Paulo smiled. “I’m proud of you four!” he said. “You clearly understand the real spirit of the sport. Teamwork and loyalty are more important than any victory!”
from Thea Stilton and the Race for the Gold
written by Elisabetta Maria Dami (writing as Geronimo
Stilton and Thea Stilton)
illustrated by Ryan Jampole
Scholastic, 2020
Like much of what we encounter in our environments (external and internal), fire is both beneficial and destructive. It could have been 1,000,000 years ago when an individual homo Erectus, or someone who was part of a family group or clan figured out how to control fire. And in the case of fire, control is everything.
Several versions of the Phoenix myth exist in many different cultures. In the Greek tale, she is a bird of paradise. She’s majestic, brilliant, and dignified. She lives for 1,000 years, then, sets herself on fire only to be reborn fully-formed from her own ashes. The Phoenix is a powerful symbol of the regenerative property of life, especially useful in the Spring.
And it’s a great name for a city born in the hot, desert sand.
The Ancient Greeks used controlled fires in a variety of ways. They cooked their food, made metallurgic artistry possible, protected people from their enemies, and kept themselves warm.
Fire was and is a symbol of hearth and home.
Ancient Greek mythology is rife with references to fire. Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths and fire, was the only god who was not beautiful. He was lame, perhaps from his fall from Mount Olympus into Hades when Zeus, his own father, banished him. Hephaestus was honored, though, for his great artistry and architectural achievements, forged in fire.
Hestia was also one of the original Olympians. She tended the hearth on Mount Olympus. A fire burned continuously on the altar of her sanctuary during the Olympic Games.
This morning, (4/16/24) at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. here in Ohio), the flame lighting ceremony will take place in Olympia, Greece, on the exact spot where the flame was lit in Ancient Greece.
The Olympic flame will be lit in front of the ruins of Hera’s temple. Using a Skaphia, a parabolic dish with precise measurements that concentrate the sun’s rays, an actor playing the part of the high priestess, will light the Olympic flame. It’s placed in an urn and taken to the ancient stadium where it’s handed, along with an olive branch, to a torchbearer.
The flame is taken to the site of the International Olympic Academy and passed to a second torchbearer, who represents the hosting country of the Olympic Games. This year it’s France.
All in all, 600 torchbearers will carry the flame an average of 200 meters each throughout Greece on an 11-day relay, ending in Athens on Friday April 26, where a handover ceremony will take place.
Live coverage of the whole ceremony will begin fifteen minutes before the flame is lit and end when it is received by the third torchbearer who continues the 3,100 mile relay to Athens. Click Olympicscom. to watch, then click the relay button for the replay. (It’s about an hour and a half, but you can fast forward, if you want to.)
The Olympic flame will spend the night at the French Embassy in Athens, then board the Belem, a three-masted ship that was first launched in 1896, the first year of the modern Games. It will arrive in Marseille, France on May 8, amid great fanfare.
When the torch is lit, the Official Games begin.
For almost twelve centuries, the Olympic Games were *the* highpoint on the Ancient Greek calendar. Most Olympians were soldiers, but any free male was allowed to compete. Women were forbidden not only from competing. They were not even allowed to attend the Games. The men competed in the nude, but that’s probably not why women were banned.
The Ancient Olympics Game page of olympics.com states “[a]t their height in the fifth century BCE, athletes competed in running, jumping and throwing events plus boxing, wrestling, pankration (an unarmed combat sport which was sometimes played till the death), and chariot racing.
The Games were far from gentlemanly. Corporal punishment was the penalty for a false start on the track.
The Games took place every four years from 776 BCE (Before the Common Era) to 393 CE (Common Era). The first known Olympic Games were played to honor Zeus. Although the Games continued for over 1,000 years, by 27 BCE, Rome’s conquest of the Greek city-states was complete. Roman influence continued to grow and in 393 CE, Emperor Theodosius I banned the Games in an effort to promote Christianity. He called the Games paganistic.
It took 1,500 years until Olympic Games were played again. Pierre de Coubertin, a young French baron, had the idea to revive the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formed and the first modern Games were planned for Summer 1896.
King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 countries to the international competition. Thirteen nations competed in 43 events. All the competitors were men.
By 1924, over 3,000 athletes, including women! represented 44 nations. In the Summer Olympics in 2024 in Paris, 10,500 athletes will represent 206 countries in 329 events in 32 different sports.
The Games will begin July 26 and conclude August 11. Until then, I’ll dust off my sneakers, make a walking plan for this Spring, and start moving!
I just picked up His Name is George Floyd by Robert Samuels (Viking, 2022) from my library. It’s a Pulitzer Prize winner and a finalist for National Book Award. I’m sure it will be informative, well-researched, and probably bring to the front of my brain all the difficult emotions we all felt on May 25, 2020. I’ll let you know.
—- Be curious! (and prepared)
from Thea Stilton and the Race for the Gold
written by Elisabetta Maria Dami (writing as Geronimo
Stilton and Thea Stilton)
illustrated by Ryan Jampole
Scholastic, 2020
Like much of what we encounter in our environments (external and internal), fire is both beneficial and destructive. It could have been 1,000,000 years ago when an individual homo Erectus, or someone who was part of a family group or clan figured out how to control fire. And in the case of fire, control is everything.
Several versions of the Phoenix myth exist in many different cultures. In the Greek tale, she is a bird of paradise. She’s majestic, brilliant, and dignified. She lives for 1,000 years, then, sets herself on fire only to be reborn fully-formed from her own ashes. The Phoenix is a powerful symbol of the regenerative property of life, especially useful in the Spring.
And it’s a great name for a city born in the hot, desert sand.
The Ancient Greeks used controlled fires in a variety of ways. They cooked their food, made metallurgic artistry possible, protected people from their enemies, and kept themselves warm.
Fire was and is a symbol of hearth and home.
Ancient Greek mythology is rife with references to fire. Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths and fire, was the only god who was not beautiful. He was lame, perhaps from his fall from Mount Olympus into Hades when Zeus, his own father, banished him. Hephaestus was honored, though, for his great artistry and architectural achievements, forged in fire.
Hestia was also one of the original Olympians. She tended the hearth on Mount Olympus. A fire burned continuously on the altar of her sanctuary during the Olympic Games.
This morning, (4/16/24) at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. here in Ohio), the flame lighting ceremony will take place in Olympia, Greece, on the exact spot where the flame was lit in Ancient Greece.
The Olympic flame will be lit in front of the ruins of Hera’s temple. Using a Skaphia, a parabolic dish with precise measurements that concentrate the sun’s rays, an actor playing the part of the high priestess, will light the Olympic flame. It’s placed in an urn and taken to the ancient stadium where it’s handed, along with an olive branch, to a torchbearer.
The flame is taken to the site of the International Olympic Academy and passed to a second torchbearer, who represents the hosting country of the Olympic Games. This year it’s France.
All in all, 600 torchbearers will carry the flame an average of 200 meters each throughout Greece on an 11-day relay, ending in Athens on Friday April 26, where a handover ceremony will take place.
Live coverage of the whole ceremony will begin fifteen minutes before the flame is lit and end when it is received by the third torchbearer who continues the 3,100 mile relay to Athens. Click Olympicscom. to watch, then click the relay button for the replay. (It’s about an hour and a half, but you can fast forward, if you want to.)
The Olympic flame will spend the night at the French Embassy in Athens, then board the Belem, a three-masted ship that was first launched in 1896, the first year of the modern Games. It will arrive in Marseille, France on May 8, amid great fanfare.
When the torch is lit, the Official Games begin.
For almost twelve centuries, the Olympic Games were *the* highpoint on the Ancient Greek calendar. Most Olympians were soldiers, but any free male was allowed to compete. Women were forbidden not only from competing. They were not even allowed to attend the Games. The men competed in the nude, but that’s probably not why women were banned.
The Ancient Olympics Game page of olympics.com states “[a]t their height in the fifth century BCE, athletes competed in running, jumping and throwing events plus boxing, wrestling, pankration (an unarmed combat sport which was sometimes played till the death), and chariot racing.
The Games were far from gentlemanly. Corporal punishment was the penalty for a false start on the track.
The Games took place every four years from 776 BCE (Before the Common Era) to 393 CE (Common Era). The first known Olympic Games were played to honor Zeus. Although the Games continued for over 1,000 years, by 27 BCE, Rome’s conquest of the Greek city-states was complete. Roman influence continued to grow and in 393 CE, Emperor Theodosius I banned the Games in an effort to promote Christianity. He called the Games paganistic.
It took 1,500 years until Olympic Games were played again. Pierre de Coubertin, a young French baron, had the idea to revive the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formed and the first modern Games were planned for Summer 1896.
King Georgios I of Greece and a crowd of 60,000 spectators welcomed athletes from 13 countries to the international competition. Thirteen nations competed in 43 events. All the competitors were men.
By 1924, over 3,000 athletes, including women! represented 44 nations. In the Summer Olympics in 2024 in Paris, 10,500 athletes will represent 206 countries in 329 events in 32 different sports.
The Games will begin July 26 and conclude August 11. Until then, I’ll dust off my sneakers, make a walking plan for this Spring, and start moving!
I just picked up His Name is George Floyd by Robert Samuels (Viking, 2022) from my library. It’s a Pulitzer Prize winner and a finalist for National Book Award. I’m sure it will be informative, well-researched, and probably bring to the front of my brain all the difficult emotions we all felt on May 25, 2020. I’ll let you know.
—- Be curious! (and prepared)
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