Ancient greece and the olympics book

The Ancient Greek Olympics by Richard Woff, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®

T he Olympic Games of AD ended in a horribly spectacular fashion. Just a couple of miles from the main stadium, watched by a large crowd, an old man called Peregrinus Proteus — an ex-Christian convert, turned loud-mouthed pagan philosopher and religious guru — jumped on to a blazing pyre to his death. He had been threatening to do this ever since the previous Olympics, four years earlier. The self-immolation was modelled on the mythical death of Heracles one of the legendary founders of the Games and was meant as a gesture of protest at the corrupt wealth of the human world, as well as a lesson to the guru's followers in how to endure suffering. Despite his brave words, as the days of the Olympic festival went by, Peregrinus kept putting off the final moment.