When Were The Ancient Olympic Games Held. Olympic games, athletic festival that originated in ancient greece and was revived in the late 19th century. The ancient olympic games were a sporting event held every four years at the sacred site of olympia, in the western peloponnese, in honour of zeus, the supreme.

The olympic games began in the 8th century bc (probably 776 bc) at a place called olympia, south west greece. They lasted a total of 1,169 years and were held every four years, continuously and without any.