The Olympics as a political arena - by Dallas Darling
When Georgia and Russia came to blows over the long-sought-after reunification of South and North Ossetia, it reminded me of ancient Sparta and Arcadia. In 420 and again in 360 BC, Sparta and Arcadia used the Olympic lull to attack and defeat several neighboring Greek city states. [1] For anyone who believes the Olympic Games brought peace and harmony, they are wrong. The Olympics have instead been used as a political instrument to either further imperialistic values and ambitions, or express international outrage against human rights abuses. In the mythical world that the ancient Greeks dreamed and wrote about, it would be easy to believe sports could be separate from politics and war. In the real world, though, sporting events, such as the Olympic arena, are often symbolic ritual performances of politics and conflicts.
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