Olympic Games

The modern Olympic Games, which have been held every four years since 1896, are a revival of the Olympic Games which were held in ancient Greece, also at four-yearly intervals, for twelve centuries from the eighth century BCE to the end of the fourth century CE. The original Olympic Games were as much a religious festival as a series of athletic and sporting contests and were held at Olympia, a plain in Elis in the northwest Peloponnese in honour of Zeus, in Greek mythology the greatest of the gods. Zeus was believed to live, along with many of the other Greek gods, on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, and for this reason was known as Olympian Zeus. (Do not confuse Mount Olympus, which is in northeast Greece, on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly, and the plain of Olympia, the site of the Olympic Games, which is more than 200 miles to the south. The latter was nonetheless closely associated with Zeus, as the main sanctuary to the god was situated there.) See further Ancient Olympic Games.

Besides being the name of the site of the ancient Olympic Games, 'Olympia' is also the name of the capital city of the state of Washington in the United States and of an exhibition and conference centre in West Kensington in London.

In English there are several adjectives and nouns which derive from the place names 'Olympia' and 'Olympus'.

• The adjective 'Olympic' may mean
  • 'relating to the (ancient or modern) Olympic Games, as in 'Olympic torch', 'the International Olympic Committee', 'Olympic champion', and 'the Olympic spirit'; or
  • (nowadays rarely) 'relating to ancient Olympia', as in 'the Olympic plain'.
• In the phrase 'the Olympics', 'Olympics' is a plural noun, and the phrase itself is another way of referring to the Olympic Games.
• The word 'Olympian' may be either an adjective or a noun.
  • As an adjective 'Olympian' may mean
    • 'of or relating to Mount Olympus or to the ancient Greek gods who were believed to have their home there' (see AWE's page on the Olympian Gods)); or
    • (when used of humans) 'godlike' either in physical appearance (when someone has a majestic or imposing manner or bearing) or in character (when someone has a lofty attitude and a disposition to disregard ordinary, everyday considerations). Someone who argued for the promotion of a grand project and dismissed considerations about its expense or its practicality might be said to display an olympian attitude. (In this use 'olympian' need not have an initial capital letter.) Or
    • (though nowadays rarely) 'of or relating to ancient Olympia or its inhabitants'.
  • As a noun 'Olympian' may refer to
    • one of the gods of Olympus, as in 'Zeus was the father of the Olympians' (you may like to see AWE's page on the Olympian Gods); or
    • an inhabitant of ancient Olympia; or
    • an athlete or sportsman or sportswoman who has competed in the modern Olympic Games. Journalists and sports commentators like to discuss who is the greatest Olympian.
• The word 'Olympiad' is always a noun. It may mean
  • a particular celebration or staging of the modern Olympic Games, as in 'The first Olympiad of modern times was held in Athens in 1896'; or
  • the four-year period between one celebration of the Olympic Games and the next. In ancient Greece these four-year periods were used to date events. The first Olympiad was held in 776, and so an event which occurred according to our calendar in 737 BCE could be said to have taken place in the second year of the eighth Olympiad. Or
  • an international contest in chess, bridge, or the like.