Ancient immortal spirit, unsullied father of
that which is beautiful, great and true,
Descend, make thyself known and shine hero
on this earth and below these skies
witness of Thy Glory.

Illuminate the endevour of the noble contests
in the running race, the wrestling and the throwing.
Place a wreath of evergreen branch,
creating the body as of iron and worthy.


Vales, mountains and oceans shine with Thee
Like unto a great temple of white and porphyry.
To which all peoples hasten to this temple
to worship Thee, Oh ancient immortal Spirit.


-------------------------

Olympics
"Olympic Hymn"

Words by:Costis Palamas
Music by:Spirou Samara
In use since:1896, officially adopted 1958

The Olympics Games (an international sporting event played every four years)
has its own flag and "hymn", used when the Olympic flag is raised, usually
during the opening ceremonies.

The Olympic Hymn first appeared at the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens,
Greece. The lyrics were written in Greek by Greece's national poet, Costis
Palamas and set to music by Spirou Samara for the 1896 Games. The hymn was
unofficial until 1958, when the International Olympic Committee formally
adopted it. (From 1896 to the 1960 Games, each country would commission local
composers to compose an Olympic hymn for that particular Games. The 1960 Games
was the first that the Olympic Hymn was played for since the first games.)
Usually every nation that hosts the Games performs the Olympic Hymn in their
own language, the original Greek lyrics, and a translation into English, is
presented for reference.

National anthems play a big part in the Olympic Games. Starting with the 1924
Games, the winner's national anthem for each event is played as their flag is
hoisted in celebration. Also, according to Olympic rules, national anthems
cannot be longer than 80 seconds in length, causing some countries to create a
shortened version of their anthem to be played at the Games in the event that
their participant wins. (Ironically, the full version of the Olympic Hymn is
several minutes long!) Also, a nation may choose to have another anthem played
instead of their national one if they so choose; for example, at the 1992
Games, the former Soviet republics united under a team known as the "Unified
Team", whenever a member of this team won their event, they chose the song "Ode
to Joy" (currently used as the European anthem) to be played. During the 1980
Games in Moscow, several non-Communist countries that were participating chose
to have the Olympic Hymn played. Also, because of conflicts with China, Taiwan
has a special song which they use for such events known as the "Flag_Raising
Song".

Special thanks to:Pavel Zinovatny for the music file.

