Book Review: ‘Olympia: The Birth of the Games’: A Fun, Though Violent Perspective of the Start of the Olympics

Book Review: ‘Olympia: The Birth of the Games’: A Fun, Though Violent Perspective of the Start of the Olympics
An urn carrying the Olympic Flame held by a priestess in a reenactment of lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia where the Olympic Games were born in 776 B.C. The Olympic flame was lit in Ancient Olympia in Greece, in a solemn ceremony filled with mystery and tradition. Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Dustin Bass
Updated:
What is the true story of how the Olympic Games began? John A. Martino and Michael P. O’Kane, authors of “Olympia: The Birth of the Games,” have endeavored to tell that story in their new novel. This historical fiction account takes the reader back to the year 776 B.C., in the Greek city of Olympia.
The story, however, doesn’t revolve around Olympia. Rather, it revolves around the region as the reader follows the exhilarating and often bloody adventures of Pelops, the son of the priest of Olympia. Pelops is a man of peace in a world of continual wars. The authors express a cycle of violence that no one believes can be—and most don’t want to be—stopped.
Dustin Bass
Dustin Bass
Author
Dustin Bass is the creator and host of the American Tales podcast, and co-founder of The Sons of History. He writes two weekly series for The Epoch Times: Profiles in History and This Week in History. He is also an author.
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