Olympia

We were up early eating breakfast on deck as we sailed into Katakolon, Greece with the sunrise. Shortly after breakfast, we were off the boat and headed to our day’s excursion to Olympia.

Olympia was not originally a town or city. It was a religious sanctuary, dedicated to Zeus and other Greek gods. The games were not about athleticism but about honoring the gods by perfecting your body and showing off your skill. Every step toward “perfection,” it was believed, was a step toward godhood, toward being like Zeus. So this huge complex was erected over a period of centuries in order to have local games, and eventually pan-Hellenic games, to honor and worship the gods.

Much of the site was destroyed in the 6th century AD by earthquakes, but what has been uncovered gives you a sense of the scale and the importance this area put on the games. We first went to the museum, where many of the most precious relics have been preserved, then e had a chance to walk through the archaeological site, from the gymnasium (a name, by the way, which means “to exercise naked”) to the Temple of Zeus, to the actual stadium. Unlike Roman (round) stadiums, the Greek stadium was rectangular, with no “seats” along the side, only sloped hills. People sat on the ground, believing that connected them better to the “energy” of the earth, to cheer on the athletes. This particular stadium would have once held 50,000 people…give or take.

Today, still, the Olympic flame is kindled here before it leaves on its journey all around the world and eventually to the location of the modern games. The flame is kindled in a particular way by women dressed as ancient priestesses in front of an ancient Temple (it’s called the “holy flre”), then taken to the stadium, then throughout Greece and to Athens, then from Athens around the world. But the modern games have little in common with these ancient games, except the name. Where the original games were about worship, the modern games are about the sport. Where the original games were about celebrating Greece, the modern games are about international cooperation.

Of course, these ancient games have very little to do with the Christian faith, except that it does give us a context for understanding the very religious and god-centered world to which Paul came. In the midst of a culture that declared, “There are many gods and the way we honor them is to develop our bodies,” Paul dared to say, “There is only one God and the way we honor him is to live the way his Son taught us to.” But, when you read Paul’s writing, watch for the ways we talks about the games, and about the flesh, and what difference Jesus makes in that world.

In Olympia, we stopped for a few minutes. I’m not sure which excited Rachel more…that we got to enjoy real, authentic Greek baklava or that the little cafe offered free wifi!

After returning to the ship for lunch, we headed out again, this time bound for Turkey and a day in the ancient city of Ephesus. This will be the first real Biblical stop on our tour, and I am looking forward to it very much. Tonight we had a wonderful Greek buffet (with authentic Lemon Rice Soup and pork gyros) on Sunset Deck, where our group was joined by our resident scholar, Dr. David daSilva, and his son, Xander. Following dinner, we attending a musical program (Rachel said one of the dancers was “pretty good”) and are now ready for rest!