Keep the Sacred Flame burning: The eternal fire and the cult of goddess Hestia in Olympia and the Greco-roman world. Is the Olympic Flame of the modern era well founded and linked

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Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of the EuropeanCommittee for Sports History (CESH) - Edessa, 16-18 October, 2014

Edition supported by :

Municipality of Edessa Municipal Enterprise of EdessaCESH

Section editors:Christodoulos Faniopoulos (Chapter 3)Evangelos Albanidis (Chapter 5)Nikolaos Kameas (Chapter 1)Aikaterini Samara (Chapter 1, 8)Athinodoros I. Moschopoulos (Chapter 2)Anestis Giannakopoulos (Chapter 4)Evangelia Vouzanidou (Chapter 7)Evangelos Kiriakou (Chapter 6)

Scientific Committee:Evangelos Albanidis, Democritus University of Thrace (Greece)Wolfgang Decker, Deutsche Sporthochschule Kln (Germany)Fernando Garca Romero, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)Teresa Gonzlez Aja, Universidad Politcnica de Madrid (Spain)Mike Huggins, University of Cumbria (UK)Arnd Krger, Georg-August- Universitt Gttingen (Germany)Daphn Bolz, Universit de Rouen (France)Wray Vamplew, University of Stirling (UK)

Joachim Rhl, Deutsche Sporthochschule Kln (Germany)Angela Teja, Societ Italiana di Storia dello Sport (Italy)Xavier Pujadas, Universidad Ramon Llull de Barcelona (Spain)

Jean Saint-Martin, Universit de Strasbourg (France)Alejandro de la Viuda Serrano, Universidad Camilo Jos Cela (Spain)Marcello Marchioni, ASSI Giglio Rosso (Italy)Konstantinos Georgiadis, University of Peloponnese (Greece)Athanasios Anastasiou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)

By the authors.2015. All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-618-82217-0-3

Edited and printed in Edessa (Greece)Municipal Enterprise of Edessa, QUESTA GR-5800 Edessa (Greece)


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Message of the Mayor of the City of Waters, City of waterfalls, City ofEdessa, Land of Alexander the Great.

With great satisfaction do I have the honor to welcome the publication of theproceedings of the XVIII International CESH Congress on Sports History &

Education which was successfully held in the town of Edessa. Sports havealways been an important part of the history of our country so during thecongress we were given the opportunity to talk, share and learn about sportand its role in todays societies, to exchange different points of views ofdiverse backgrounds and beliefs.I would like to thank all who contributed to the realization of the congressand to this edition which I believe will also be a legacy for the nextgenerations.

Dimitrios GiannouCity of Edessa Mayor

Message by the President of the Organizing Committee for 18thInternational Congress of CESH

Dear Colleagues,During its over 18 years history, the CESH Association has developed atradition of achievements in the field of sports history. It reunites the SportsSocieties from all over the world, not only the European countries, in an effortto regularly exchange information and good practice in scientific research andin higher education. Every year, an International CESH Congress of SportsHistory has been organized, with high scientific standards.Our aim is to offer a new knowledge about Sports Education with a specialfocus on the hidden fields. The year 2014 was devoted to, athletics fromantiquity to modern times.

From the Edessa, city of waterfalls, the heart of the ancient MacedonianKingdom, land of Alexander the Great, spirit & light of Greek civilization.

Christodoulos FaniopoulosPresident of Technical Organizing Committee

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Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of the European

Committee for Sports History (CESH) - Edessa, 16-18 October, 2014Municipality of Edessa - Waterfalls of Edessa Municipal Enterprise - CESH

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ContentsSection 1

Wolfgang Decker(key note)

Das Gymnasion in der griechischen Antike 11

Fernando Garca Romero(Key note)

21

Istvn Kertsz When did Attalus of Pergamon gain the victory at Olympia? 34

Evangelos Albanidis The gymnasiarch Menas of Sestos and his contribution to trainingyouth during the 2nd cent. B.C.

39

Aikaterini Samara,Evangelos Albanidis

Sports in education in Hellenistic Egypt as given in TheocritusIdyll 24 (Heracliscos)

44

Violeta iljak Possible Ways Of Performing Turns In Diaulos Race At AncientOlympic Games

50

Konstantinos Antonopoulos Keep the Sacred Flame burning: The eternal fire and the cult ofgoddess Hestia in Olympia and the Greco-roman world. Is theOlympic Flame of the modern era well founded and linked withthe ancient tradition?

56

Maria Sarantiti Eranisma of female presence in sports during Roman and Greekantiquity

63

Section 2

Panagiotis Ioannidis Conceptions Regarding Body, Physical Exercise And Sports InThe Platonic Political Thought: Investigating Extensions In TheEuropean Interwar

69

Nikolaos Kameas,Evangelos Albanidis.

The ancient Greek ideal of fair play in the light of FriedrichNietzsches philosophy.

76

Konstantinos Piperas,Christodoulos Faniopoulos

Religious and Cultural diversity: A chance of meeting andaccepting the prospect of Sport Education

83

Triantafyllia Gelani.,Nikolaos Kameas.,Athanasios Kasabalis.

John Chrysostoms views for education and athletics based onhis work: About vanity and how parents must nurture theirchildren

89

Section 3

Gherardo Bonini Politics and ideological representation in weightlifting historywith focus for years 1919-1947

95

Teresa Gonzlez-Aja Loevre Prfre de ltat Franquiste Durant Son tape Bleue 101

- : 110

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Akisato Suzuki Fuball der Besatzungssoldaten im 1945: Beziehung mit dem

Wiener Fuball.117

,

(1967-1974).

125

Eleonora Belloni,Giacomo Zanibelli

Scuola e Sport in Italia. Progetti e riforme dallo stato liberale alfascismo

130

Section 4

Vassiliki Tzachrista Ideological representations and educational practices of thethens 2004 Olympic Education Program

139

Cervell i Pastor, Nria Los Deportes en la difusin del Olimpismo en la prensa deportivade finales del siglo XIX en Catalua

144

Denis Jallat Pratiques nautiques et ducation en France: des rapportscomplexes

153

Aliz Valette,Jean-Nicolas Renaud et JeanSaint-Martin

La Foule Notre Temps: un second souffle pour la FouleBlanche (1989-2005) ?

159

Section 5

Mike Huggins(Key note)

Beyond the Curriculum: Changing British Strategies Towards PE& Sport for Young People 5-19 between 1945 and 2013: WorldClass Aims, Second Class Outcomes?

169

Evangelia Vouzanidou,Evangelos Albanidis

The articles in the Ladies Journal about girls physical educationin Greece in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20thcentury

179

Christodoulos Faniopoulos,Pelagia Liandi

Delmouzos views on the promotion of physical education inschools in the first half of the 20th century in Greece

183

Joachim K. Ruehl Britains Public Schools with theirextracurricular on-campus sports and games for boys up to thenineteen-forties

187

Tsiamis Kostantinos 20

195

Section 6

Petru Eugen Merghes - NarcisIon Varan

Education Sports Health at Banats University of AgriculturalSciences and Veterinary Medicine King Michael I of Romaniafrom Timisoara

203

Fernando Paulo Rosa de

Freitas, Sara QuenzerMatthiesen

Teaching the history of pole vault in an elementary school as

result of a research process.

206

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Panagiota Koutsogiannis,Andreas Avgerinos

211

Section 7Athinodoros I.Moschopoulos,Evangelos Albanidis,Athanasios Anastasiou

The establishment of the C.I.S.M. and the early contribution of theHellenic Armed Forces for friendship through sport

221

Stavroula Vamvakitou,Evangelos Albanidis

The history of Rowing in modern Greece 227

Eleftheria Panou,Athanasios Anastasiou

Pamvalkanikoi Agones: Their contribution to the diplomaticrelations among the Balkan states (1930-1933).

233

Petru Eugen Merghes,Narcis Ion Varan

Appearance and development of football in western Romania 240

Section 8

Stavros Tsonias,Athanasios Anastasiou

The Starting point of the Marathon race 247

. , -

254

(1896).

258

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Konstantinos Antonopoulos

Keep the Sacred Flame burning: The eternal fire and the cult of goddessHestia in Olympia and the Greco-roman world. Is the Olympic Flame ofthe modern era well founded and linked with the ancient tradition?

Konstantinos AntonopoulosHellenic Ministry of Culture

Fig 1. The lighting of the Olympic Flame for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games "Sochi 2014"Hellenic Olympic Committee

In the Sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia along with the other gods and heroes, the goddess

Hestia was worshipped. Hestia, who was the patroness of every house and city, was worshippedin one of the chambers of the Prytaneion of the Eleans, where a perpetual fire was tended day andnight on the sacred hearth. The ashes produced by this eternal fire were transported to the altar ofZeus where the big sacrifice was held during the Olympic Games1.

Following a silence of many centuries, humankind once again enjoys the Olympic Games,now throughout the world the greatest of all shared celebrations. Since 1936, the archaeologicalsite of Olympia has hosted the Ceremony of the Lighting of the Olympic Flame: it is perhaps themost powerful of the symbols of the Olympic Movement, which apart from its other symbolismscreates and holds the link with antiquity. Yet just how stable, strong, and well justified, is thisconnection?

In order to answer these questions this paper will in a very brief fashion due to the

constraint of space discuss, firstly, the origins and symbolism of fire in the religious and thesecular life of the Greco-Roman World; and, secondly, the historical steps which led to theestablishment of the Olympic Flame.

When focusing on the lighting ceremony I will argue that the two modern customs,namely, the lighting of the Olympic flame, and the extinguishing of it, do in fact constitute a

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CESH Proceedings of the 18thInternational Congress, Edessa 2014


distortion and misrepresentation of the tradition and rituals related to the sacred eternal flame ofantiquity.

Furthermore, along with the recent appearance of its new competitor the PanathenaicFlame of the Youth Olympic Games2, along with a constantly increasing number of other flamesrelated to sporting events, we today are presented with nothing less than a mass violation uponhistorical accuracy. Altogether, such developments greatly threaten to degenerate the originallyintended meaning and significance associated with the Olympic Flame.

In an effort to help to put a check upon any insensitive devaluations to the original notionof the Olympic Flame, this study will argue the need for certain major reformations to modernGames flame practice. Suggested are rectifications to restore the line of historical validity, which,it is hoped will help the Olympic Movement continue along a brilliant path as we course onthrough the 21st century.

The production of fire by man was a groundbreaking discovery in the history ofcivilization. Fire helps to sustain and to renew life. Added to its main beneficial properties as asource of heat and light, fire acquired over time a diversity of other uses. Apart from its practicaland functional applications fire was lit, and even today continues to be lit, for an array of symbolic,metaphorical, and emblematic reasons. A perennial centre of attention, fire happens to be, as aradiant focus, able to reduce from humans contemplation a range of powerful associations and

meanings. This access to intimations of compelling power opened the road for the diachronicelement of fire to become an important feature of every religion on the globe and, in some cases,the core.

In Hellenic and Roman antiquity, fire held a prominent role as an ingredient ofmythology and religion as well as a favorite topic for philosophers. This is reflected in the manyand imaginative stories of gods and heroes and the many philosophical writings of the ancientliterature.

In this short paper only the very basic elements of the popular story of Prometheus and ofthe cult of HestiaVesta will be reminded, leaving aside the many other important fire-relatedgods heroes and figures like Hephaistus, Zeus, Phoroneus, or the group of Kabeiroi, IdeanDaktiloi, Telchines, deamons and warriors related to metallurgy and the use of fire.

Prometheus, the titan-god, probably ranks among the most important and popular figuresof Hellenic mythology. Fire was his powerful gift to mankind: it kindled human civilization.Prometheus bold and generous act violated the boundary between the earthly and heavenlyplaces: by way of his trangressive act, he became, effectively, a mediator between humans andgods. Prometheus gift to men was so important that consequently they began honouring him invarious ways. Hyginus, the Roman mythographer of the 2nd Cent CE, reports that people in theirsports competitions included a torch relay commemorating Prometheus theft of fire from thegods3.

When reporting the torch races in honour of Prometheus that where organised in Attica,Pausanias4offers more detail and description. He informs us that the athletes started from the altarof Prometheus in the Akademia outside the city of Athens, and that they then ran towards the city

each one holding a burning torch. The winner was the one who finished the competition first withhis torch still alight.

Equal to the male gods and other mythical figures closely related to fire, Hestia attainedan important position in Hellenic myth and religion. Her presence was considered a prerequisitefor the progress and prosperity of society. All household and many of the public rites took placebefore the hearth at the center of the house and of the city.

In the Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon we come across several meanings of theword , or : 1.hearth of a house 2. the house itself, a home 3. a household, a family 4. analtar, like 5. metaphorical of places which are to a country as the hearth is to a house, as ametropolis5.

The hearth became the sacred center of every house: it was the altar where the family

offered its sacrifices to the gods and to Hestia, the goddess protectress of every home and familyand provider of domestic happiness.

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Especially in later times in the Athenian society, all the important events of family life,such as births, marriages, and deaths, were accompanied accordingly with the appropriate passagerites at the family hearth6.

In prehistoric communities the hearth of the chief or king was especially important forpractical, religious, and societal reasons. The chief was responsible for maintaining this permanentfire: a duty that he entrusted to slaves or young women, who, in the case of Rome, were requiredto be daughters (virgins)7.

In most cases, the public hearth was located in a specially assigned hall of the prytaneum,which was located somewhere in the center of the city; it was here where Hestia received sacrificesfrom the prytanes. It was a tradition that when a city founded a colony, t hen on the new cityspublic hearth there should burn an eternal fire that was brought by the emigrants from theiroriginal metropolis8.

The qualities, ideas, and characteristics of Hestia were also attributed to Vesta theequivalent goddess of the Romans. Although the two goddesses had similar duties and theirprivileges and rituals almost coincided, nevertheless, there were several differences.

The founding myths of the city of Rome reveal the importance of the goddess Vesta. Inher separate circular Temple built in imitation of a primitive round hut, burned the eternal flame,carefully tended by the Vestal Virgins. The temple was situated on the southern part of the Forum

Romanum next to Regia (the Royal House) and the Atrium Vestae. Besides the sacred fire also thePalladium, an effigy of Athene (Minerva) believed to have been brought by Aeneas from Troy, waskept here9.

Over the course of time the significance of Vestas cult grew dramatically. It was believedthat Rome would exist as long as the eternal flame kept burning 10. And, if due to the carelessnessof a priestess the flame was ever quenched, sore punishments even the death penaltyawaitedthe Vestals. As Plutarch attests in the biography of Numa Pomplius, the sacred fire was rekindledfrom the sunsrays with the use of a metalic mirror 11. It is exactly this method that inspired thelighting of the modern Olympic Flame.

At Olympia, the altar where the sacred flame of Hestia was kept perpetually burning, wassituated in the Prytaneion of the Eleans a building at the north-western corner of the precinct,

directly opposite the gymnasium.The Prytaneion of the Eleans, was one of the civic buildings: the headquarters of the

sanctuary, where the magistrates, the high officials who supervised the sacrifices, had their seat. Itsinitial core dates to the late sixth or early fifth century BCE, but it was repeatedly remodeled andenlarged later12.

Given the distance between Elis and Olympia (>40 km) the civic nature and use of thePrytaneion at Olympia only make sense as part of the strong desire to demonstrate Eleanownership of the Sanctuary13.

Pausanias informs us that the Eleans sacrificed to Hestia first at her altar in Prytaneionand then they proceeded with the sacrifices to Zeus and the other Gods, confirming the general oldcustom of the Greeks14.

Professor St. Miller argues that, due to the the sacrosanct character accorded to the citystate of Elis as the host of the deeply respected Olympic Games, the Prytaneion at Olympia was insome sense a hearth common to all Greeks15.

In modern times, the lighting of the Olympic flame, hosted and performed since 1936 atthe Archaeological Site of Olympia, is probably the most solemn of all the ceremonies witnessed atthe Games: it is a set of artistic and theatrical acts that honours the human spirit and existence16.

However, it is important to clarify that the lighting of the Olympic Flame and the TorchRelay from the temple of Hera in Olympia are inventions of the modern Olympic Movement: thisenactment does not correspond with any practice in the sanctuary of Zeus in antiquity17(See TablePlan of Olympia, magenta arrow).

The modern Olympic Movement seems confused about the two different customs: firstly,

the lighting of the Olympic flame; secondly, the torch relay 18. Often these symbolic acts are treatedas one event19.

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Nevertheless, regarding their origins, we can notice the combination and contribution oftwo separate cults of antiquity, shortly presented above: the first is that of Hestia/Vesta, and thesecond being that of Prometheus.

What is more, the lighting ceremony of the modern Olympic Flame, in fact refers andcombines two other ancient customs. One custom was the ritual of the (re-) kindling of the sacredeternal flame of Hestia from the suns rays, mainly in case it has accidentaly been extinguished20.The other custom entailed the lighting during the Olympiad of the big sacrificial fire on the altar of

Zeus21

. And this last was effected not by means of the suns raysbut by the transfering of flamefrom the existing source of the sacred fire of Hestia in the Prytaneion of Olympia.

Interestingly enough, under the influence of ancient customs, fire and torches as a meansof heightening the effect for the first Olympiads of the modern era, appeared very early, evenbefore the Athens 1896 1st Olympiad22. This paved the way until the turning point was reached atthe 1936 Berlin Olympiad, when the double institution of the lighting of the Olympic Flameceremony and the torch relay was established and has remained almost unchanged to the presenttime.

For the sacrilege of extinguishing the sacred Olympic Flame we can blame AlexandrosPhiladelpheus, the eminent Greek archaeologist and writer who came up with the thought oflighting the flame according to the model provided by the ancient literature. He, given his wealth

of knowledge, could have made the more historically accurate suggestion that the new Olympicflame lit for the Berlin Games be not subsequently extinguished. Or, maybe, C. Diem, the GeneralSecretary of the Organising Committee of the Berlin Games and the protagonist for theestablishment of the ceremonial of the torch relay can also be considered responsible for notsaving the sacred Flame.

In fact, it would have been quite difficult for either of them to have prevented such asacrilege since already the ritual of extinguishing the Flame during the Closing Ceremony of theOlympic Games had entered into practice: at the 1928 and 1932 Summer, and the 1936 WinterOlympiads, when the fire did not yet had the ultimate symbolisms that the Olympic Movementattributed to it later. It well explains how the extinguishing of the flame became a "ritual" evenbefore the newly established sacred flame of Olympia reached the Berlin Stadium for the 1936

Summer Olympic Games. No one thought that this flame was different from the previous ones,since it was not lit in Berlins Stadium, but in ancient Olympia, a place of high sacredness, by amethod that in antiquity produced a sacred eternal fire.

Because of the neglect at the early stages of any strict attention to ancient practicesinvolving the flame, and of a continuing attitude of casualness towards ritual practices involvingfire, further instances of erosion in the use of the symbol have appeared in recent years in theOlympic Movement, in the shape of practices that are threatening to the purity and integrity of theOlympic Flame.

After a series of particularly catastrophic decisions by the IOC, a substitute or moreaptly, a fake Olympic Flame has since officially been lit on two occasions: in the PanathenaicStadium in Athens for the 1st Winter, and the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games for Innsbruck

and Nanjing respectively. This new initiative directly circumvents article 13 of the OlympicCharter, which states that: The Olympic flame is the flame which is kindled in Olympia under theauthority of the IOC23.

Following upon the tremendous impact and success of the Olympic Flame as a symbolthere are now many flames being lit for different sporting events, each copying directly orindirectly and in most instances unsuccessfullythe Olympic ceremonials and customs relatedto the flame. In short, a veritable wildfire of flames has been spawned. A sample of the flames to-date includes: the Marathon Flame, the Paralympic Flame, the Special Olympics Flame, the AsianGames Flame.But undoubtedly, the most provocative flame of all, is the so-called OlympicFire. This flame burns eternally in a marble cauldron outside the Olympic Museum in Lausanne,in front of the eyesof Coubertin's bronze statue, close to the headquarters of the International

Olympic Committee. Sourrounded by the other, official symbols, this fire was lit by laser (!!!) atLausanne Federal Polytechnic on 23 June 1993 and carried to the Museum in a relay. As the authorbelieves, it was intentionally not called Olympic Flame because it would not be easy for the IOCto justify its decision to have it burning in Lausanne and not in Ancient Olympia.

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Ever since the 1936 Berlin Games, officials, journalists and authors have used the termsacred to describe the Olympic Flame which is being kindled in Olympia 24. Yet no one thus far,has raised an argument against the deliberate extinguishing of such a flame. Isnt it a hugeconceptual and moral controversy for the universal, spiritual, and uniting light kindled inOlympia to have a life of only 15 days? Does not this custom in effect condemn humanity tospiritual darkness until the next Olympiad, until the next lighting ceremony?

I dare now to correct the ommission of my colleague, the late Alexander Philadelpheus,

in proposing the re-establishment of the sacred eternal Flame in Olympia, on a specially made altarat the Prytaneion25. (See Table, Plan of Olympia ,red arrow). Also, such an altar to be erected atevery city in the world when it hosts organised Olympic Games. This eternal Olympic Flame couldbe symbolicaly but also actually guarded and tended daily, as in antiquity, by three or moreactresses personifying the ancient Vestals.

Moreover, the IOC could revive another ancient custom: that of the conveying/borrowing of the flame. With a carefully documented and executed solemn ceremony, a smallergroup from the team of performers personifying vestals would be able to transport the OlympicFlame for the implementation of the different Olympic events around the world.

The Ceremony of the Lighting of the Olympic Flame should be preserved but with theappropriate scientific justification, and only for the quadrennial summer and winter Olympic

Games.Let us hope that the Flame at the altar of Prytaneion will be renewed. As Dr. Henri

Pouret pleaded the audience of IOA Y.P. Session in 1976 I am also inviting you to follow Pierre deCoubertin's advice: Keep the sacred flame burning.26. This time not only symbolically, but alsopractically.

Fig 2. Hestia (wearing veil) and AmphitriteAttic red figure Kylix from Vulci, (Berlin F 2278) signed by the painter Sosias ca. 500 BC

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

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TABLE

Fig 3.Ancient Olympia site map(retrieved from:http://shelton.berkeley.edu/175c/OlympiaPlan.JPG on 16.02.2015)

Notes

1Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5.15.9: In the Prytaneion itself, on the right as you enter the room wherethey have the hearth, is an altar of Pan. This hearth too is made of ashes, and on it fire burns every day andlikewise every night. The ashes from this hearth, according to the account I have already given, they bring tothe altar of Olympian Zeus, and what is brought from the hearth contributes a great deal to the size of thealtar. English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge,MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.2At the local press of the region of Elis has been named 'Pseudo-Olympic Flame', "fake flame" "imitationflame" etc.3Hyginus,Astronomica. 2.15.4Pausanias, Description of GreeceI.30.2.

5Liddell Scott:A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford, 1940. Vol. II, p.3406Hornblower S. Spawforth A, & Eidinow E. (Ed): The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford, 2012, p. 679.7Smith, William, L. W. :A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London 1890, p. 523.8Pindar, Nemeonicus. 11.1.

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9Dionysus Of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 2.65.2:..For they say that nothing is more necessary for men thana public hearth, and that nothing more nearly concerned Romulus, in view of his descent, since his ancestors hadbrought the sacred rites of this goddess from Ilium and his mother had been her priestess. Those, then, who for thesereasons ascribe the building of the temple to Romulus rather than to Numa seem to be right, in so far as the generalprinciple is concerned, that when a city was being founded, it was necessary for a hearth to be established first of all,particularly by a man who was not unskilled in matters of religion,

10Dixon-Kennedy, Mike: Encyclopedia of Greco Roman Mythology. California, 1998, p.318.11Plutarch, Numa, 9.7.12Papachatzis, Nikolaos: Pausanias Description of Greece Books V & VI. Athens 1979, p.275.13Scott, Michael: Delphi and Olympia. Cambridge 2010, p.157.14Pausanias, Description of Greece5.14.415Miller, Stephen:Ancient Greek Athletics. New Haven 2004, p.87.16 Athens 2004 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games S.A: Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad.Athens 2005, p. 37: Regarding the symbolisms of the Olympic Flame, we read at the Official Report ofAthens 2004 Olympic Games:"..From ancient times the flame had symbolised man's power to resist the wishes of thegods, as well as man's ability to define his own future through knowledge... The values and symbolism expressed by theFlame have the power of universal human experience, and the sacred fire became a world symbol of peace, a symbol ofcivilisation and a point of connection for the youth of the world. The ritual of lighting the flame and the torch relay

highlights the timelessness of the Olympic Games, a unique blend of sport and culture, which aims to promote thenoblest ideals of human existence"17Kratzmuehler, Bettina: "The Olympic Flame - The Ancient Roots of a Symbol (mis-?)used for IdeologicalPropaganda in 1936", in: Proceedings of CESH Congress, Besancon 2002, p.89: Bettina Kratzmiller haveargued that .no part of the modern kindling-ceremony can really be connected with the performance of the ancientOlympic Games. Due to the selection of certain details however and the manner in which these details are configured,by 1936 the fire-keeping women had already come to symbolize Vestal purity".18Skiadas, Elefterios G: The Olympic Flame, the torch of centuries, Athens, 2004, p. 30.19At the relevant section the official IOC's site (www.olympic.org), the head title is "The Olympic Torch Relay:From the Lighting Ceremony in Olympia to the Host City".20There is no information in the literary sources that such accident had ever happened at Hestia's eternalflame in the Sanctuary of Olympia. On the contrary, in Philostratus' Gymnasticus (Ch.5) we are informed

about the importance and the close relation, at least in the early years, of fire with the oldest and mostprominent of all the disciplines of the Olympic Games, the stadion race: "...The stadion was invented as follows:when the Eleans had sacrificed in the accustomed way, the offeringswere placed on the altar, but with no fire yet applied tothem. The runners stood one stade away from the altar and a priest stood in front of it as umpire, holding a torch; and thewinner of the race, having set fire to the offerings, went away as Olympic victor." The fire for this ritual should havebe taken from the ever burning sacred flame on the altar of Hestia in Olympia.21Valavanis, Panos: Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, Nemea, Athens 2004,p.150.22Borgers, Walter: "Olympic Torch Relay - A link Between Ancient and Modern Olympic Games" in:Georgiades, Konstantinos (ed), International Olympic Academy Report of the 36 Session 16/6 - 2/7/1996(p. 140).IOC IOA.23Although recently revised (September 2014), the Olympic Charter has no such provision for the Youth

Olympic Flame24HOC President Mr Spyros I. Capralos, May 10th 2012 source: http://www.hoc.gr/ - (retrieved on29.08.2014):The Flame is one of the most distinguished and essential symbols of Olympism. t is an integral part ofthe Olympic heritage, which links the Games of Antiquity, with the modern ones. It plays the part of a timeless bridgethat connects the past with the present and the next day of humanity. The Olympic Flame is also the sacred symbol offriendship, peace and harmonious coexistence of peoples, noble competition and fair play. When passed in the hands ofpeople of all ages, of both sexes, of different cultures, education and origin, it actually underlines all these elements thatunite humanity rather than divide it.25According to the results of the Olympic Flame Survey, implemented at the Archaeological Site of Olympiain August 2014, 86% of the participants (visitors of Olympia) answer positively to the question; "Would youlike to see a permanent flame burning again inside the archaeological site of Olympia?".To view the survey,visit

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By9n0-Dn8pcqSjRwNG12VGJjaTA/view?usp=sharing26Pouret, Henri: The Olympic Flame. International Olympic Academy Report of the 15th Session 11, 1/7/1975,pp. 123.

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Keep the Sacred Flame burning: The eternal fire and the cult of goddess Hestia in Olympia and the Greco-roman world. Is the Olympic Flame of the modern era well founded and linked