It was bankrolled by a Greek businessman called Evangelos Zappas, a man who could, had he wished, been described as the first major sporting sponsor.

Zappas had fought in the war for Greek Independence and had reached the rank of brigadier. He settled in Romania, where he went into business and made his fortune in property alongside his cousin Konstantinos.

In the 1840s, the writer Panagiotis Soutsos wrote a poem urging his countrymen to “recall the past splendour of Greece”. This was published in the newspaper Helios. Zappas had similar ideas. His dream was for an ambitious series of sporting events.

He approached the Greek consulate in Bucharest and told them of his desire to revive the Olympic Games of antiquity and build an exhibition hall next to the famous Panathenian Stadium in Athens. The date he had in mind for these Games was March 25 1857. This was and still is the national day of Greece. The word “Olympic” already had resonance in Greece and far beyond, yet the authorities dragged their feet.

Back in Athens, Soutsos now wrote another piece for the daily newspaper Helios, this time suggesting an event with much wider scope to incorporate an exposition and artistic events.

“With these Olympic Games, we can unite the exhibition of farm produce, farming implements and industrial achievements with the award of prizes to men of letters,” he said.

Soutsos’ idea proved ahead of its time. In Paris 1900, St Louis 1904 and London 1908 an international exposition accompanied the Olympic Games.

Zappas was equally undeterred. This time he caught the ear of Greek Foreign Minister Alexandros Rizos Rhangavis, who proved a valuable ally.

“That fine patriot Zappas showed much enthusiasm for the scheme which he considered would restore the brilliance of the ancient days,” wrote Rhangavis.

Zappas was by now a very wealthy man and he endowed the Hellenic Government with 400 shares in the Greek Steam Navigation Company, as well as a substantial sum in Dutch Ducats. He made it clear he would also fund the construction of a building in which to hold the competition.

Finally in the summer of 1858, official approval for his idea came in the form of a Royal warrant signed by the Greek Queen Regent. This cleared the way for the Games to proceed the following year.

Details of his plans appeared in the international press, across Europe and even as far as  Canada and the United States. “The startling announcement that such a measure was in contemplation may have caused some readers to brush up their schoolboy recollections by a hasty glance at the classical dictionary,” said the New York Times.

The press notices found their mark.

“It is with great pleasure that I find by periodical allusions to your paper, that you take such a lively interest in everything belonging to Greece,” wrote NM Maniachi enthusiastically to the Editor of the Manchester Guardian.

Not all were quite as keen on the idea. The British satirical magazine Punch noted dismissively that Greece was “about to carry the parody of classical institutions to an extreme point”.

The first Games were scheduled for the autumn of 1859 and would take place in Athens.

By the end of the year, the first regulations appeared in respect of what was described as “the decision, animated by the Greek industrial committee, concerning the first setting up of Olympia”.

Another key personality took notice of these developments. His name was William Penny Brookes, a country doctor who had established similar “OIympian” Games at Much Wenlock in the English midlands a decade before.

Brookes made contact with the organisers in Greece and offered “a Wenlock Prize” of 10 pounds for the competition in Athens. This was to be an “award for noble courage”. It was specified that the prize was to be given for “Tilting at the Ring”, an event which had proved very popular at the Games in Wenlock.

In fact, as reported by Sir Thomas Wyse, the British Ambassador to Greece, “there being no game here which answers to that and being difficult to make it comprehensible, the committee thought the money could not be better applied than as a prize for the best runner in the longest race.”

Wyse added an account of this contest.

“The race afforded good sport, for the Greeks walk and run well and the prize was numerously and well contested,” he said.

The winner was Petros Velissarios from Smyrna.

In addition to his prize, Velissarios was given a Cotinos - the traditional crown of olive leaves - and as a further honour, the good people of Wenlock later resolved to send him one of their silver decorations and enter his name on the list of honorary members of the Wenlock class.

It so happened that Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred was visiting Athens at the time. In his honour his hosts rearranged the events involving horse racing so that he could see them. They scheduled them for a Sunday at which the Prince objected “that he could not be present at the events on the holy day of the Lord”. The racing was then re-arranged for the following Tuesday.

Most of the events were held in what is known today as Koumoundourou Square. The rest of the Zappas Games programme included more athletic events and a sport called “bladdering” which was six jumps over a wineskin.

In addition to the sporting events, there were prizes for various agricultural products and also for music and painting.

Though many accepted that the staging of the Games had not been impressive, the Hellenic community embraced the idea behind them and relished the prospect that Greeks everywhere “should talk together and think together”.

Zappas was keen for the Games to be repeated, but in 1862 the Greek King Otto was sent into exile.

In any case, Zappas became seriously ill and died in 1865. Although there were many legal hurdles to overcome, he bequeathed funds for further sporting activity. An Olympia and Bequests Committee was established by another royal warrant and the second Zappas Games took place in 1870.

All the competitors were ordered to take an oath before competing.

“I promise that I will compete honourably according to the terms of the rules and without cheating my opponent,” it read.

This time an expansive programme of events was planned. These were to be in athletics, tug of war, for horse and coaches and on the water at Faliron. These included rowing, sailing, swimming and diving.

Bad weather forced the cancellation of most of this ambitious programme but athletic events did take place in the Panathenian Stadium. The finals attracted a huge attendance of over 20,000 and newspapers talked of “a remarkable and unique spectacle”. The start of each race was signalled by a bugle fanfare and a herald announced the names of the victors.

Artistic competitions had also become an important part of these Games and the poetry competition attracted an entry of eleven dramatic poems. Amongst them was an “Ode to Zappas the founder of the Games’’.

The judges eventually gave the poetry prize to one Angelo Vlachos.

The organisers were jubilant. The crowds “relived the days of their ancestors fair fame”, noted the official report.

“These were the Greek peoples’ first big contact with the athletics movement,” said Dr Kostas Georgiadis, a modern Greek scholar and Dean of the International Olympic Academy who carried out a detailed study of these early days.

Konstantinos Zappas set about negotiating the construction of the exhibition hall to fulfil his cousin’s ambition. In fact, the first corner stone was not laid until 1873 and the entire project took 14 years to complete.

Planning was soon underway for the third Zappas Games to be held in 1875 and this time they were scheduled for much earlier in the year. This time the roll of honour shows that competitors came from across Europe; the winner of the pole vault Alexandros Pestalis had travelled all the way from Prague, for example.

There was to be one more celebration of these Games and they came in 1888-1889. This time they attracted even more international attention. A Parisian magazine even carried a photograph of the Opening Ceremony.

Just as the London Olympics in 2012 pledged to raise participation levels in sport, so organisers of these early games in Greece were determined to leave a sporting legacy. There were concerted efforts and attempts to establish gymnastics into state education at all levels throughout the country in the late 19th Century.

The French Baron Pierre de Coubertin was not even born when Zappas staged his first Games, but he took up the quest for Olympic revival with great enthusiasm.

In 1894 he finally persuaded influential figures from around the world to reintroduce them but this time on an international scale. The first President of the International Olympic Committee was appropriately a Greek, Dimitrios Vikelas, who lived in Paris. The Games of the first Olympiad of the modern era were staged in Athens.

Much of the competition was held at the showpiece Panathenian Stadium but fencing was held just a few yards away at The Zappeion Hall. The dream cherished by Evangelos Zappas had been fulfilled at last.