Gymnastics-physical exercise carried out by males only, completely naked-were an integral part of the education of every young man and one of the distinguishing factors that the Greeks believed set them apart from barbarians. Victors in the games were crowned with a branch of the "beautiful - crowned wild olive tree" that stood near the temple of Zeus. This crown bestowed the greatest honour on the competitor, his family and his native city, and could not be compensated for by either money or high office. Every four years Greeks from all over the Greek world gathered in this sanctuary to participate in the Olympiada. A sacred truce (Ekecheria) was kept during the period of the games and attempts were made to settle wars and conflicts between the (poleis -cities) based on reasoning inspired by Zeus.

Every city invested substantial resources in the construction of a gymnasium, a complex similar to a present day campus and including a palaestra for physical education. This structure normally consisted of a square court, with porticoes offering shade, service facilities, changing rooms and fountains. Around it were three lined avenues, baths and rooms for teaching. The teaching was left to the personal initiative of philosophers and experts in various disciplines, pupils of the practical arts, including fine arts, got hands on experience in workshops.

Sport necessarily meant competitive sport, considered both part of a young man's education perhaps a remnant of ancient initiation rites designed to instil courage, virtue and military skills and a cultic offering been the custom. It had been the custom among the aristocratic elites of the Mycenaean and Homeric world to hold sporting contests in honour of the dead. A link was thus established, very early in Greek history, between religious festivals and competitive sporting events held in the great sanctuaries both outside cities and in the principal poleis.

Literature provides references to some of the great sporting events of the ancient Greek world: the celebrated Olympiads, according to legend initiated by Heracles in 776 B.C. in Olympia (see page one), the Pythia Games, held in Delphi in honor of Apollo, The Nemea Games, celebrated at Nemea in honor of Zeus and recalling one of Heracles' Labors, the Isthmian Games, held in

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is marked with the arrival of the Olympic flame which is taken on every occasion from Olympia , Greece , the original site of the Olympic Games.

the sanctuary of Poseidon on the Isthmus of Corinth, and the Panthenaic Games, part of the great festivities organized in Athens to honour Athena. Any departure from fair play was severely punished and the only prize besides the purely symbolic laurel wreath was the glory which the winner basked in and which reflected on his people and native city state, thus honoured in the eyes of all Greece.

The most important athletic disciplines were running, with races over different distances one even in armour (hoplitodromeia) discus and javelin throwing, long jump, boxing, wrestling and pancration a contest involving boxing and wrestling. Before training, under the eye of his coach, or taking part in a contest, the athlete performed a preparatory ritual consisting of covering his body with perfumed oil from a leather aryballos. When his strenuous physical exertions were over, and before taking a relaxing bath, he then scraped his skin clean of dust, oil and sweat with a strigil, a curved instrument designed for this purpose.

Restricted to the wealthy were disciplines involving horses, including chariot racing. Musical, vocal and poetry contests were commonly associated with the athletic events, further evidence of the idea of unity that characterized the education of young Greeks.