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Greece in the year 776 B.C. The Games were integral part of the Greek culture
which was one of the earliest Civilizations. The Games in ancient days were not
only held at Olympia but also at many places in Greece. In various periods of time
ancient Greeks organized Games at Delphi, Nemea, Isthmia apart from Olympia.
However, the Olympic Games were the most important in terms of content and
longevity. The Ancient Olympic Games were celebrated uninterrupted, even during
the wars, for more than one thousand years until they were officially banned
by a Roman Emperor in the fourth century A.D.
The Birth of Modern Olympic Games
There were many efforts to revive the Olympic Games in the nineteenth century.
The Greeks themselves made several attempts in the middle of the nineteenth
century, though their attempts were not to internationalize the Games. They organized
four national Olympic Games in Greece between 1859 and 1889.
It is, however, the efforts of the Baron Pierre de Coubertin which became the
significant landmark in the history of revival of Olympic Games. This young
Frenchman had not only dreamt of reviving the ancient Games like many in
Greece and elsewhere in the world, but also made untiring efforts to realize the
dream. He travelled to many places in the world to gain the support to revive the
Olympic Games.
Many people were sceptical about the possibility of reviving the Games. Coubertin
articulated his case effectively on the strength of history and philosophy of
the ancient games. One example of such influence of Greek Culture on the revival
of the Olympic Games is the impact of the performance of "Delphi Hymn" on
the members of the Paris Congress in 1894.
Not only the strength of Greek Culture, but men and material support of the
Greek Nation played a significant role in reviving the Olympic Games. But for the
timely support of enlightened people like Vikelas and the Crown Prince of Greece,
the Baron's dream would have remained only a dream. There is no doubt but that
the first modern Olympic Games were a spectacular success.
It is a known fact that the second Olympic Games in 1900 at Paris, whence the
"father" of modern Olympic Games hailed, and the third Olympic Games in 1904
at St. Louis, a city in an emerging world economic super power, were a disastrous
failure. The infant International Olympic Committee and its young president had
to fall back upon the culture and people of Greece to put the derailed Olympic
Movement back on track.
Having experienced the total failure of two Olympic Games outside Greece,
Coubertin had allotted the so-called interim Olympic Games 1906 to Athens where
they were once again organized very successfully. These days organizing Olympic
Games is a commercially viable proposition. Today the Olympic Movement is an
unprecedented universal phenomenon. But it owes a lot to the Greek people and
their culture.
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