Blood and Honour at the First Olympics

Return to ancient Greece and witness the Bacchanalian excess and raw competition of 'The First Olympics'.

The ancient Olympic games were savage competitions in which the athletes gave their blood and sometimes their lives in order to be called the best and to avoid the dishonor of defeat. Athletes were idolised, not least of all for their godlike perfection of form. They were also venerated for their fearlessness and nerve in contests that sometimes bordered on the suicidal. Bloody boxing matches of gruesome voracity, chariot races in which few made it to the finish line and an early form of no-holds-barred fighting called Pankration raged within the bloodied arena.

The History Channel chronicles the origins and culture behind the world's greatest sporting event in this compelling documentary.