 It's not all doom and gloom when considering the past, they were, after all, at various breaks and intervals in time, just a society like the one of today that collapsed under circumstances that could happen again and test our people's resilience to survive. Just as these challenges exist, so do we. In periods of uncertainty, familiarity appear more often as efforts to comfort the struggling population extend from a curiosity to love and eventually into a full-scale panic. But in the midst and throes of the understanding process, doors are missed as curiosity holds no apparent bounds, a thirst that can't be quenched. The civilization of ancient Greece emerged into the light of world history in the 8th century BC. Normally, it is regarded as coming to an end when Greece fell to the Romans in 146 BC. However, major Greek kingdoms lasted longer than this. As a culture, as opposed to a political force, the Greek civilization lasted longer still. Continuing right to the end of the ancient world and extending directly into modern culture as a result of their influence in all things regarding as good about the human condition and the influence we may have as a result of this passion. Greek civilization had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire. Indeed, some modern scholars see the Roman era as a continuation of the same civilization which they label Greco-Roman. In any case, the Roman conquest carried many features of Greek civilization to far-flung parts of the Mediterranean world and Western Europe. Through the mediation of the Romans, therefore Greek civilization came to be the founding culture of Western civilization. Historical episodes like the Olympic Games have been incorporated into Western civilization. As a result, and this has spread to the entire planet and immortalized by the Olympic flame which was added in 1928 at the Amsterdam Games. The flame is now held in great regard as a constant vision of hope going forward together as a people of one planet, Earth. Rather than a divided people, it symbolizes the one-world idea of the greater good and human understanding. The ancient Olympic Games were primarily a part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus, the father of the Greek gods and goddesses, and the festival and games were held in Olympia, a rural sanctuary site. The Greeks that came to the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia shared the same religious beliefs and spoke the same language. The athletes were all male citizens of the city-states from every corner of the Greek world, coming from as far away as Spain in the west and Turkey to the east. The sanctuary was named in antiquity after Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in mainland Greece. In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was the home of the greatest of the Greek gods and goddesses. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, the stadium track at Olympia according to some literary traditions, was the only athletic event of the Games for the first 13 Olympic festivals or until 724 BC. From 776 BC, the Games were held in Olympia every four years for almost 12 centuries. However, contrary evidence, both literary and archaeological, suggested the Games may have existed at Olympia much earlier than this date, perhaps as early as the 10th or 9th century BC. Relating to this is a series of bronze tripods have been found at Olympia, some of which date to the 9th century BC, and it has been suggested that these tripods may in fact be prizes for some of the early events. Detail from an attic red figure kylex depicting two men wrestling and above them hang a discus in its bag and a pair of jumping weights called halters. Long jumpers use the weight to increase their competition distance by vigorously swinging them forward at the moment of takeoff. The coach or trainer stands to the left of the wrestlers leaning on his staff and holding a long forked branch. There was no known ancient symbol for the Olympic Games. This was changed in 1908 when the modern Olympic flag of five linked rings, each with a primary color used in the flags of the nations competing in the Games, was introduced. The marathon is also a modern event that was introduced in 1896 in Athens. Erased from Marathon northeast of Athens to the Olympic Stadium, a distance of 40 km commemorates the run of Fidipides, an ancient day runner who carried the news of the Persian landing at Marathon of 490 BC to Sparta, a distance of 149 miles in order to enlist help for the battle. According to the 5th century BC Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, Fidipides delivered the news to the Spartans the next day. The traditional date for the beginning of Greek civilization is 776 BC, the year of the first Pan-Hellenic Olympic Games. Actually, this date was worked out centuries later and is almost certainly wrong. Of course, an entire civilization does not suddenly spring into being in a single year, but this date does provide a convenient marker. From about 800 BC the Greek population began to expand. The causes of this are not known, but the effects was to create a shortage of good farmland. At the same time Phoenician merchants were developing their trade links with the Greeks. The inhabitants of several coastal Greek states responded by developing overseas trading connections of their own. Within the Phoenician dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean, this meant looking to the West. The distance of the modern marathon was standardized as 26 miles, 385 yards in 1908 when the Olympic Games were held in London and a distance used was the exact measurement between Windsor Castle, the start of the race, and the finish line inside White City Stadium. At their heart the Games were a religious festival and a good excuse for Greeks from all over the Mediterranean basin to gather for a riotous barbecue. On the middle day of the festival a vast number of cows were slaughtered in honor of Zeus, king of the Greek gods who was said to have taken up residence in Olympia around 12,000 BC when the Aleens conquered the surrounding area. The fearsome deity marked his ascension by hurling a thunderbolt into the sacred grove from his home atop Mount Olympus. The city-state of Elida, the administrative center of which was about a day's walk north from Olympia, ran the Games throughout the vast majority of its life cycle with the Aleens seizing full control from their local rivals in 572 BC. Like the stadium accommodating more than 40,000 people during the height of the Games popularity in the 2nd century AD, it always remained a deeply rural setting. The sacred olive tree of Zeus from which the victory reese were cut marked the finishing line for all races. The first stadium, a simple affair using the natural embankments of the surrounding hills, remained within the deified area too. The discovery of more than 150 wells dating to this time indicates that even this early in the life of the Olympic Games they attracted considerable attention. By the mid 4th century BC the 3rd incarnation of the stadium was built. Spacious and with the look and feel of a more modern venue, spectator attendants grew and the position of the stadium had been shifted with events no longer finishing at the altar of Zeus. However, the site lost none of its religious potency during the vast majority of the 1,000 plus years of the ancient games, its diversity being key to its survival even into the modern era, a huge part of human culture in general that shows off the very best of all of our attributes. Or maybe this gives us a chance to see how the human body is adapting to the effects of the planet earth. But what do you guys think about the origins of the Olympic Games? Comments below and as always, thank you for watching.