Physical Education · Ch 2 — Olympic Value Education
The Olympic Anthem
The Olympic Anthem
The Olympic Hymn, also known as the Olympic anthem, is a musical work composed by Spyros Samaras (with words by the Greek poet Kostis Palamas). It is played when the Olympic flag is raised at the opening of the Olympic Games, and again when it is lowered at the Closing Ceremony, giving both ceremonies their solemn and dignified character.
History
The Hymn was first composed and performed at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, but for more than sixty years after that it was not used consistently - each host country was free to commission its own ceremonial music for its own edition of the Games, so a different piece was often played at different Olympics. It was only in 1958 that the International Olympic Committee formally declared the Samaras-Palamas composition to be the official Olympic Hymn, and it was performed in this official capacity for the first time at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Since then it has been the anthem played at every edition of both the Summer and Winter Games, as well as the Youth Olympic Games.
The words and their meaning
The anthem begins with the words "Immortal spirit of antiquity, Father of the true, beautiful and good..." and calls on the ancient Olympic spirit to descend, give life and animation to the Games, and crown the victors with wreaths. It consciously links the modern Games back to their ancient Greek origin, reminding everyone present that the modern Movement sees itself as carrying forward the same ideals that inspired the Games at Olympia.