THE OJCL TORCH: FALL EDITION 19
The most recent Olympics, the 2020 (really 2021) Summer Games in Tokyo, attracted much public and media attention. Major newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have devoted whole web pages to listing their reporting from these games. While some have criticized the Olympics, especially the Tokyo competition conducted in the midst of a raging pandemic, as divisive and burdensome, the message of much of the media and the United Nations remains that the Olympics are “building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal” of friendly competition.
Olympics 2021
In the ancient Greek world similar ideas of the utility of the Olympics abounded. Ancient Greeks were bound by the ekecheiria, a truce which allowed athletes to walk amongst other Greek poleis, city-states, freely, helping to preserve peace. When Olympic athletes compete they are ultimately supporting the same goal: bringing together countries.