The flame for the upcoming Paris Olympics will be lit in Greece and carried through the country before being handed over to French organizers.
FILE - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of the High Priestess, lights the torch during the lighting of the Olympic flame at Ancient Olympia site, birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southwestern Greece Oct. 18, 2021. On Tuesday, April 16, 2024 the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics will be lit and be carried through Greece for more than 5,000 kilometers before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens site of the first modern Olympics.
An actress playing an ancient Greek priestess holds a silver torch containing highly combustible materials over a concave mirror. The sun’s rays bounce off every inch of the burnished metal half-globe and come together at one extremely hot point, which ignites the torch. The idea was the result of Greek-German cooperation ahead of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, which were heavy on fanfare — and swastikas. It was based on a mechanism mentioned by ancient writers in a non-Olympic context, and served the desire to blend the games of antiquity with the modern revival.
Like in most pre-industrial societies, life in ancient Greece was deeply physical and a well exercised body was seen as the mark of a gentleman.
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