The next time you watch the extravaganza that is the modern Olympic Games, consider this: It all started with a simple ...

The games were held every four years at Olympia, a site in Western Greece that had a famous temple to the god Zeus. The games started in mid-August and were part of a religious festival dedicated ...

Greece said it has recovered from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art a 2,600-year-old bronze artefact stolen from ancient Olympia in the 1930s.

This meant that any wars should be called off so that people could travel safely to Olympia. The entire games were dedicated to Zeus. Visitors flocked to see the Temple of Zeus. Inside stood a ...

Most have been found at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia or at that of Hera on Samos, it said, adding that the head formerly in its collection was "one of the finest" ever found. The artefact was ...