Recreation+and+Leisure

The main thing that the Greek did was play in the Olympic games. That was one thing they did in their free time. In the Olympic games women were not allowed in it because men were suposed to compete naked. They also oiled their bodies so that it was all sleek. The men would compete for a crown which was a stick with leaves on it. The games they had were the 192 meter dash,Sprinting races,boxing,long jump,horse racing, races in armor, wreslting, javalin, and discus throw. Ancient Greeks are the ones who invented the Olympics and they held the first Olympic games in Olympia. Another thing they did in their free time was watch plays. They were also the first people who invented the theater. The theaters that they built a long time ago are still used today. In the theater they wore brightly colerd masks to make sure the audience could see their faces. The plays were mostly about Gods and Godesses, they reinacted what they did and how they got their titles. In the olympics the running track was 210 feet long and had about 40,000 spectators.

One of the events they had was the discus throw. What they did was they threw a disk made of metal or stone. Whoever threw it the farthest won the event. The disk's weight was 2 kilograms and was 44 to 46 milimeters thick. You only got three throws total and you had to throw it from a circle 2.5 meters in diameter.

Another event was the long jump or the broad jump. You took a long running start and when you got to the jumping line you jumped into a sand pit. Once again you got three jumps and the person who jumped the farthest you won the event. If you jump but your foot went past the line you scrached or in other words that jump does not count.

The only other throwing event they had was the javalin. The javalin look exatally like a spear with a metal tip. To help the trower they used a strip of leather to help them relese the javalin.

If people were not doing somthing important men would like to dine with the compony of friends. During those parties they held dinner parties. Those parties are called symposiems. The men arrived at dawn and when they arrived they talked a little then ate dinner.The children played with spinning tops, knucklebones, wodden and clay toys, rattles, and dolls. They also had board games like snakes.

Besides the sports and parties they also had acting and theaters and they skits were very good. Some people stayed their from dawn till dusk for four straight days.

first organized atletic games part of