Description
The Road to Olympia. Origins of the Olympic Games
Author: André Bernand
Very good condition
The Olympic Games invented and organised by the Ancient Greeks teach us important lessons. An Olympic truce suspended hostilities and bloodletting for their duration. A whole idea of what it means to be a man, a whole culture and philosophy, was shaped by these competitions, which testified above all to man's overwhelming ambition, his need to push the limits of his abilities and surpass himself.
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of ancient texts and iconography, Professor Bernard makes the case for the festive, brotherly and spectacular side of the competitions, where both physical and mental attributes were equally important to the underlying ideals of beauty and courage. The winner brought honour to himself, his family, his city and to the gods. The Games became a national as well as local institution, developing in an atmosphere of goodwill and joy where only one competitor could hope for glory the victor.
The Games help us to forget for a short time the existence of so much misery and suffering. The heroic physical feats of the competitors bring universal admiration...