Thinking the Olympics The Classical Tradition and the Modern Games

by Goff, Barbara; Simpson, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780715639306
• ISBN10: 0715639307
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-27
• Publisher: Bristol Classical Press

Summary

This is the first book to address the convergences and divergences between the ancient and modern Games from the perspective of the classical tradition, examining the ways in which connections between ancient Greece and the revived Olympics may be constructed, interrogated, lauded, or deplored. The Athens Games in 2004 were a climax of convergence, as the Games effectively returned to their ancient origins. Yet the Beijing Games in 2008 celebrated another, even more ancient civilisation. Thinking the Olympics brings together contributions from various disciplines ranging around two opposing themes. On the one hand, the Games are presented as an ideal enactment of pure, intrinsic Olympic values, such as peace through sport; on the other, the Games appear as a messy performance of extrinsic investments by diverse groups with their own interests, commercial as well as political.

Author Biography

Barbara Goff is Professor of Classics at the University of Reading. Michael Simpson is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
List of Contributors	p. viii
List of Illustrations	p. xi
Introduction: Game Plan	p. 1
Pythagoras and the Origins of Olympic Ideology	p. 21
True Heroes and Dishonourable Victors at Olympia	p. 40
To Give Over One's Heart: Pindar, Bataille and the Poetics of Victory	p. 57
Epideictic Oratory at the Olympic Games	p. 76
Living in the Shadow of the Past: Greek Athletes during the Roman Empire	p. 90
Gilbert West and the English Contribution to the Revival of the Olympic Games	p. 109
James Barry's Crowning the Victors at Olympia: Transmitting the Values of the Classical Olympic Games into the Modern Era	p. 123
The Race for a Healthy Body: The Ancient Greek Physical Ideal in Victorian London	p. 141
Nervi's Palazzo and Palazzetto dello Sport: Striking a Delicate Balance between Past and Present in 1960 Rome	p. 156
Trailing the Olympic Epic: Black Modernity and the Athenian Arena, 2004	p. 171
Pindar at the Olympics: The Limits of Revivalism	p. 190
Afterword: London 2012	p. 204
Bibliography	p. 205
Index	p. 223
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