How did the Olympic games begin?
There are records of stade-length race outcomes going back to a traditional date of 776 B.C. (the victor was Koroibos of Elis), but the origins of the ancient Olympics go back to a time that is not well recorded and the actual date of the first Olympics is disputed. This was a topic of interest to the Greeks who told stories mixed with myth to account for the origins of the ancient Olympics.
One Olympic origins story is connected with the tragedy-ridden House of Atreus. Pelops won the hand of his bride, Hippodamia, by competing in a chariot race against her father, King Oinomaos (Oenomaus) of Pisa, in Elis. Oinomaos was the son of Ares and the Pleiad Sterope. Pelops conspired to win the race by replacing the king's chariot's lynchpins with ones made of wax. These melted on the course, throwing the king from his chariot and killing him. After Pelops married Hippodamia, he commemorated his victory with the Olympic Games. These games either expiated his killing or thanked the gods for the victory.
According to Gregory Nagy, in Chapter 4 Pindar's Olympian 1 and the Aetiology of the Olympic Games, Pindar, in his 1st Olympian Ode, denies that Pelops served his son to the gods as a feast. Instead, he says that Poseidon abducted Pelops' son and repaid Pelops by helping him win that chariot race.
Another version of the origin of the Olympic games, also from Pindar Olympian X, attributes the games to the great Greek hero Hercules (Heracles), who held the games as a thanks offering to honor his father, Zeus, after Hercules had exacted revenge on King Augeus of Elis. Foolishly, Augeus had defaulted on his promised reward to Hercules for cleansing the stables. (See Labors of Hercules.)
Pausanias 5.7 says the Olympic origins lie with Zeus' victory over Cronus. The following passage also explains musical elements in the ancient Olympics.
[5.7.10] Now some say that Zeus wrestled here with Cronus himself for the throne, while others say that he held the games in honor of his victory over Cronus. The record of victors include Apollo, who outran Hermes and beat Ares at boxing. It is for this reason, they say, that the Pythian flute-song is played while the competitors in the pentathlum are jumping; for the flute-song is sacred to Apollo, and Apollo won Olympic victories.
