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from
New York Newsday, August 8, 2004
Back to the Beginning
by John Jeansonne
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Details are hit and myth, but there is no denying that the Olympics are Greece's baby, and returning the Modern Games to Athens after 108 years unearths old ties to the Ancient Games at Olympia of almost 3,000 years ago.
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With its ritual and symbolism—the lighted flame, athletes' oaths, the glorification of competitors—and, especially, by its location, the 2004 Opening Ceremonies will evoke the Games' history and stir an unavoidable consideration of roots and meaning.
"Human nature hasn't changed, in a lot of ways," said Tony Perrottet, the New York-based Australian author whose new book, The Naked Olympics, details the vivid, noisy festivals of antiquity. "The vain, athletic culture comes from the ancient Greeks. Admiration of the body beautiful, the  preening. The Olympics gave us the competitive spirit that's embedded in Western culture."
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Then, the Olympics was played out as a devotion to Zeus and the gods; now, it is presented as thoroughly secular, though with a clear nod to the sanctity of physical health. Then, the Games' function as a war-without-bullets argued for the superiority of one city-state over another; now, it involves the pride of nation-states through medal counts.
“Olympic Preview; Athens Games - Back to the beginning” by John Jeansonne from Newsday, August 8, 2004. Copyright © 2004 by Newsday. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.
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