，取缔所有“异教徒”。他宣称，奥运会使公众过于注意运动及精神。 18世纪，奥运会被废止。知识分子们，如塞帕斯和维克拉斯，坚信高尚比赛的精神和奥林匹克理想，为复兴奥运会而努力奔波。

法国人顾拜旦通过提倡运动和希腊古典主义的结合，使奥运会复兴起来，为1896年第一届现代奥运会的举行铺平了道路。

希腊民众迎接了奥运会的复兴，并努力组织起了这次奥运会。当时希腊政府所面临的资金难题，都被人民和捐助者所解决。举行第一届现代奥运会的古潘那斯那康体育场，其大理石更新便是由来自希腊北部的捐助者艾沃奥夫资助的。

随着奥运会的复兴，形成了很多具有象征意义的奥运会传统，如奥林匹克 会歌、奥林匹克格言、奥林匹克旗、奥林匹克火焰和火炬。

经过许多年，奥运会旅行了许多不同的大陆和国家，今年，也就是2004年，她回到了自己的出生地，回到了当年复兴的城市，举行第 28届现代奥运会。