The Olympic Games

There are many different stories about the beginning of the Olympics. One myth says that
Zeus, the supreme god of the Ancient Greeks, started the Games to celebrate his victory
over his father Cronus for control of the world. Another tradition says that after the Greek
hero Pelops won a chariot race against King Oenomaus to marry Oenomauss daughter
Hippodamia, he established the Games.
The first official ancient Olympic games took place in 776 BC and since then they were held
every four years. During the games all Greeks respected an agreement called Sacred
Truce. According to this agreement, the entire region of Olympia was proclaimed sacred,
and military forces were banned from its soil.
The first Olympic games included only a footrace. The pentathlon and wrestling were the
first new sports to be added, in the 18th Olympiad.

There were rules about who could compete in the Olympics. Anyone who was free-born
Greek could take part. Barbarians, slaves and women were not allowed to compete. Not
only that women were not permitted to compete, married women were also barred from
attending the games under penalty of death. However, not married women were allowed to
attend.
But, women had their own competitions in that time. The most important was a maidens
footrace in honour of the goddess Hera. There were 3 separate races for girls, teenagers,
and young women. The winners received olive crowns.
The winners of the Olympic games also received olive crowns, but beside that, they had
their statue set up at Olympia. The winners were treated almost in the same way as todays

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sports stars. They had free meals at public expense, best places in theatres and were
celebrated by the people of their community.
Besides benefits for the best athletes, there were some penalties for those who broke the
established rules. There were judges who decided which punishment was suitable for each
offence. All kinds of cheating were punished. Bribes were one of the most common. They
were also fined for avoiding the compulsory training period at Olympia and for cowardice.
The Ancient Olympic games were held for the last time in 393 AD, since the Byzantine
emperor Theodosius I forbade their celebration after this time. It took more than 15
centuries for the Olympic games to be revived in 1896 in Athens.

Prevod:
Olimpijske igre
Postoji mnogo razlitih pria o tome kako su Olimpijske igre poele. Jedan mit kae da je
Zevs, vrhovni bog Antikih Grka, pokrenuo igre da bi proslavio pobedu za kontrolu svetom
nad svojim ocem Hronosem. Drugo predanje kae da nakon to je grki junak Pelop pobedio
na trci kolima protiv kralja Onomeja, i zatim se oenio Onomejevom erkom Hipodamijom,
uspostavio igre.
Prve zvanine antike Olimpijske igre su se odrale 776. godine pre nove ere i od tada su se
odravale svake etvrte godine. Tokom igara, svi Grci su potovali sporazum nazvan 'Sveto
Primirje'. Prema ovom sporazumu, itav region Olimpije je bio proglaen svetim i oruane
snage su bile prognane sa njenog tla.

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Prve Olimpijske igre su ukljuivale samo tranje. Pentatlon i rvanje su bili prvi dodati
sportovi na 18-oj Olimpijadi.
Postojala su pravila o tome ko se moe takmiiti na Olimpijadi. Svako ko je bio slobodni Grk
mogao je uestvovati. Varvarima, robovima i enama nije bilo dozvoljeno da se takmie.
enama ne samo to nije bilo dozvoljeno da se takmie, ve je udatim enama bilo
zabranjeno i da prisustvuju igrama, pod pretnjom kazne smru. Meutim, neudate ene su
mogle prisustvovati.
ene su, meutim, imale svoje takmienje u to vreme. Najvanija je bila trka devojaka u
ast boginje Here. Postojale su tri odvojene trke, za devojice, tinejderke i mlade ene.
Pobednice su dobijale krune od maslinovih granica.
Pobednici Olimpijskih igra su takoe dobijali maslinove krune, ali pored toga, njima su
postavljane i statue u Olimpiji. Pobednici su tretirani gotovo na isti nain kao dananje
sportske zvezde. Imali su besplatne obroke o dravnom troku, najbolja mesta u pozoritu i
bili su slavljeni od strane ljudi i zajednice.
Pored nagrada za najbolje atlete, postojale su i kazne za one koji su krili uspostavljena
pravila. Postojale su sudije koje su odluivale koje kazne su odgovarajue za koji prekraj.
Sve vrste varanja su bile kanjavane. Podmiivanje je bilo jedna od najeih. Takoe su bili
kanjavani za izbegavanje perioda obaveznih treninga u Olimpiji, kao i za kukaviluk.
Antike Olimpijske igre su poslednji put bile odrane 393. godine nove ere, poto je
vizantijski car Teodosije I od tada zabranio njihovo proslavljanje. Bilo je potrebno vie od 15
vekova da Olimpijske igre budu ponovo oivljene 1896-e u Atini.

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Vocabulary
Nouns (imenice):
homeland - postojbina, domovina
chariot - bojna kola u antiko vreme
koja su se koristila i u trkama
Sacred Truce - Sveto Primirje
agreement - sporazum
soil - tlo, zemlja
footrace - takmienje u tranju, trka
pentathlon - pentatlon
wrestling - rvanje
Barbarian - Varvarin
slave - rob
penalty - kazna
maiden - devojka
goddess boginja
crown - kruna
expense - troak
community - zajednica
benefit - korist
offence - prekraj
cheating - varanje, prevara
bribe - mito
avoiding - izbegavanje
cowardice - kukaviluk
emperor vladar

Verbs (glagoli):
refer to - odnositi se, upuivati
revive - oiveti
hold - drati, odrati
proclaim - proglasiti
ban - zabraniti
allow - dozvoliti
permit - dozvoliti
compete - takmiiti se
bar - spreiti, ne dozvoliti
attend - prisustvovati, pohaati
set up - postaviti
treat - tretirati
fine - novano kazniti
forbid - zabraniti

Adjectives and adverbs

(pridevi i prilozi):
supreme - vrhovni
ancient - antiki
official - zvanian
entire - ceo, sav
suitable - odgovarajui
compulsory - obavezan

Prepositions and conjunctions

(predlozi i veznici):
according to - prema, po

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Synonyms
Nouns (imenice):
homeland - native land, birthplace,
motherland
chariot - carriage
agreement arrangement
soil - earth, ground
penalty punishment
maiden girl, maid
expense cost, charge
community society, people, public,
association, population
benefit interest, profit
cowardice weakness, softness
emperor ruler

Adjectives and adverbs

(pridevi i prilozi):
supreme highest, greatest
ancient aged, antique
official formal
entire - whole, full, complete, total
suitable appropriate, right
compulsory obligatory

Verbs (glagoli):
refer to - relate to
proclaim declare
ban prohibit, restrict
allow permit
permit allow
compete - take part, participate
bar - restrict
attend - be present
treat handle, deal with
fine - penalize, charge, punish
forbid prohibit, ban

Prepositions and conjunctions

(predlozi i veznici):

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