As an author, sometimes I take artistic license and combine two concepts that happened at the same time into one adventure — such as the time when my character Lexi Catt lived with Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who took Lexi to the Olympic games. Such a grand adventure! And it was a good thing there was a doctor in the house!
Based on the Ideals of Mind, Spirit, and Body
Olympic protestors invariably miss their objective because they pit one motherhood issue against another.
The Olympic Games are based solidly on ideals of mind, spirit, body and international friendship. In ancient Olympia fair play and friendship was promoted ahead of any other aspects of the festivals and taking part was more important than winning.
Thanks to Pierre de Coubertin, who after 15 centuries revived the ancient Olympic Games, those ideals are maintained so that even today’s athletes are proud just to participate.
Another aspect of the ancient Olympics was that they were always held in peace thanks to the truce established by King Lycourgos of Sparta and this truce was inscribed on a metal disc always displayed in a temple at Olympia. All factions of unrest in Greece were required to lay down their arms before during and after the Festival of Games. Today’s Games should be accorded the same honour because threatening violence is the antithesis of the Olympic spirit.
Costs are necessarily higher than in former Olympics, for example, building the Olympic Village. However, this is in keeping with the original Olympics where the athletes trained and lived together one month before the event and formed bonding friendships before competing. Even today the athletes make friends but now it is worldwide which promotes peace, not discord.
Today’s governments see that to host the Olympic Games brings honour, goodwill, recognition and hopefully prosperity to the hosting city. In pursuing and winning that opportunity, this government was supported by two thirds of the population. Regardless of negative opinions even more people will change their attitudes in favour of the games when they enjoy the spectacle or benefit from it in some way. Thus protests are now too late. The Olympics will be held with or without demonstrations of protest. The small number of negative thinkers should wait until after the Games to focus the financial benefits on their cause. For now peace and celebration should be the focus as it was in ancient Olympia.
Meg
Marian Keen
Author
Lexi and Hippocrates Find Trouble at the Olympics
To read about Lexi’s adventure in ancient Greece, check out my book Lexi and Hippocrates Find Trouble at the Olympics. Don’t miss the “pawscript” at the back of the book – that is where you’ll find historical details about Hippocrates, medicine, and the original Olympic games.
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