logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
50m 49s

The Ancient Olympics: Games Of The Gods

History Hit & Assassin's Creed
About this episode

A tradition that endured millennia. The ancient Olympic Games began in 776 BC and took place every four years until at least 396 AD. It was a major religious and sporting festival, attended by over 40,000 spectators who flocked to watch athletes compete in sports like wrestling, chariot racing and athletics. 


Matt Lewis is joined by Dr Nigel Spivey to explore the history of the ancient Olympic games, delving into its various origin stories and outlining how the games evolved over a thousand years of history. What was competing and spectating at the games like for ordinary people? What was the significance of the Olympic Games on wider Hellenic society?


Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. 


Hosted by: Matt Lewis

Edited by: Tim Astall

Produced by: Joseph Knight, Peta Stamper, Matt Lewis, Robin McConnell

Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff

Production Coordinator: Beth Donaldson

Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett


Music:

Legend Of The Eagle Bearer by The Flight & Mike Georgiades

Kephalonnia Island by The Flight & Mike Georgiades

Revenge Of The Wolves by The Flight

Markos by The Flight & Mike Georgiades


If you liked this podcast please subscribe, share, rate & review. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jul 7
Crusader Queens of Jerusalem
The very first Assassin's Creed video game takes us back to the Third Crusade, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. As Saladin's Islamic armies tried to reconquer the Holy Land, the Christian rulers of Jerusalem faced as many threats from within as without - perhaps none moreso than Syb ... Show More
54m 4s
Jun 30
Assassin's Creed Writer Reveals How They Brought The French-Indian War To Life
Assassin’s Creed Rogue lets players explore the frozen world of the Arctic coastline of North America. Players inhabit the memories of Shay Cormac, an Irish Assassin who switches sides to join the Templars, against the backdrop of the Seven Years’ War, or as its American theatre ... Show More
53m 42s
Jun 23
The Northwest Passage: Doom of Arctic Explorers
Assassin's Creed Rogue and Assassin's Creed III let us sail through the frozen waters of the Northwest Passage at the most dangerous time in history.From Hudson Bay to Hawaii, the coasts of Canada and the USA were mapped as an unintended consequence of history’s greatest explorer ... Show More
39m 22s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
The Ancient Olympics
For nearly 12 centuries, the Ancient Greeks honoured their gods with one of the most famous sporting contests in the world: The Olympic Games. Athletes represented their city states to compete for the glory of the gods, knowing that winning or losing could change the course of th ... Show More
57m 58s
Aug 2024
The Modern Olympics
Every four years, the Modern Olympic Games is a celebration of athletic excellence. From modest roots in 19th Century Athens, to a worldwide phenomenon which will feature almost 15,000 athletes in Paris 2024, the Modern Olympics has developed into the largest sporting festival in ... Show More
1 h
Oct 2024
The Circus Maximus
What was the most popular sporting spectacle in ancient Rome? Gladiator bouts? Beast hunts? It was in fact chariot racing! For centuries the Romans were enraptured by the galloping of horses and the thill of the chase. And it all took place in perhaps Rome's greatest arena. A mas ... Show More
40m 18s
Aug 2021
The Modern Olympic Games
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the history of the modern Olympic Games. After last weeks episode on the Ancient Olympic games the girls want to bring the story up to date.----more---- Greece was conquered and the Olympics seemed forgotten for 1,500 years. However, after Gr ... Show More
9m 2s
Jul 2021
The Ancient Olympic Games
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) tell the story of the Ancient Olympic Games.----more---- With the modern Olympic games starting this week. Sophie and Ellie decide to tell the story of how 3000 years ago the Greeks invented the first Olympic Games. Next week they will tell the st ... Show More
9m 23s
May 20
Mount Hiei: Home of Japan's Warrior Monks
Assassin's Creed: Shadows gives players the chance to visit the imperial capital of medieval Japan. But today, we're heading to a mountain lying just northeast of the capital: Mount Hiei, a sacred site that was protected by a powerful army of warrior monks.Dr Chris Harding, Senio ... Show More
38m 4s
Nov 2024
Sport's strangest tales
Humans have been infatuated with sport for thousands of years. But what drove this obsession in the first place? And how did ancient pursuits evolve into the games we know and love today? Jon Bauckham speaks to QI researchers and hosts of the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish James ... Show More
46m 32s
Jul 2024
You Might Also Like: Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Introducing Episode V: Historic Olympic Moments with Bowen and Matt from Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics.Follow the show: Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The OlympicsThe Paris Olympics are drawing near and while we await the next generation of historic perfor ... Show More
37m 5s
Jan 2025
CLASSIC: The 1904 Racist Summer Olympic Games in St. Louis
A few years after Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the ancient sporting event known as the Olympics, he brought the games to the U.S. for the first time. The 1904 Summer Olympics were held in St. Louis, Missouri, coinciding with the 1904 World's Fair. Seems set to make history, ... Show More
33m 34s