Olympics Greece

Jack and Annie are off on another adventure! This time they are sent to ancient Greece, where a very important event is taking place. Join them as they race against time and witness the very first Olympic Games!

In ancient Greece and across the Mediterranean, kingdoms strive for dominance. The great powers of Carthage and Egypt look on with avarice as the might of the Greeks is spent warring between themselves, oblivious to external dangers. Year in and year out, the people suffer at the hands of their rulers and the famine and pestilence that comes with conflict. The great rulers of the day are themselves helpless to end this cycle of destruction. While life on the battlefield is cheap, the slave trade flourishes through the years of interminable battle and death.

The Pan-Hellenic Games is the collective term for the four major sports festivals held in ancient Greece. These include the Olympic Games, held in honor of Zeus at Olympia every four years; the Pythian Games in honor of Apollo, held at Delphi every four years; the Nemean Games, held to celebrate Zeus and Heracles at Nemea near Corinth every two years; and the Isthmian Games, honoring Poseidon at Isthmia every two years. The main events at all of the games were chariot racing, wrestling, boxing, the pankration, the stadion, various other foot races, and the pentathlon.

While they are still well-known, the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece are more relevant today than most people know, and the ways in which athletic sports pervade contemporary culture is comparable only to the spirit of athleticism in Hellenic Greece. Today, a large section of the media industry is devoted exclusively to sports, and in some nations sports even figures as a critical component of their identity.

In this book, Vallianatos paints a picture of freedom in Greek history and civilization. Freedom for the Greeks, he says, has been like breathing air. He documents how freedom gave birth to the great achievements of Greek civilization. The Greeks repeatedly defeated large invading Persian armies in early fifth century BCE. Those heroic victories secured Greek and Western civilization. Modern Greeks also won over large Turkish forces in the 1820s, thus establishing the independence of Greece. In 1940, the Greeks defeated a large Italian army, winning the first victory of WWII. The result of ...

Athens 438 BC "So the gods have seen fit to give you to me," said Zosimos. "I thought they must be smiling on you after Samos, but it seems they were just playing a cruel trick on you. That fool Pericles might have taken a shine to you, but he can't protect you here. You're mine now." Alexander has survived the Siege of Samos and been sent to a military academy as a cadet. The battles with the Athenian army are nothing to what he faces in the Academy. With his life in danger from all sides, Alexander must draw on everything he has learned just to survive, but is survival enough? It isn't ...

Athens 440BC Alexander decided that there was no-one around and started to move from under the ramp but, before he could make his escape, he felt the ship rock as a loud tramping came from the gangplank. He froze in position while he tried to work out what this new sound meant. After listening for a short time, he realised that the troops were boarding the ship. He needed to get away, so he dragged himself fully out from his hiding place and made his way to the ramp. Maybe he could just run past them all before they realised he was there. Then, to his horror, the ramp down into the hold ...

Discover the secrets of the Olympic Games through the Greek myths. Three Greek myths for the foundation of the Olympic Games unfold their secrets. Titans and Giants against the Gods! Who prevents the marriage of the beautiful princess? What prophecy will the oracle of Delphi give to stop a civil war? Walk the trails of the ancient Greek myths and discover the meaning of the Olympic Games!