The ancient origins of the Olympics - Armand D'Angour

How did the Olympics become the greatest show of sporting excellence on Earth? Dig into the history and evolution of the global event.

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Thousands of years in the making, the Olympics began as part of a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus in the rural Greek town of Olympia. But how did it become the greatest show of sporting excellence on earth? Armand D’Angour explains the evolution of the Olympics.

Lesson by Armand D'Angour, animation by Diogo Viegas.

[thomasharlovic]

The Olympic Committee should bring back the poetry event of the Summer games.

[MultiSciGeek]

I am so glad the Olympic games were revived. I wish more of such things happened.

[CTheNice]

Ah nothing reminds me of ancient Greece like a 1940s-like TV broadcast.

[CHAS]

391 AD they shut down the games. In 405 AD they murdered the last librarian, Hypatia, in Alexandria and burned the Seripium. In 529 AD they closed the Academy of Athens and sent the scholars into exile. The Christians of late antiquity turned off a lot of lights prior the dark ages.

[aaronfawcett]

The way you did the audio without bass was creative... but annoying

[valeriecallaghan]

You forgot to explain that they started the olympics to honor Nike, the goddess of victory and competition

[huonggiangnguyen]

Watching this today as the Olympic Tokyo 2020 kicks off! 😁😁 Just so touched to see the spirit of the people merge into one, no hate, no division! Love that sportsmanship! ❤️

[Jobe-]

You guys had lots of fun making this. The animation with the music reminds me so much of old CN shows. Talk about nostalgia.

[CodeDarkBlue]

"now there's a winning streak, if ever WE'VE seen one..."

[jimparsons]

And the winners were granted with 'free meals for life, ' I recall reading that somewhere. A boon that was sometimes extended to that winner's immediate family, again I read that somewhere. So excellence in foot racing eventually migrated to excellence to other endeavors like, science, math .... there's a pattern here.

[ERosa]

So the Olympiads began just 23 years before the founding of Rome in 753 BC (of which the Roman calendar was based) and lasted for millenia (more than 11 centuries at least). They saw the Founding of Rome (as a Kingdom), the Roman Republic and most of the Roman Empire.

[paulalderson]

Is anyone else watching this for homework

[katiesmith]

hi Ted-Ed your videos really help me build my nologe even though I'm only 12 my mum will often be outsmarted by me so thank you for you videos and please keep making more

[manyche]

Incredible that they've got nothing on the Trials of Salem

[nintendosaber]

True art is timeless! Greek art and culture is a treasure.

[X-Ternal]

392 AD:
Theodosius joins the chat
527 AD:
Justinian joins the chat

[sachiconza]

Who's here from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony?

[sk-zkyw]

The teacher is showing us this in our online classes lol and I’m here commenting 😀

[JadenBreeze]

I have a 10 minute video project worth 20% of my grade due tomorrow over the Ancient Greek Olympics and I haven't started yet.. this video might have just saved me

[crazyqueen]

This channel is GREAT! I get home schooled and it helps a LOT!