The Three Myths 6

Out of the three myths I read today, I decided to focus more on "The Olympic and Other Games." This caught my atention because I am very interested in the Athletism of the Greeks. "The first and most distinguished game were the Olympic, founded, it was said, by Jupiter himdelf." (P.124, Olympic and Other Games). What fascinates me the most, are the pricipals of sportsmenship that were used in the competition. I investigated an ancient latin quote which is nowadays used as the Olympic Motto:

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." This phrase teaches us that where you end up doesn't matter, it's how you get there that really matters. This idea could probably be considered as a pillar of competition.

There games were so inffluencial that they even exist now, centuries after they were invented. I researched some some of the olympic symbols and their meanings which are used nowadays.
The best known symbol is probably that of the Olympic Rings. These five intertwined rings represent the unity of five inhabited continents (with America regarded as one single continent). The Olympic Torch commemorates the attainment of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, when a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics.

The text states the following: "The excercises in hese games were of five sports: running, leaping, wrestling, throwing the quoit, and hurling the javeline, or boxing. " (P. 125, Olympic and other Games). Currently, the Olympic program consists of 35 different sports, 53 disciplines and more than 400 events. This shows how well the games have progressed and how thankful we should be to the Greeks.

(Information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games#Olympic_sports)