May 19: World Fair Play Day
The Olympic Spirit
The ancient Greeks didn’t bother to take part if it wasn’t to win. Their most acclaimed sport was the infamous “pankration”, mixed martial arts with no rules except for eye gouging. The “greatest of all time” would be Arrachion, who managed to break his opponent’s toe while choking and got his wreath posthumously. The Greeks loved their sporting competitions and they would organise funeral games in honour of fallen comrades, with slavegirls, tapestry and especially tripods as coveted prizes. When someone was caught cheating, his city had to pay for a “monument” on which his name was engraved for eternity. But help from the gods was commonly accepted and they intervened at will. Erechtheus for example, king of Athens, got a helpful backwind from his son-in-law Boreas, god of the North Wind. Hymenaios, boyfriend of Dionysos, won his race with the help of Apollo. Ajax the Lesser on the other hand, who had desecrated Athena’s temple, tripped over his feet and had to see Odysseus win. The Olympians didn’t care for the Olympic spirit.
La Beauté et le Geste (javelin), Laurent Perbos,
L'Assemblée nationale, Palais Bourbon, Paris, France
La Beauté et le Geste (arrow shooting), Laurent Perbos,
L'Assemblée nationale, Palais Bourbon, Paris, France