The contribution of the Olympic spirit and the Olympic Games to paideia

M.A. (Greek)The three mutually divided parallels of space, time and the peoples who crossed the Mediterranean, transformed the militant disposition of the Greek people into the athletic ideal. This competitive spirit accompanies the Greeks since the Age of Mythology: it formulates their legends, is linked with their religion, is included in their martial acts, serves as the foundation of their education and is conveyed in all forms of their lives. Crete, the island where we encounter the first indications of the subsequent athletic Greek spirit, lies on the border between the eastern peoples and Egypt on the one hand and Mycenaean Greece on the other. When the historical fate of the Greeks scatters them in the most remote regions, the athletic ideal will compromise the conjunctive link amongst them, which is expressed by their involvement in the Pan-Hellenic games. The five days of the Olympic Games, which constituted a feast of the body and spirit and were manifested by the participation of citizens from all the Greek city – states, ensconced the idea of pan Hellenic unity. During the Hellenistic Age, when Hellenism rooted, the long-lived public institution of the games also deeply established itself. The Olympic Games presented the first signs of decline during the 4th century A.D. Ever since the subjugation of Greece to the Romans, having been cut off from the roots which gave birth to them, the Games progressively to began decline until finally they were abolished, while new ideological doctrines, such as Christianity, began to prevail in the world of the Eastern Mediterranean. During the 18th century, the deeper search of classic antiquity by traditional humanism, presents the demand of reconstitution of the Olympic Games by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The Games are reestablished in Athens in 1896 and the Zappeia Olympics serve as the connecting link with the ancient Greek Olympic Games. Since 1896 up to this date, 28 contemporary Olympiads, which have traveled to various cities of the world, have taken place, having already completed 108 years of existence. Today the Olympic Games constitute the leading athletic event of our planet as well as the celebration of peace and coexistence amongst peoples. On the threshold of the 21st century, humanists, who for centuries have ensured the unity and universality of education, propose the introduction of the subject of ‘Olympic Education’ in schools. Today, in the dawn of the 3rd millenium, the Olympic Games which fulfill an ecumenical mission, returned to the country where they were born and to the city where they were revived. In the year 2004 Greece was called upon to elect the Olympic ideals, placing athletics in the service of peace