Day 7

 Ancient Olympia and an Evening in the Town Square 

The 8s had a short sleep and were up and ready to go by 830am. We had a very informative presentation from Ella and Lauren, before heading out in the vans to drive the hour drive to Ancient Olympia. We met our tour guide, Vasilis who showed us around the grounds. We ended with a race in the very stadium the ancient Olympians ran in. Our top 3 were awarded an Olive wreath handmade by our guide Vasilis. We learned about the Olympic games, the myths behind them, and we went through the museum to check out all the ancient artifacts.

Question: 

Ancient Olympia is known as a sanctuary site for the god Zeus, used in ancient times. Are there any modern historical sites that might be viewed in the same way in the future?

Five Facts: 

1. Olympia is a UNESCO world heritage site.

2. People used to run naked in the olympics! 

3. The Olympic flame is always first lit at Olympia, then brought to the host city. 

4. Instead of medals, ancient olympic victors would receive olive wreaths! 

5. The first olympic games were held in Olympia in the year 776 BCE.

Myth:

Olympia was home to the ancient olympic games. Legend has it that there was a King who lived in fear because of a prophecy, which stated that his son-in-law would kill him. Because of this, he didn’t want his daughter to get married, so he set up a chariot race, where suitors would have to beat him to marry his daughter. However, he had secretly rigged the race by using horse from Ares, the god of war, which meant that he couldn’t lose. But one of the suitors caught the eye of his daughter, and together they sabotaged the king’s chariot. The king crashed and died, so the suitor and the daughter got married! In honor of the king, they participated in the Olympic Games every four years.

Grade 8 Highlights:

- The museum was very well done

- "So cool to run where the Olympians used to run in ancient times" - Tristyn

- "Cool to be in the same area as the ancient Greeks and to see the first running stadium" - Annabelle

- "To see all the ruins that were discovered"

PHOTO ALBUM LINK