greek athletics
the ancient olympics
bedraggled group of joggers from a local running club splashes though
the puddles on a gloomy afternoon in some small town.
What
gives special significance to this commonplace scene? Look closely at the
leading runner. He is carrying something. It's a gas-powered torch, although
the flame is invisible even in this dull light. The wet, deserted streets
are in Sparta, in southern Greece. The date is March 31st 1996 - the Olympic
Flame, kindled by the sun's rays a few days earlier at the site of ancient
Olympia, is still near the start of its journey to Atlanta for the Centennial
Olympic Games.
Why?
The
ancient Olympics had no "sacred flame" - this was a brainchild of Goebbels'
propaganda machine, first seen at the notorious 1936 Berlin Olympics. Ironically,
what seems to be the most potent symbol of the Games' links with ancient
Greece is actually the most bogus.
What
did the ancient Games have in common with the modern Olympics?
Not the flame, to be sure, but professionalism, money, political pressure,
corruption, cheating ... to cheer yourself up, find out about the modern
Nemean Games, where all these vices are avoided.
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