The Competitive Spirit in Flora: "The crown, symbolic of the sacred Games was oleaster for the Olympics, laurel for the Pythian, fresh celery for the Nemean, dried celery for the Isthmian Games..."

• Autores: Soteria Yiannaki
• Localización: Gerión, ISSN 0213-0181, Vol. 26, Nº 1, 2008, págs. 267-280
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The ancient Greek athletic spirit was achieving apotheosis at the time of the victor's reward. The athletes achieved immortality throughout the centuries at the very specific time of their crowning and their prize came from the flora. This is why ancient Greeks' Games including leaves and wreaths were known as "phyllophoroi", "stephanophoroi" or "phyllites" Games and contained virtues and ideals. During the Cosmogony, on the third day of Creation, God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass (flora) and so sprouts the olive tree", its presence expressing hope, peace and tranquility in the Bible. The olive tree will play a vital role both in human life and its manifestations as well as in art, religion and in the athletic field. It will also represent a special emblem for regions, games, semigods and Gods. In particular, it is found at the Phaestos Disc (Minoan era), as a holy tree at ancient Olympia (Holy Altis), as a prize at Panathenea and the Olympic Games and furthermore as a symbol of peace in the hands of the embattled goddess Athena. At the same time, it is awarded in athletic and cultural competitions. It also has an equivalent sense in Christianity, starting with Noah's flood, certifying its "adoption" from religion. We will find proportional meaning at the apples, awarded before the "kotinos", the oak tree, the laurel, the pine tree, the celery, the myrtle, the aspen wreath and the barley, considered to be God's symbols. These are symbols that survived throughout the centuries and even nowadays they have a global meaning due to their power and importance. They represent values and ideals of great significance, expressing the holiness of human acts via the yearly renaissance of nature.