The ceremony planned to capture the sun’s rays with a parabolic mirror. Cloudy conditions forced Tuesday’s ceremony to plan B: using a pre-lit flame instead of trusting the gods. Organizers hope this is the last plan B they need to rely on.
Although it reflects Hellenic traditions dating back thousands of years, the ceremony was first held in its current form in 1936, when the games were held in Berlin under the supervision of Adolf Hitler.
The actions are now performed by actors, however, while a dance troupe performs choreography “inspired by ancient times” while this happens, the IOC he said.
The priestess guardian of the fire, known as Hestiada, then takes the flame in an urn to the ancient stadium of Olympia, where it is given to the first torchbearer along with an olive branch, symbolizing peace.
The first torchbearer will be Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos, who will receive the flame at the entrance to the ancient Olympic stadium for the start of a relay across Greece.
It will then be delivered to the organizers of the Paris Games in Athens at the end of this month, before departing for France aboard a three-masted ship, the “Bethlehem”.
The Olympic flame will arrive in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille on May 8, with up to 150,000 people expected to attend a ceremony before the start of the French leg of the relay.
Marseille, founded by Greek colonists from Phocaea around 600 BC, will host the sailing competitions.
The French torch relay will last 68 days and will culminate in the lighting of the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26.
The origin of ancient games dates back to 776 BC and they were extremely popular, continuing until they were banished in 393 AD by Theodosius I, a Christian emperor, who considered the whole business part of a pagan cult.
Much of the modern pageantry didn’t happen back then – there was no torch relay, for example – while back then Olympic competitors had to perform naked. Wrestling is still an Olympic sport, but competitors are no longer covered in olive oil.
It doesn’t even war gets in the way, as happened in 480 BC when a Persian army invaded, but the Greek city-states had difficulty recruiting soldiers because many were more interested in watching or participating in the games.
At that time, women could not participate, nor even attend the tournament. An enterprising Spartan princess, Kyniska, exploited a loophole by claiming a victory crown in 396 and 392 BC because she owned a winning chariot.
Nowadays, too many false starts can get a runner disqualified – in ancient Greece you could face corporal punishment.
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