France played an important role in the modern revival of the Olympics: Duke of Paris Pierre de CoubertInside It established the International Olympic Committee in Paris in 1894 and led to the resumption of the Games two years later, and the Olympics were held in Paris in 1900 and 1924. Although there have been attempts to re-mix culture with sports, they have backfired. WWII and not remembered today.
This is what makes this year’s Cultural Olympiad such a beautiful renaissance. While many host countries try to promote their local culture to some extent, the French take this idea to a new (or, perhaps, old) level. The French have always been deeply proud of their cultural role in history, so it makes perfect sense that the land of Balzac, Monet, Cocteau and de Beauvoir should officially champion dance, music, literature and art, just as the Greeks did.
The artistic (and nude) appearance of the Olympics
What a refined de Coubertin would have made of my exercise at the Louvre without including the controversial end of Paris is anyone’s guess. Breakdancing is an official competitive sport This summer. But he would certainly have recognized the sentiment: when he revived the Games in the 1890s, he called for the festival to be expanded to include both „Muscles and Mind„.
Baron pointed out to skeptics that the original Greek games celebrated the perfection of both body and intellect: the four-year, five-day extravaganza held in the remote sanctuary of Olympia combined athletic events with cultural spectacle, drama, and literary events. Unlike the philistines, classical sports fans eagerly rushed from the stadium, where athletes competed naked and glistening from head to toe with olive oil, to admire such famous sculptures. Statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Winners of athletic contests would commission poets like Pindar to write their victory songs, which would then be sung by a chorus of young boys. The budding young writer Herodotus wrote, “Father of history„, where a reading was also held.
„Całkowity introwertyk. Nieprzejednany specjalista od sieci. Przyjazny fanatyk bekonu. Student ekstremalnych. Miłośnik piwa. Organizator.”