HISTORY
ANCIENT GREECE
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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In honor of the Greek gods
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It was an original Olympic event
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A Greek soldier ran 26+ miles from Marathon to Athens to tell the good news about them defeating Darius
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they liked the name
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Detailed explanation-1: -According to legend, an Athenian messenger was sent from Marathon to Athens, a distance of about 25 miles (40 km), and there he announced the Persian defeat before dying of exhaustion. This tale became the basis for the modern marathon race.
Detailed explanation-2: -But in 490 bc, 20, 000 Greeks defeated 100, 000 Persian troops at Marathon, north of Athens. (A messenger named Pheidippides ran the 26 miles–42.195 km–to Athens to give them the good news, hence the sport of marathon running!)
Detailed explanation-3: -The modern Athens Marathon commemorates the run of a messenger from a battlefield at the site of the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C. Legend has it that a messenger delivered the momentous message “Niki!” (“victory”), then collapsed and died.