Original title: Professor Zhao Lin of Wuhan University explains in detail the Olympic and ancient Greek cultural spirit: the pursuit of excellence is the most authentic driving force
Hubei Daily full media reporter Wang Jing correspondent Xie Ning
On February 4, the fire from Olympia, Greece, was lit at the Beijing Winter Olympics in a way that the spark could burn. Athletes on the field continue to overcome human limits. Whether it is Gu Ailing, Jin Boyang, or Yusheng Jiexin, their opponents seem to be themselves, surpassing the past and overcoming themselves is their motivation and goal. The fire of Olympia spanned thousands of years and thousands of miles, and the spiritual source of the ancient Greeks was passed down to this day?
On February 12, the first Yangtze River Forum in the Year of the Tiger, Professor Zhao Lin of the School of Philosophy of Wuhan University explained in detail the Olympic and ancient Greek cultural spirit with the title of "Competition and Art in the Era of the Greek City-States", and the pursuit of excellence was the most authentic driving force of the ancient Greeks and the most important wealth of the Olympics.
Olympia Athletics is the worship of god
Greek civilization was the source of Western civilization. Zhao Lin introduced that ancient Greece was not a country, but a cultural collection of many city-states, including The Greek mainland, the Aegean region, the western coastal region of Asia Minor (Ionia), southern Italy and Sicily (Greater Greece), and even affected the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. Zhao Lin said: "The most important contribution of Greek civilization to later Western civilization is to contribute a series of cultural systems that cannot directly promote the development of productive forces, but can definitely make people pleasing to the eye and cultivate people's minds." ”
Before the Persian War, the Greek city-states were not bound together by political alliances, but by various competitive events and religious festivals, such as the quadrennial Olympia Athletic And the Festival of Zeus, Athena, and Dionysus.
Zhao Lin introduced that the competition was born out of the Greek imitation of the gods of Olympus, and reproduced the war skills of gods and heroes in a peaceful way.
Athletics are not only available in Olympia, but also in Delphi's Pitti Athletic Club, Collins' Ismi Athletic Club and Nami Athletic Club. Olympia Athletic is the most spectacular event in all of Greece. The first Olympia Athletic was held in 776 BC and was held every four years, for a total of 292 sessions, until it was abolished by order of the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 393 AD.
Initially, the competition consisted only of racing, but gradually added long jump, discus throwing, bidding gun, and wrestling, which together formed the pentathlon. Later, boxing, armed race walking, racing, etc. were added. The duration of the competition was also extended from one day to five days, the first of which was a solemn ceremony dedicated to Zeus. Various cultural and artistic activities such as poetry recitation, speeches, acrobatics, music, drama, etc. are also held during the competition, and the arena is also a large market.
Athletics would be the beginning of the Greek era
Zhao Lin introduced that Olympia athletics will open on the first day after the summer solstice (the day of the full moon), which has become a grand event for athletes from various Greek city-states and the basic sequence of the Greek era. With chronicles, it became possible to record history and civilization began to emerge.
Only free Greek men who have not committed crimes can participate in the competition, all athletes must compete naked, no women can participate, and married women cannot watch the competition. During the Athletics, the whole of Greece was subject to the principle of a holy truce.
The competitive winner receives a crown of olives, is solemnly announced by the Messenger and the city-state he represents, and can enjoy all kinds of glory and rights when he returns. "Winning the Competitive Corolla is the supreme glory of the ancient Greek men."
Greek art is the product of the combination of athletics and religion
The ancient Greeks believed in the gods of Olympus, and in their conception, the gods were all powerful and powerful. Therefore, the competition for the purpose of imitating the behavior of God is to promote "how much I am like God", and under the guidance of this concept, the ancient Greeks took the perfect human body as the ideal, and dared to pursue and show. Zhao Lin introduced that in the concept of the ancient Greeks, the flowers, birds, fish, insects, and landscapes in nature are not commendable, and the most beautiful thing is the human body, which is beauty and strength.
Zhao Lin introduced that in the middle of the 5th century BC, the Greeks who won the victory in the Greek-Persian War also went to glory in art, and a number of outstanding sculptors emerged, the most famous such as Phidias, Polycleras, Clexiras, Miron and so on. The principles of Greek human sculpture at this time were: round skull, broad shoulders, lean torso, wide hips and short legs. This principle became the golden rule of classical Greek sculpture. We can now also see Miron's representative work "Discus Thrower", which can be called a model of body modeling art, showing the dynamics of the human body and accurately grasping people's muscles, bones and tendons.
The pursuit of excellence is the most important asset of the Olympic Games
Ancient Greece used the Olympian Athletics Chronicle as the beginning of the all-Greek epoch with 776 BC. From 776 BC to 393 AD, which lasted for 1100 years, a total of 293 Olympia Athletics were held, and although it died out, it left a valuable cultural wealth to human society.
Zhao Lin introduced that the ancient Greeks thought that it was very glorious to be able to participate in Olympia Athletics, and their initial purpose in competing skills was to reproduce the war skills of gods and heroes in a peaceful way. Therefore, they are not to overcome anyone, to defeat anyone, but to be closer to God, more like God, and their pursuit of excellence, sublimeness, and self-satisfaction is a kind of self-motivation, not for profit, but only for inner feelings.
Zhao Lin said that there is also a "shame platform" outside the Olympia Arena, and those who cheat at the competition need to pay for someone to stand outside the arena at their own expense, and can never participate in the competition again.
Zhao Lin said that with the help of the opportunity of the Winter Olympics, we look back and see that Olympia and the literature, philosophy, art, and history handed down through the generations are not used to solve the problems of the external world, but to solve the problems of the inner world. Modern science leads us in the pursuit of "truth" and "power" to conquer the world. What makes us richer, wiser, and more self-satisfied? The pursuit of excellence in the ancient Greek arena can give us inspiration.
(Hubei Daily)