DID YOU KNOW THERE IS AN OFFICIAL OLYMPIC THEME?
It's not the one that plays each time the games are televised either when returning from commercial breaks.
In FACT it was first written - the music, THEN the lyrics. First sung in 1896 Greek Olympics!!! Music by Spyridon Samaras, and lyrics written by poet Kostis Palamas [both Greek]. It was voted and made the official anthem in 1958 in Tokyo....and has been played each consecutive Olympic Ceremony since 1960.
Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, αγνέ πατέρα
του ωραίου, του μεγάλου και του αληθινού,
Κατέβα, φανερώσου κι άστραψε εδώ πέρα
στη δόξα της δικής σου γης και τ' ουρανού.
Στο δρόμο και στο πάλεμα και στο λιθάρι
Στων ευγενών αγώνων λάμψε την ορμή
Και με το αμάραντο στεφάνωσε κλωνάρι
και σιδερένιο πλάσε και άξιο το κορμί. (δις)
Κάμποι, βουνά και θάλασσες φέγγουνε μαζί σου
σαν ένας λευκοπόρφυρος μέγας ναός.
Και τρέχει στο ναό εδώ προσκυνητής σου (δις)
Αρχαίο Πνεύμα αθάνατο, κάθε λαός. (δις)
literal translation from Greek to English:
O Ancient immortal Spirit, pure father
Of beauty, of greatness and of truth,
Descend, reveal yourself and flash like lightning here,
within the glory of your own earth and sky.
At running and at wrestling and at throwing,
Shine in the momentum of noble contests,
And crown with the unfading branch
And make the body worthy and ironlike. (twice)
Plains, mountains and seas glow with you
Like a white-and-purple great temple,
And hurries at the temple here, your pilgrim, (twice)
O Ancient immortal Spirit, every nation. (twice)
If you'd like to hear this sung .... http://youtu.be/xio0TcKhRUI
- - -
As you may have noticed from the sidebar, Tahoe and Winston decided to become the Blogville's Olympic athletes with some of the special events this year. First the Olympic Medal awarded to all Gold Medal Winners [each athlete won!!]....
Then, on to the events of Tahoe & Winston---
One event they excelled in was SYNCHRONIZED SLEEPING...
Here are my 'trained' pawticipants in their glory---
synchronizzzzzzzzzzed training!!
Listed Photo Shares of the Sleeping Athletes
*
COUCH POTATO PEELER EVENT....
"SEW" Athletic!!!
Dreamin' of the Gold!!!
The Couch Potato Peelers Athletes
*
...and last event for Ms. T and Sir Winston is Gymnastics...
The Pommel Horse
What a graceful take-off....Oops...deduct points here, she didn't clear the Horse!!!
and
The Balance Beam
What concentration, what skills....oops, a bird outside, let me stop and think about this balancing act for now...
Hosted by Madi and Mom, check out ALL the athletic skills of the Olympian Gymnasts
CONNECTING TO:
_ _ _
Here is an entire listing of all the events for the pets Olympics for 2012!!
I would like to send along my thanks and my utmost admiration to the hosts of all events prior to today and to the ending ceremony in August!!! Each and every one of you have been FANGtastic and have done one PURRfect job of bringing this all together for the bloggers and the trained athletes!!! My hat's off to you.
Anthem history borrowed from wikipedia
Oh how funny!
ReplyDelete...glad you enjoyed it Janet.
DeleteI didn't that the Olympics have a theme song, thanks for that :)
ReplyDelete...thank YOU for visiting!!!
DeleteI had no idea that song even existed.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Winston and Tahoe on their wins! They are both great athletes! We agree, the hosts of the events have done a great job. We have enjoyed following along.
...thanks SQ
DeleteDid not know about the song! enjoyable post as always, cheers!
ReplyDelete...thanks Mar.
DeleteFor a minute I was afraid you weren't going to translate! Love the photos of the "kids" and their competition. Great athletes you are raising there! In a lot of ways, I miss my kitties...although I love my Sweetie Dog, I was always a cat person. Thanks, as always, for hosting this fun meme!
ReplyDeleteLOL.....It took me a while to even find the GREEK version. LOL
DeleteI never knew about the theme song - very neat!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Winston and Tahoe on their participation. What athletes they are!
...I learned about it too just this week.
DeleteWell I'm be pass me some Chobani yogurt!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty song and completely new to me too.
The Greek version reminds me of 1969 working in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering when I was using and IBM selectra typewriter and the Greek symbol ball to type equations.
Hugs Madi and Mom
...oh I remember those typewriter balls. Weird.
DeleteI didn't realize that the Olympics had an official song (besides the one that NBC plays).
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Winston and Tahoe on making it to the Olympics!
...I learned that too while doing some research on the Olympic Theme that NBC plays during the commercial breaks. Never did find the song I was looking for...go figure.
DeleteWhat a cute post! Your kitties are indeed champion snoozers. Adorable, too! :-)
ReplyDelete...not to mention spoiled rotten. You DO see that they use the dining room table for something other than eatin'? Right?
DeleteWhat a cute and creative post. Thanks, Anni.... I laughed and laughed... Love seeing the PET Olympics.... I'm sure that your babies would WIN gold every single time.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
...some athletic skills, huh?
DeleteLove the Pet Olympic Events, so cute and creative. I did not know there was an official Olympic song other than the "Bugler's Dream" theme that is always played, interesting.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thursday!
Oh, and I am going to do a bit of inquiring about the Copyright question that has been mentioned. My hubby is an attorney, I will pick his brain on the subject.
Wonderful.....this meme is fun, but wouldn't want to break any laws doing it.
DeleteWinston and that kitten are so adorable, Anni!
ReplyDeleteCheers on this Sunday morning ... from Panglao Island, Bohol.
...thanks Tito.
DeleteI never knew about that song but then I've never followed the Olympics either
ReplyDeleteNow the pet Olympics is a fantabulous idea. How fun
I don't follow the Olympics either.
DeleteYour cats make me smile.
ReplyDelete...they'll charm the socks right off-ya. LOL
DeleteI wasn't familiar with the song. Thanks for posting a link for it sung too!
ReplyDeleteOur kids were in the synchronized sleeping even in the last Olympics. Did you know that Synchronized sleeping is the only sport in both the Summer and Winter Olympics? :)
...wishin' I could sleep like a cat sometimes.
DeleteTahoe and Winston are certainly super sleepers, Anni, but Lindy could certainly give them a run for the medal. Of course, dogs and cats might have separate events.
ReplyDeleteAs for synchronized sleeping, Lindy and her daddy could win the inter-species synchronized sleeping and snoring event hands and paws down.
Love your photos!
K
LOL
Delete