Later this evening, the Olympic Flame will light up London's Olympic Stadium, heralding the beginning of the Olympic Games, just one of Greece's significant and enduring legacies to the world.
The Olympic
Games, embodying centuries
of culture, ideals and values bequeathed to us by our noble
ancestors... embodying the values of the brotherhood of peoples, peace,
friendship, and fair play - ideals and values which have survived wars,
disasters, turmoil and tribulations, to
be handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years...
The lighting of the Olympic Flame heralds the beginning of the greatest celebration of sport and youth that takes place every four years on our planet... The Olympic Games
The lighting of the Olympic Flame heralds the beginning of the greatest celebration of sport and youth that takes place every four years on our planet... The Olympic Games
This flame, ignited by the rays of the sun by the high-priestess in Olympia, after invoking the God Apollo, was carried across Greece, from Castellorizo to Xanthi, to Crete, from village to village and town to town, and handed over to the London 2012 Olympics Organisers in May.
The highly symbolic, and
somehow appropriately rainy, handover took place at Athens’ Panathenian
Stadium – the stadium
built for the homecoming of the first modern-day Olympics in 1896.
In Ancient
Greece, the Olympic Flame
commemorated the theft of fire from Zeus by Prometheus and was kept
burning throughout
the Olympic Games...
When the
Games came home to Greece
in 2004 there were many who doubted we would succeed - the British,
Australian
and American Press among the worst critics – but succeed, we did, and
what’s
more we did it brilliantly, with organisation and class, proving once
and for all, the power we Greeks have when we are united, the power we
have when we work together as one!
As Greece ’s
Olympic
flame lights up the skies of London
tonight, and is kept burning throughout the Olympics, let its meaning of
life, light,
purity, freedom, peace and friendship spread around the world, uniting
us all as people.
As Greeks, as Hellenes, let’s celebrate our unique heritage
and the great things our ancestors gave the
world!
Let’s hold our heads up high, leave
the pettiness to those who would be petty and stand proud of that
heritage!
Citizens of London ,
Citizens of England ,
Citizens of the World….
As we watch the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony tonight,
let's remember to pay tribute to Greece.
let's remember to pay tribute to Greece.
Enjoy
the Olympics - they are Greece's enduring legacy to the world!
The photos are from the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony
at Athens Panathenian Stadium
'Kallimarmaro'
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