Sport competitions as a form of showing respect to the gods were an integral part of some ancient Greek religious festivals, which could be of a local character, but also of a general Greek character. The paper presents four Panhellenic games (Olympic, Isthmian, Pythian, Nemean) based on ancient Greek literary sources. The Greek travel-writer Pausanias provides pieces of information relating to their beginnings, the changes that have taken place in their organization over the time, and names of winners in the particular discipline. The great reputation they enjoyed in the Greek world is indicated by the poems of the poets Pindar and Bakhilid in honor of the individual winners of these competitions. Due to the fact that the Olympic and Delphic Games have still been held today, the paper compares modern and ancient games.