Games of the Gods

The Olympic Games, originally created to honour Zeus, were important national festivals of the ancient Greeks. Traditions and ideals laid down in these early Games, like the truly remarkable and effective Olympic Truce, still inspire us today. But the origins of the Games, mythologically speaking, are rooted in violence, deceit and death.

In an effort to redefine the Olympics and restore some of the forgotten ideals which inspired the games of ancient Greece, a revival of an ancient tradition has been proposed, the Olympic Truce, when warring peoples laid down their arms and sought the paths of peace for the duration of the Games. Call me a spoilsport if you will, but the origin of the Olympic Games is not the best example of brotherly love and peace on earth to men of good will.

It all began with the dysfunctional family of Tantalus. We can't blame him for his great-grandson Agamemnon being murdered by another great-grandson, Aegisthus, who was in turn killed by a great-great-grandson, Orestes, nor can we hold him to account for the fate of his daughter, Niobe, who lost all her children and was turned to stone. But it was Tantalus, king at Mount Sipylus in Anatolia, who was solely and totally responsible for murdering, and cooking, his own son, Pelops.

It's an appalling story, for those whose stomachs are strong, continue reading Games of the Gods, the Origin of the Olympic Games