Bye, Bye, Olympics
In the summer of 1992 BC (before Clinton) I was cruising in Greece with William F. Buckley and his wife, Pat, on board the boat I had just inherited from my father. It was a motor yacht and Bill, a sailing enthusiast, was restless. A discussion the night before had become heated after a friend of mine had brought up the subject of neocons using Bill’s fame and gravitas to undermine true conservatism. Out of respect for Buckley, I suggested we go ask the Delphic oracle situated nearby. Everyone agreed with alacrity.
After a visit to a rather disappointingly insignificant cave, where the high priestess was supposed to inhale fumes and tell the future, I suggested we hop over to Olympia, the site of the first Olympic Games back in 776 BC (before Christ). The day was very hot but it was worth it. The stadium in Olympia is the size of a typical American high school football field. If memory serves—and I had been there many times before—the running track, which was 3,000 years old, was about fifty meters, or 150 yards, long. The marble stands held about one or two thousand people at most. The infield was commensurate with the track. I wanted to jog a bit on the sandy surface but a guard warned me off. Still, more than 3,000 years later, we stood on the site where the first-ever Games took place and where winners were crowned with a simple bay laurel wreath on their heads. (Gold, silver, and bronze medals are a modern invention.)
Although the ancient Games were more of a religious ceremony honoring Zeus than an athletic competition, they were limited to Greek citizens and males only. (I don’t think the NY Times would have covered them.) The events were based on martial arts, like boxing, wrestling, and a combination of both, the deadly pankration. The first pankration winner died as his opponent surrendered. There was also archery, chariot races, running with shields and spears, and javelin throws. (No synchronized swimming, no Ping-Pong, no handball.) Back in those good old days, a laurel was the reward, plus a statue back home and lifelong glory and honor. Some pankration winners were allowed monetary rewards, especially among Spartans, whose pankration rules allowed eye gouging and biting. Even back then doctors cost money, hence the financial compensation.
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