Nemea was one of the four Pan-Hellenic athletic centres of antiquity. Although ancient Greeks never founded a uniform nation state, they were well-aware of their common religious, cultural and linguistic bonds. They would organise athletic and/or musical games, where only Greeks could participate, to honour their gods every four or two years, as in the case of Nemea. The Olympic Games were held in Olympia, the Pythian Games in Delphi, the Isthmian Games at the canal of Corinth and the Nemean Games in Nemea, where Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon and Zeus were worshipped respectively.