Oly: Greeks stun the world with "she'll be right" flair

AAP General News (Australia)
08-14-2004
Oly: Greeks stun the world with "she'll be right" flair

By Doug Conway, Senior Correspondent

ATHENS, Aug 14 AAP - If the Greeks have been around for thousands of years, how come
they left it until the last minute to get their Olympic act together?

Maybe it's just the Greek way.

Whatever, it all worked on the night.

A disbelieving world watched with awe and relief as the classy and classical 2004 Games
opening ceremony laid solid foundations for an event that has often threatened to resemble
the ruins of an ancient temple.

The Athens Olympic stadium, which months ago was a construction site and weeks ago
was still roofless, suddenly became a theatre of style and taste.

The Greeks wasted no opportunity to remind the world that their ancestors rocked the
cradle of western civilisation and that their culture has thrived for millennia.

Their opening was high class, high art and at times high erotica.

There was a sexy romp in the stadium's two million litres of water during a tribute
to Eros, God of love, and a pregnant woman, her belly glowing with light, symbolised new
life and the future in a nation most famous for its past.

The Greeks had every reason to puff their chests out as they put on a parade in which
just about every one of their famous sons and daughters - real and mythical - got a guernsey.

The cast included images and references to everyone from Alexander The Great, Hercules
and Agamemnon to Zorba The Greek, composer Mikis Theodorakis, opera singer Maria Callas
and Spiridon Louis, winner of the first Olympic marathon here 108 years ago.

The whole pantheon of Greek Gods went on display from Zeus on down.

Centaurs, Cycladic heads and the winged horse Pegasus featured, too, and reason vied
with art when a Pythagoras cube revolving like the earth on its axis represented man as
a logical, spiritual being thirsting for knowledge.

An olive tree rising into the night sky evoked memories of the laurel wreaths presented
to victors at the ancient Olympics, as well as the mythical past of the host city, named
after Athena when that Goddess managed to get an olive tree to grow out of the rock of
the Acropolis.

At one point the stadium video screen showed footage of a local Athenian remarking:
"Greeks are people of the last minute."

It seemed to be a Mediterranean version of the good old Australian expression: "She'll
be right, mate."

And it was.

The opening ceremony took Greek brinkmanship to new heights.

Let's hope the rest of the Games are as good.

AAP dc/sp

KEYWORD: OLY CEREMONY SCENE (PIX AVAILABLE)

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