The Olympic Games Timeline

The Olympic Games Timeline

Roman name- Victoria (Victory)

Nike is the winged goddess of victory. She can run and fly at great speed. Nike is one
of the oldest goddesses, but she is never mentioned in a myth (a story or tale that is
not real).

She is often found with Athena or Zeus. Both of those gods never give up in a battle.
Nobody thought of Nike when they thought of victory. They thought of Athena and
Zeus instead. Nike fought on the Olympian’s side in the great war of the gods that was
fought between the Titans and Olympians. The Olympians won, and Zeus became the
supreme ruler because he was the Olympian leader.

Nobody knows Nike’s real parents. Some say it was Pallas I

and Styx. Pallas I was the son of the Titans, Crius and Eurybia.
Styx is the daughter of Oceanus. Other people think it was
Pallas II and an unknown goddess. Pallas II is the son of Pallas
I and Lycaon.
Nike’s siblings are victorious in their own ways. Zelus (Zelos) is the human-form of
everlasting effort. He is usually found sitting next to Zeus. Cratos is the human-form
of strength. He is also always found near Zeus. Bia is the human-form of force and
power. He is most famous for the capture of Prometheus as a punishment from Zeus
for stealing the gods’ fire and delivering it to the humans. The gods’ fire gave them
their strength and their powers. In short, it made them who they were.

People today take their company names from Greek mythology. You must have
guessed by now that the company NIKE got its name from this Greek goddess.
Besides, who wouldn’t want a name that has to do with winning?

What Greeks say about Zeus

Zeus was the supreme ruler of all Greek gods. He was also known as the god of the
sky and the god of justice. Many Greeks believe that Zeus was last seen on top of
Mount Olympia (located in Olympia, Greece) Greeks think that Zeus has can control
the weather, gather up all the clouds and create rain, or create other storms that
involve the sky.

Punishments, Rewards, and Weapons

The way Zeus punishes people, who lie or break oaths, is by striking them with his
weapon, a thunderbolt. Zeus’ punishments were either extremely severe, or his
rewards were extremely generous.
Myth about Zeus

A myth is a story or tale that is not real. People said there was a war between the
Titans and Olympians. The Olympians were gods who disagreed with the ruler and his
rules. The Titans were the rest of the gods. The leader of the Olympians was Zeus.
The leader of the Titans was Cronus, Zeus’ father. They were supposed to have a
common ruler, but Zeus and some other gods decided to declare war. Luckily Ares,
the god of war and Nike, the goddess of victory were on the Olympians’ side. They
won because most of the strong gods were on their side. Also these gods were
strategic and intelligent. All gods were powerful, but the Olympians had powers that
would come handy in war. Zeus became the supreme ruler of all gods since he was the
ruler of the Olympians.

There is another myth that gives a whole

different story of how Zeus became the supreme
ruler of all gods. It says that when baby Zeus was
born, his father, Cronus, had a bad habit of
swallowing his children. He did this because he
was afraid that his children might grow up and
defeat him in a fight for the throne of supreme
ruler. Rhea, Cronus’ wife, didn’t want him to eat
their newest son, Zeus. Instead of giving Zeus to
his father, she gave him a stone wrapped around
a blanket to eat. She hid Zeus in a cave in Mt.
Olympus. She took care of him secretly because
she knew that one day, Zeus would bring all his
brothers and sisters back. He would also take the
throne and become the ruler of all gods. After he grew up, he fed Cronus an herb that
made him vomit out all of his brothers and sisters. Since Zeus rescued everyone, the
gods decided to make him supreme ruler of all gods. But, there was a big fight and
Zeus severely hurt Cronus with his thunderbolt. The other Olympians killed the
Titans. Zeus knew Cronus could never die, so he sent him to a deserted island.

Zeus had many affairs with many women, but his final marriage was with Hera. Zeus
was in love with her for a long time, but they were afraid to tell their parents. He had
promised to marry Hera. He was never faithful to her though. Zeus was supreme ruler
and had easy access to women. Hera was very angry with Zeus when she found out
about his affairs. He had lots of affairs with women like Europa, Io, Semele,
Ganymede, Callisto, Leto, and many others. His most famous affair was with Io. Zeus
fell in love with her and turned himself into an eagle to look more attractive and get
more attention. Hera soon found out about the affair. He loved her so much he
disguised her as a cow and told her to run away safely. Unfortunately, Hera found out
about that, too. As a punishment, she sent Io to the underworld.

Special Statues and Temples of Zeus

In honor of Zeus, the Ancient Olympics were started. There was a huge gold and ivory
statue of Zeus in front of their stadium. It was supposed to give courage to the
competitors of the ancient Olympics. It is located in Athens, Greece. There is another
great temple in the Livic desert. It is not in Greece, but instead it is in Egypt. Believe
it or not, the Egyptians worshipped Zeus too.
Birth of Athena

Athena wasn’t born like all the goddesses. She was born a special way. We don’t
know exactly who Athena’s mother is but we might think it is Metis. Her father was
Zeus. There is a thing that some gods did to their wives. The first child that the wife
had would be a girl. The girl would grow up and be a goddess. The second child
would be a boy. If the boy grew up he would kill his father. This is how Zeus’s father
died (Cronus) and his grandfather (Uranus). So when Zeus caught Metis off guard, he
opened his mouth and swallowed her. From the day on, Zeus had terrible headaches.
Then these headaches stopped when Hephaestus snuck behind Zeus with an axe and
sliced Zeus’s head open. Then Athena came flying out of his head full grown and in
armor. Zeus did not die because he quickly pushed his head back together. Even
though Athena gave Zeus many headaches, Athena was Zeus’s favorite daughter. If
you think about it Athena was small to be able to come out of Zeus’s head. Athena
also always had in her right hand she was holding either an owl or Nike another
goddesses.
Teaching and Creating

You would think that a thought up goddess could not invent anything. Well some of
the Greeks think that Athena invented the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the
plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. Most Greek people think that she invented
the chariot for the Olympics. The Greeks think that she invented the flute to calm her
down when she was stressed out. She also might have invented the flute so that she
can listen to the wind blow when it is not blowing. She also invented the trumpet for
about the same reason but to hear the sounds of battle. Athena invented the pot to put
her food in and to help her teach some things. She invented the ship for when she
went to war at sea. We don’t know why she invented the yoke, the plow, and the rake.

Athena was the first person to teach science of numbers, all ancient women’s arts for
example cooking, weaving, and spinning. She also taught men how to fight in war so
that she could win. We don’t know why she chose to teach people about these things
but she did.
Battle

Athena did not like to go to war but if she did she would. This is why she was called
the goddess of war. She was allowed to use her father’s weapons like the thunderbolt.
Most people/gods did not fight her because when Perseus killed Medusa Athena
placed Medusa’s head on her chest shield.

Medusa was one of the most furious gods/people. That is why so many
people died from her or did not go near her. For how small she was she
was one of the bravest warriors. She taught men to fight in war so that she
did not have to fight all the time. In fact when the Typhon was attacking
Olympus she stood her ground and did not let them destroy the city. This
was a big victory for Athena because Typhon had the biggest and
deadliest army back then. During this war she accidentally killed her best
friend. After this war she was called "Queen of Heaven", this means in
English "Athena". Athena also took part in the Trojan War. After all of the
wars that she fought she was then a city was named after her called Athens".