2017-07-15

【Aiden in English】

        Olympia, Greece. A grand, majestic name as a center for the worship of Zeus in the 10^th century B.C. Right next to Athens and Pompeii, its appearance only grants half the fame. It's the legends, the history, and the stuff hiding behind the name that gives substance. It's also why everyone on board seems to be taking a tour to Ancient Olympia along River Kladeos in the Peloponnesus.

        So what is Olympia? Well, the best description would be a mix between the stones of Athens and the layout of Pompeii. It's got the architecture of an ancient Greek city, with the iconic symmetrical styles in harmony. As compared to Pompeii, it's in ruins, and I kind of thought they looked alike. Olympia consisted of Hera and Zeus Temples, the Altis of the sanctuary to the gods, stadium, and multiple areas for contestants to prep and wash. More stunningly, the Temple of Zeus is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World where the gold and ivory statue of the Olympian Zeus was housed. Much like the other two, it held a reputation to be unbelievable, otherworldly. I did feel that way about Athens, but not so much about Olympia. While I did enjoy walking around, including standing on the starting line of the marble blocks after nearly 1,500 years, the area dawned in comparison with the other two historic Titans. Like Pompeii, Olympia was hit by a natural disaster in the form of an earthquake. With minimal structures remaining, Olympia seemed as if a child went through the city of Legos and knocked everything to pieces. Most Roman bricks and Greek stones were scattered in piles, and I don't think any survived sports structure stood above five feet in height.

        But I guess this place makes up in history. It has a deep run of popularity starting in the 776 BC, when the first Olympic Games began, hence the name. In the Archaeological Museum, what we could trace back is parts of the pediment from the Temple of Zeus, including scenes commemorating Pelop's chariot race and illustrating the mythical war between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. With no surprise, the figures of the Hermes of Praxiteles and the Winged Victory or Nike of Panionios were inscribed on all the 2004 Olympic medals. In addition, a "Miltiades" helmet once belonged to the commander whose forces defeated the Persian of Darius I at Marathon. While the Olympic Games have captured the world for almost three thousand years, it all began from a small oval stadium in the middle of pretty much nowhere. Ironically, its popularity also is its downfall, with no country wanting to spend the money on hosting.

        Overall, I would have to say Olympia was alright, simply because its rivals were too stunning. Olympia felt the middle sister, neither the best nor the cutest. So it kind of sits in the forest, slowly decaying and crumbling to nature. It also has a problem with people stealing rocks. When you need a sign to say "don't steal out rocks", you know you're in deep desperation. 

        After a shopping session and lunch, we ended the trip on another. Other than the ruins in Olympia, the area had little to showcase. In fact, most items of interest were museums about the Olympics, so we went to the Ancient Olympic Games Museum nearly to see some old artifacts. Although Olympia currently does not have the looks of Athens or Pompeii, its history may be richer and more enchanting in sports. The amount of information the guide threw at us felt like an entire unit of social studies, from punishment for rule-violations to the winner's prize. It's odd because so many people come for the history, not just the view. I definitely wouldn't have associated such great history to a place like Olympia, but because of records and the current Olympics, millions flock to this area. Virtual reconstruction provides tourists a decent replication of the original model.

        Standing in history always gives the feeling of being overwhelmed. The same marble starting line marked thousands of Olympic racers beforehand, and it also has my mark on it as well (It might be the best-preserved item in the entire area). But I breathe in this overwhelmed feeling and savor it. It's not often that you can stand on the first Olympics race track.

【紅霞譯文】

        希臘奧林匹亞，公元前十世紀大名鼎鼎被視作敬拜眾神之王宙斯的聖地，緊鄰雅典和龐貝古城，地理位置固然得天獨厚，但其神話傳說、歷史文化以及背後鮮為人知的東西讓它留芳百世，這也是為什麼船上所有人似乎都朝着伯羅奔尼撒半島克勒得斯河畔進發。

        奧林匹亞究竟是何方神聖？恰當地說，它將雅典的石頭建築和龐貝的布局規劃融於一體，再現了古希臘城建特色，彰顯標誌性對稱和諧。與龐貝相比，奧林匹亞無異於廢墟遺址，依我看兩者在這方面沒有任何區別，它曾由赫拉神殿、宙斯神殿、阿爾蒂斯神殿、體育場以及供運動員更衣盥洗等若干聖域組成，引人注目的宙斯神殿有一尊用黃金象牙打造的奧林匹亞宙斯神像，被譽為古代世界七大奇觀之一。猶如上述兩座古城，奧林匹亞備受世人青睞，我認為雅典確實受之無愧，而奧林匹亞則稍有遜色。漫步殘垣斷壁之間令我悠然自得，包括站在年近1,500歲的大理石起跑線上，正是腳下這方寸土得以讓奧林匹亞功成名就，與雅典龐貝兩大元老平分秋色。不獨有偶，奧林匹亞同樣慘遭龐貝式地震災害，倖存的建築寥寥無幾，如今好似孩童玩後留下的樂高積木，所有部件被拆得零零碎碎，大多數羅馬磚瓦希臘石塊成堆擱置一旁，殘留的運動場館不足5英尺/1.5米之高。

        毋容置疑，這個地方歷史底蘊深厚，自公元前776年舉辦首屆奧林匹克運動會即日起便廣為人知，奧林匹亞古城因此而得名。在當地考古博物館，宙斯神廟部分山角牆、慶祝佩洛普戰車獲勝的場景、半人馬和拉普瑞斯之間的神奇戰爭等等引導我們重溫過去。毫不奇怪地，大理石雕作品《普拉克西特列斯的赫爾墨斯》和《雙翼勝利女神》或稱《帕奧尼奧斯的尼克》都被刻在2004年奧運會獎牌上。此外，館內還收藏了“小米太亞德”統帥的頭盔，當年他帶領希臘人在馬拉松戰役中打敗大流士一世麾下波斯軍隊。奧林匹克運動會已有將近三千年歷史，而一切竟從前不靠村後不着店的小橢圓形田徑場開始，具有諷刺意味地，它越來越不受歡迎，沒有國家想要斥巨資舉辦奧運會。

        總的來說奧林匹亞不錯，何況其參照對象個個出類拔萃，它夾在兩座姐妹古城中間，既不最聰明也不超可愛，只好置身於茫茫林海，慢慢地衰老死去，漸漸地回歸自然。偷取石頭可謂另一棘手問題，但凡出現 “切勿私拿石頭”這樣的 告示，說明你已處於絕望狀態。

        購完物吃罷午飯，我們又參觀了當地一家博物館。除了奧林匹亞遺址外，其它場所能看多少看多少。實際上，博物館裡有趣的東西都跟奧林匹克運動相關，因此古代奧林匹克運動博物館向來訪者展示的無外乎舊時文物。儘管與雅典或龐貝迥然有別，但奧林匹亞在運動史方面更具特色，導遊向我們灌輸了大量信息，仿佛又把我帶入學校開設的社會學課堂上來，從懲罰違規者到獎賞優勝者，概括得面面俱到，竟然有很多遊客不光為了大飽眼福，而且還想了解歷史，當然學習歷史未必非要到奧林匹亞，基於奧運紀錄及比賽現況，數以百萬的遊客湧向這一地區，虛擬重建圖像技術讓遊客見識到古代建築原貌。

        與歷史交會總是令人心潮澎湃，過去成百上千名奧運選手曾在大理石起跑線上各就各位，如今我也留下足跡（也許是整個地區最佳寶物），不過我要把這份真情雋永收藏在心好生品味，站在第一屆奧運會跑道上可不是輕而易舉的事情。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2017: Haarlem the Flower City, Netherlands(荷蘭哈勒姆─花城禮讚)

2017: Haarlem the Master of Darkness, NLD(荷蘭哈勒姆─黑色聖地)

2014: 2014 First Fall Soccer Practice(2014年首次秋季足球訓練)

2012: 煙囪雨燕駐我家(Chimney Swift)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Greece(出遊希臘)

Europe(歐洲掠影)