Olympics 2012

In the proto-European tradition, the paramount metaphors for the anti-divine are the drought, the tempest and the volcano. In Greek, the word for the volcano is ηφαίστειο; the Latin word is a derivative of volcanus – originally an epithet of Jupiter as the lord of lighting. Our linguistic ancestors recognised the ambivalence of light in that we have both ‘divine light’ and the ‘light of annihilation’. Behind the names for Zeus and Jupiter is a linguistic root that signifies ‘brilliant, shining’. From the same root, we derive our word ‘divine’.

In the myth concerning Zeus and Semele, the mistress insists that her lover reveal to her is full splendour. Unable to convince her otherwise, reluctantly he does so, and she perishes in the ultimate conflagration. Only with the proper distance and balance can the light be divine. The light of a star, the sun and a nuclear explosion come from the same source. We can visually appreciate starlight (once even for purposes of navigation; still for astrological understandings) and sunlight (to be able to see, to be warm, to enable agricultural pursuit), but sunlight can also blind as can the light of nuclear fission and fusion if we are too proximate and attempt to apprehend them directly.

Semele’s name means the earth. In the myth, she is eventually restored to life through her unborn son Dionysus who is himself saved by his father and nurtured in the thigh of Zeus until the child is viable. But Dionysus, like the human – literally the ‘earthling’, is a god who knows both death and life. His name contains that of his father, the wielder of the lightning bolt. The lightning is Zeus’ weapon that is used to destroy his enemies – in particular the anti-god, but it is also the phallus of the sky-god through which the earth is impregnated. The ancients understood the nuance between light as a positive and a negative and the necessity of balance and strength in the navigation between them. It is these same two virtues, balance and strength, that are celebrated in the Olympic games of Zeus-Jupiter – a celebration of human youth at its best.

The games were said to have been inaugurated by Zeus’ male lover Endymion. Endymion was also loved by Hypnos, the god of sleep who put the handsome shepherd into a state of perpetual sleep – Zeus granting him immortality and the ability to sleep with his eyes open, and by Selene, the moon-goddess. With this last, Endymion sired the fifty Menae – each daughter representing one of the months of the Olympiad or time between each successive Olympian Games. Behind the various myths we can find the proto-pantheon comprising solar light, auroral light, the corporal matrix, reflected light and divine light – namely, the sun, the dawn, the earth, the moon and the personification of what the gods have in common.

The Olympic Games in London of 2012 are the continuation of what is virtually the ancient celebration of Zeus’ that was resumed Athens in 1859. The International Olympics began in 1896. The 2012 Games in London are the third time these have been celebrated here – 1908 and 1948 being the other times. Most people I know in London originally deplored the games and the expense that they have come to involve and planned to escape the city during them. For Richard and me, it was just the opposite. We wanted to be here for the games and to see what we could of them. Tickets were allotted on a lottery basis, and of the five or so events I had applied for we received admission for two: the Mens’ Artistic Gymnastics and Greco-Roman Wrestling. My preference turned out to be that of the former. The latter, while interesting and a sport that was among the original in Olympus, depends like boxing on the defeat of an opponent. Many of the others involve more directly a winning performance though competition rather than physical conquering. The Gymnastics we witnessed in the North Greenwich Arena – the former Millennium Dome; the latter, in the ExCel Arena – less comfortable and structurally conceived. By far, the best way to view the events was on television or on the large screens  to be found throughout London (e.g., Trafalgar, Duke of York’s Square next door, etc.) It has been easy to O.D. There is just too much of everything, but I have enjoyed athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe sprint, track cycling, diving, equestrian, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, sailing, table tennis, valleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, archery, badminton, canoe slalom, road cycling, fencing, rowing, swimming, triathlon and tennis in all.

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It was at this point when writing the above that Pierre from the hotel next door phoned to tell me that the Amsterdam house was broken into last night. We had to drop everything and fly back. It could have been worse. My emergency stash of money they found, took my Mac Notebook as well as the keys to all of the house. The front door was crow-barred and needs to be repaired. Warren dealt with it all until we could get here. With signal failures today and hence delays on the Piccadilly Line, we almost did get to Heathrow in time to beat the cut off for getting our boarding passes. Richard, who had injured his foot somehow last week at the North Greenwich Arena, re-injured it again today when he had to remove his shoes for security clearance and is now severely limping. Carlo and Jean-Francoise met us at Schiphol and took us out to dinner.

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The stay in Amsterdam has been understandably a whirlwind. We had dinner at Vapiano the following night with Warren – it being additional fun to be able to introduce him something he did not previously know. Thursday we visited Nick and Ilonka on their fifth wedding anniversary, got completely flushed with Glenfiddich and thoroughly entertained by Nick’s tales concerning his mother and eldest sister, the war, their aid to Jews despite the risks, etc. Not much fit for anything further that day, we went to Café Alto for some lovely jazz. We got to see there Michael, Pierre and Solveig. And on Friday while at Barney’s, I may have had my definitive Olympics moment while witnessing the team spirit energising and drama as well as the King of Nemi role of the coach during the Bulgaria-Russia volleyball match. Almost equally matched, it was an exciting game. This had to counterbalance with the sobering assessment I received from Saskia’s repairman Richard on the state of the Amsterdam house and the work that is necessary. If the depression had finally struck earlier, this was a further camel’s straw. Otherwise, we have got things setup to be done – new keys for the house – actually one key to fit all the locks, the windows to be repaired, possibly an alarm system, etc. Unfortunately, we were unable to get together with Jim, Stephan, Koen, Santima, etc. But the weather was good, and for the most part it was a happy visit –despite the circumstances. Surprisingly, the comment that most people make about a break-in being a violation has not seemed to apply. I am so used to people using the house and even people I do not know and may never meet (friends of friends, etc.) that it feels little different in some ways. The thieves were relatively neat. And most magical of all, the orchid plant that Gerda gave us several years ago and had not bloomed since has now got a shoot of deep pink-purple flowers that are exquisitely beautiful – and we got to see this. Even if the overall occasion was not the happiest, Amsterdam is lovely and even more so when it is a proper summer as it has been while we were here.

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So we ended up back in London with more games galore and trying to conclude final packing while watching. Our first evening Peter came over for drinks. His watch had stopped, and he stayed five hours. This was OK. The second night was devoted to the Kim Gavin, Es Devlin, David Arnold and Damien Hirst’s Closing Ceremony. The downside of the Amsterdam excursion was the necessity of cancelling on our chances to get together with Gin, Ralph & Francis, James and Eamonn and missing out on the visit to various old London clubs with Peter. The Closing Ceremony, also known as “A Symphony of British Music” was a visual and audio feast of musics ranging from the Pet Shop Boys, a video of John Lennon singing Imagine, and one of Freddie Mercury to the Spice Girls, Annie Lenox, Eric Idle, Take That, The Who, George Michael and many others. It was nothing less than a sumptuous presentation in which everyone appeared to be having fun.

All in all, there have been complaints over the £9 billion spend on the 2012 Olympics. But they have been magnificent, and London has been at her best and most beautiful with the eyes of the world upon her. The nationalist orientation has been a bit disconcerting, but even the original Olympics in Greece were fierce contests for the individual glory of the competing city-states. The victorious jubilation of the victors and the utter dejection of many of the defeated are emotionally moving and unforgetable. Great Britain (Team GB) has exalted over each contest they have won and each medal – especially the gold, but they also have displayed a commendable appreciation for all the contestants and their countries. Britain needs to be proud, rightly so, and in the athletic excellence that has been displayed here the spirit of Zeus-Jupiter has been conveyed beautifully in today’s world. Near the conclusion of the Ceremony and in reference to the Rio Games in 2016, the orixá Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean, made an appearance as well. In the dynamic of European polytheism, a deity’s lover or sometimes opponent represents an alter ego of the deity himself/herself. The male lovers of Zeus are the youths Ganymede and Endymion. The Olympic Games are, in short, a celebration of youth – not only Zeus as a youth but also both the youth of the world in general and athletic prowess of youth in particular. It was a thrilling time to have been in London.