First,
a little history.
It
was, given a decade or so, about three thousand years ago that the first Olympic
Games took place; dedicated to the Olympian gods and staged on the ancient
plains of Olympia.
By
all accounts, Olympia was a place of unique natural and
mystical beauty, a meeting place for worship and other religious and political
practices. So rather akin to Sochi by all accounts, though perhaps with cleaner water and bedding. The many elaborate buildings and sporting facilities were dominated
by the majestic temple of Zeus, with the temple of Hera parallel to it.
Although the Olympic Games were closely linked to
Zeus, they were not an integral part of any religious observance. The Games were a direct outgrowth of the values and beliefs
of Greek society, who idealized physical fitness and mental discipline,
believing that excellence in those areas honoured Zeus, the greatest of all
their gods. So The Games held a secular character, solely aimed at showing
the physical qualities and evolution of the performances accomplished by young
people, as well as encouraging good relations between cities.
They
continued for some 12 centuries, until the Roman Emperor Theodosius, a
Christian, decreed in 393 A.D. that all such "pagan cults" be banned.
The
first Olympic Games since that time were held, once again, in Greece in 1859,
though it was the Athens games of 1896 that were truly international and more
as we know today.
Looking
back once again to the origins, another notable aspect of the Greek culture, and
indeed through much of the Ancient World, was that love between males was not
only tolerated but actually encouraged, and expressed as the high ideal of
same-sex camaraderie.
Such
terms as 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual' had no equivalent in
these times, simply because it was assumed that a person would have both 'hetero'- and 'homo'- sexual responses at different times. Sexuality was fluid,
and was certainly not a marker of one's worth or standing in society. Over
subsequent centuries much has been written to negate this; with a knowledge it
cannot be completely denied, many historians and the like have done their best
(inevitably fed by their own beliefs) to pigeon-hole it into matters of status
and the like.
It
wasn't.
Furthermore,
let it not be forgotten that for several hundreds of years during this time
there were two deities vying for worship. Yes, two.
One
was the son of a carpenter from Nazareth who died upon The Cross to save his
people, and the other was the handsome young lover of the Emperor Hadrian who
drowned in the Nile to save Egypt: The Christians eventually took power over
The Pagans, so Jesus won and Antinous (who most people will not have heard of)
lost. Incidentally, Antinous was the last Roman to be deified, a practice
normally reserved for Emperors, and there were more statues of him made than of
any figure throughout the whole of Roman History. He was worshipped throughout
the vast Empire for several hundreds of years.
'The Olympian Ideal'
One of the most famous statues is
the colossal 'Antinous as Dionysos-Osiris' in marble, which stands in
the Museo Pio-Clementino, Sala Rotunda of the Vatican Museums.
This
does not open a debate here about religion and faith, but it does clearly
illustrate that which character who is most worshipped, be they myth alone or
legend born from reality, has deep root as to who is in power as much as
anything else.
So
the Pagans were, generally speaking. much freer in their approach to sexuality.
It goes without saying that same-sex relationships of the kind portrayed by
this 'Greek love' ideal were increasingly disallowed within the Judaeo-Christian
traditions of Western society, and eventually became highly taboo.
Two
of the greatest names in history, both from the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci
and Michelangelo, are good examples of not following such constraint. But there
are many more besides.
So,
to today.
None
of us can be ignorant to what is happening over in Russia, the call for change,
for retraction of laws, for boycotts. Russian law bans the promotion of 'non-traditional' sexuality, and yet it
could be very strongly argued that the very sexuality they are against is the most
'traditional' of all, particularly in
the long history of the Olympics.
What
is disturbing to say the least is that even if Putin ordered a complete
reversal of his government's stance on homosexuality tomorrow, the seeds have already
been sown. People invariably seem to be inspired more by hatred than love, and
the mentality of prejudice has now been so firmly set in stone that it will no
doubt last for generations.
The
Russian government only yesterday called on all warring parties around the
world to observe the Olympic truce during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in
a statement that mentions the "...building (of) a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal". A
peaceful and better world... quoted... from a country whose government condones
the abuse and torture of individuals simply because of their sexuality.
Perhaps
rather odd to quote myself here, but I wrote this in another piece about the
modern slave trade, and it is fitting to place here: "It is the right of every person to be born in freedom and live in
liberty. It is the duty of every person to fight injustice and
oppression."
In
mind of that, let me set out 'The Olympian Ideal'.
It is a life philosophy,
promoting three core values:
Excellence, Friendship
and Respect.
All Olympic Ideals flow
from these three core values.
The aspects of these Olympic
Ideals are:
The balanced development
of body, will and mind.
The joy found in effort.
The educational value of
being a good role model.
The respect for
universal ethics, including:
• Tolerance
• Generosity
• Unity
• Friendship
• Non-discrimination
• Respect for others
Developing a better and
more peaceful world by the educating of young people through sport, free of
discrimination and in the Olympic spirit.
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