The Panhellenic games were sporting events involving all the cities of ancient Greece.
The most important ones were held in Olympia in honour of Zeus, but there were also the Pythian Games in Delphi, the Nemean Games in Nemea and the Isthmian Games in Corinth, all dedicated to different deities.
Though in sport today we commonly hear the saying “it’s the taking part that counts”, in the days of the ancient Greeks the essential rule was to come first: only in this way could the athletes receive glory and be brought closer to the gods.
