But you go too far, Rein, suggesting that Olympia was an unsporting birthplace linked to corruption. This is to insult an untouchable ideal. Have you forgotten kotinos, the branch of a wild olive tree formed into a circle, the only reward the champions received?
There is not much comparison with the various modern ‘compensations' such as generously-paid TV ads with sporting champions to convince us that our smiles will be like theirs if we use Northerner toothpaste, or talk to each other on the right kind of Northerner mobile phone?
Have you forgotten the binding nature of the Olympic truce I mentioned the other day?
It's becoming more complicated, with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown not going to the opening but saying he will be attending the closing ceremony. What a statesman. That will have the Chinese quaking in their boots.
But honestly, Northerners, you are not fair. You take an idea, distort it compl-etely and then you blame its inventors.
The last few days have brought a reminder that the relay with the Olympic torch is something invented not by the Greeks, but more or less yesterday, for the notorious 1936 Olympics. It
was dreamed up by one Carl Diem who was one of the planners for the 1916 Olympics in Berlin. These unfortunately had to be cancelled for reasons related to the First World War.
But he was back 20 years later as general secretary of the organising committee for the 1936 Olympics, and even though Diem was classified as politically unreliable (something to do with his wife's Jewish relatives) Adolf Hitler immediately saw the point of a torch symbolising international unity.
The precise character of the unity he had in mind was suggested by the Krupp logo on the torch, possibly a finishing touch dreamed up by Josef Goebbels, the propaganda minister, who managed, in the way politicians do, to take credit for the whole scheme of Nazifying the Olympic spirit.
By the way Rein, in case you didn't know, Krupp was the big steel and armaments company, which did so well out of both world wars. It is not a Southern company, although down South we were on the receiving end of some of their highly effective products.
Let's meet up some time soon, Rein. We could chew some of your delicious contraband snus so you can concentrate, and I will give you some more history lessons, if you are interested.
