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patriotic feelings to announce the revival of the Olympic Games. It is not known
whether their plans were realized. In the same year, Metastasio's theatrical drama
Olympia was translated into Greek. Regas Feraeos had also proposed the revival of
the Olympic Games for all Christian peoples of the Balkans, aiming to establish their
political and religious unity. The play Olympia, which refers to the Olympic Games
of the Antiquity, inaugurated the newly established Athenian Theatre in 1838, and it
was hugely successful at the time.
In 1833 the poet Panayotis Soutsos published his poem "Dialogue of the Dead"
in which the spirit of Plato asks the modern Greeks: "Tell me, where are your ancient
games? Where are your beautiful Olympic Games? The poet was voicing the
desire of his generation for the revival of the Olympic Games. He did not stop at
poetic exclamations, either: one year later he submitted his proposal in writing to the
President of the Greek government and he in turn to King Otto; the long report proposed
the resurrection of the Panhellenic Games of the Antiquity.
The words and poems of Soutsos touched a cord in Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy
merchant and farmer from Vlachia, who followed these writings with great interest.
Fascinated by the plans and the grandiose style of the various articles, he offered
to cover the expenses with a huge donation for those days. His grant paid for
the organization of four Zappeian Olympics in Athens - 1859, 1870, 1875 and 1889
- as part of large exhibitions that were held at the same times. According to his wish,
the grant committee saw to the construction of the Zappeion Hall which was opened
in 1888. It was there that the athletes of the 1st International Olympic Games
were housed, while the fencing competition was held in its atrium; this was the first
contemporary Olympic Village.
The important place of the Zappeian Olympics in the history of the revival of the
Olympic Games cannot be overestimated. They served as a link between the ancient
Olympic Games and modern International Olympic Games. For the first time, two
committees cooperated in order to develop common programmes and rules: the
Committee of the Zappeian Olympics and Much Wenlock's Olympic Society in England,
which also organized local Olympic Games under the directorship of W.P.
Brooks. The organization of international Olympic Games was discussed between
those two local committees in 1881, eleven years before Coubertin's similar proposal.
Many features of the Zappeian Olympics - the distinction between amateur and
professional athletes, the Olympic Anthem, the oath-taking, the opening and closing
ceremonies, the diplomas and medals and the uniform apparel of the athletes - are
still among the characteristics of the Olympic Games. Moreover, some of the sports
in the contemporary Olympic Games have their roots in the Zappeian Olympics. Finally,
the Zappeian Olympics made a great contribution to preparing public opinion
in Greece, and especially in Athens, so that the Greeks welcomed enthusiastically
the idea of the first International Olympic Games being held in Athens and gave
their full support.
Indeed, following the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin and the wish expressed by
the International Sports Congress for the revival of the Olympic Games in Athens,
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