Product Description
A description of the ancient Olympic games, as seen through the eyes of a young participant's father, is accompanied by a brief history of the games from ancient times to the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

enjoyed reading this with my 7 year old
My 7 yr old and I are studying Ancient Greece, and I came upon this book in the library.It is a story about a 13 year old boy in Ancient Greece and how he winds up participating in the Olympics.It's a fiction story, but it includes a lot of information about the Olympic Games and their history.It was very enjoyable and informative reading. ... Read more

Product Description
In the eighth century B.C. the city-states of Greece were in a constant state of war, until King Iphitus stopped the blood-shed by reviving an ancient tradition-an athletic contest to honor the gods. A truce was declared, so the warring groups could come together in peace to compete at the sacred grove at Olympia. Those games would survive for hundreds of years becoming the inspiration for our modern Olympic Games.

The site of Olympia will forever be revered as the birthplace of a great tradition that still unites the world in the spirit of peace and athletic competition. With spectacular illustrations, Olympia revisits those early games-the holy rituals, the chariot racing and equestrian events, the ancient pentathlon, the wrestling, the boxing-all the skills of war that readily developed into the challenge of sport. Dyan Blacklock and David Kennett bring to life the sights, sounds, and excitement of this age-old, sacred tradition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous Illustrations
A word about the illustrations in this book: As someone with a background in cartoon and illustration, art history, (and the son of an art dealer), I was extremely impressed by Mr.Kennett's illustrations. The pen drawings blow me away. His mastery of pen rendering, human and animal anatomy, composition, "camera" angles, balancing whites, greys and blacks, the way he varies--almost seems to be experimenting with varying rendering and textural effects--from drawing to drawing, is astonishing. Also, while the drawings have a "modern" feel to them, they capture the romance and atmosphere of older time illustrators such as NC Wyeth, or Howard Pyle. Pen drawings with a technical fountain pen or similar instrument can look skillful, but sterile. These don't. Also, many current illustrators and artists who draw in a realistic or quasi realistic style, though their work is admirable, look very obviously like their work is traced over or very closely based on photographs. These most certainly don't. This guy can really draw. Wonderful stuff. ... Read more

Product Description
Authored by the President of the Spanish Olympic Academy, Conrado Durantez Corral has dredged the bottomless well of Olympic philosophy and managed to outline the murky shape of the Olympic flame at the inception of the Games in ancient Greece, along with the entire symbolism conferred on it by the modern Olympic Games. Filled with photos, plates of Olympic flame art from ancient times, research and fascinating insights into the timeless significance of the Olympic Flame and the Olympic Games. ... Read more

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A captivating Olympic book for adults and children. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (10)

awsome
I like this book.I like the olympic games and how the Greek language is printed.This is great by Toutatis!

Asterix and Ancient Greece
It is fun to travel to ancient Greece with our beloved Gaulish village. A story with a comical twist and a nice recreation of Athens with its golden Athena statue, Olympia and other beautiful places. Great work!

The fun doesn't get translated
French version is great, one of my favorite comics. English version is plain boring. They translated the words, not the fun.

A very good album - almost prophetic of the doping scandals
In this fine Asterix album, after learning that there is a Roman soldier in one of the garrisons surrounding the village preparing for the (ancient) Olympic Games, the Gaulish tribe decide they should participate too, much to the consternation of the Romans. So all the males in the village go to Olympia en masse, thinking that the magic potion will give them a natural advantage over their competitors. But once the Greeks learn about the magic potion, they won't have anything with athletes using it and threaten to disqualify the Gauls (remember, this book was written in the 1960s, many years before the doping scandals surrounding the Olympic Games). This forces Asterix to enter the games on his own, without the help of the potion, against (seemingly) much stronger opponents (Obelix, having fallen into Panoramix's pot as a child, is disqualified forever of participation in the games). A great book from the Goscinny and Uderzo series.

Asterix gets a little excercise in Greece
A bit of a change from other Asterix stories, this one lacks much usage of the famous "magic potion" when it would have helped, but the little Gaul manages just fine without.Very funny and a good lesson in ancient Greece. ... Read more

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Together With Official Olympic And World Records And Proposed Program Of Tenth Olympiad. ... Read more

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Together With Official Olympic And World Records And Proposed Program Of Tenth Olympiad. ... Read more

Product Description
In antiquity Olympia stood for sports. A victory at the Olympic games led to lifelong honors and often to a political career and wealth. Alexander the Great and other kings and emperors as well as wealthy and powerful men and women financed the games by erecting religious and civic monuments. Numerous ancient sources provide lively reports about Olympia: activities in the sports arenas, the rites of the games, the reactions of the visitors. Still, many mysteries remain: When and why was the Olympian fire extinguished? Why are there so many arms found in a place that is famous for its Olympian peace? Olympia is situated in the western corner of Greece; why is it filled with oriental art? Some answers can be found in archaeological excavations. The author, Ulrich Sinn, has been responsible for major archaeological work; some of the latest is described in this book for the first time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

press and reviews for Olympia
"Sinn (University of Wurzburg) has directed several important excavations at Olympia, and here he "tries to sketch [Olympia's] develop-ment into the arguably most famous sanctuary in the Mediterranean." Sinn argues that Olympia was not always a place for famous athletic games; and by the time written records appear at-testing its fame for athletics, the sanctuary was already 400 years old. In summarizing the extant records on Olympia, then, Sinn is particularly concerned to reveal details about worship at the sanctuary in its earliest times. In thirteen succinct chapters, Sinn summarizes what is known about the origins of Olympia, the struggles for power over it, worship at the oracle, the athletic games, how different philosophers reacted to Olympia's image, particularly of the athletes, how festivals and games attracted tourists and what they did, and Olympia's benefactors, such as Alexander the Great, Mummius, and Nero. Although Sinn focuses on primarily Greek Olympia, i.e., until the Romans overtake it, he gives an overview and helpful chronological summary (through the sixth century CE) in the last chapter. With glossa-ries of personalities in Greek and Roman history and mythology, this is probably the most accessi-ble introduction to and overview of Greek Olympia.
Religious Studies Review"
Karen A. Elliott
Athens, Greece

"The following review appeared in the March 2001 issue of CHOICE:
This work of a German archaeologist (Univ. ofWurzburg) who has been active in excavations at the site of the ancient Olympic Games has relatively little to do with sport activities. The greater part of the book describes the history of various buildings and monuments and the role of the site in Greek religion, society, and politics. Olympia was important in Greek life and respected by all Greeks, as well as by Macedonians and Romans. Its oracle imparted war advice, cult activities at Olympia brought together Greeks widely separated geographically, a Pan Hellenic arbitration court was established there, Greeks occasionally battled for control of the sanctuary, the site expanded in size and complexity with time, and earthquakes and floods threatened its existence. Information not generally found in other books is presented, for example, assertions that the Olympic Games continued until early in the fifth century CE and that academic classes were conducted in the palaestra. The book should appeal to general readers interested in ancient history, but history specialists will be frustrated by its lack of notes and reference citations, and sport historians, by its minor emphasis on sporting events, athletes, and spectators."
R. McGehee, Concordia University at Austin ... Read more