776 BC

The Olympic Truce required all warfare to stop a week before, during, and a week after the Olympics so athletes and spectators could travel to Olympia and return home in peace. This practice continued uninterrupted at each Olympic Games for the next 1200 years. The Greeks hoped the Sacred Truce would continue when the games ended, and that the contests would turn warriors into athletes, whose skills, formerly associated with militarism, would be transformed into demonstrations of beauty and strength. Ancient Greece was composed of many self-governing city-states, and rivalries between them often led to war. In the 8th century B.C., King Ifitos of Elis asked the Oracle at Delphi for a solution. The Oracle advised that all soldiers should put their skill and effort into a noble set of athletic games, and that a sacred truce ("Ekecheiria" in Greek) should be set in place during the games. King Ifitos convinced the kings of Sparta and Pisa to agree, and the first Olympic Games were organized in 776 B.C. A truce, even for a short period of time, is invaluable. It can provide a window of opportunity to build bridges and establish communication between people at war or in conflict.


http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/truce.html