Everyone knows about the Olympic Games of present times; the world watches the best athletes from each country compete in a variety of sports. But few really know the essence of the games, other than that they are held every four years, there are winter and summer games, the best of the best participate, and the famous Olympic torch never goes out. There is more to the Olympics than meets the eye; these games actually originated over 3,000 years ago in Greece. According to Thomas Sienkewicz, author of Ancient Greece, the games were thought to have begun at the suggestion of a Delphic oracle to promote peace throughout Greece (595). A truce was put in place for the duration of the games by all competing city-states, which, similar to the modern Olympics, the ancient games were held every four years and the time between each of the games was referred to as the "Olympics (595 ) The games would begin after the first full moon after the summer solstice (594). The ancient Olympics featured action, faith, and fair competition. Perhaps as many as 40,000 Greeks would have gathered for the Olympic Games" (The Greeks: The Crucible of Civilization, The Olympics). Spectators traveled from as far away as modern Russia and Spain, most of them on foot to witness the spectacle of athleticism (The Ancient Olympics). Everyone, whoever it was, went to watchAs Betsy Carpenter, author of The First Olympics, expressed, "...The Greeks not only competed with only leather that they greased beforehand until they they glittered. Not surprisingly, the gymnasiums, to which most freeborn Greek men belonged, were the best gathering points, where older men chased handsome, muscular young men. The ban on the declaration that married women could not participate in the Olympics served to prevent any kind of observation or attempt to cheat on the athletes. The Greeks were used to marrying off their daughters, as we would say, obviously every man wanted what was best for his daughter women went to compete in the Olympics, but they also went to show off athletes to their fathers or guardians. Older men exposed their daughters to the best of the best men. These athletes were portrayed as perfect men because of the connection of mind and body that was created by the Greek