¨Greece was torn by jealousies, hatreds, civil wars. Democracies, aristocracies, and tyrannies exterminated one another.... Then suddenly, every four years, garlanded heralds, the spondophoroi, set out from this sacred valley in summertime and ran to the farthest boundaries of the Greek world. They proclaimed the hieromenia, the ¨sacred month¨ of the games, declared a general truce, and invited friends and enemies alike to come to Olympia in order to compete.... No other people comprehended sport´s hidden and manifest value so perfectly. When life has succeeded by ding of daily effort in conquering the enemies around it - natural forces, wild beasts, hunger, thirst, sickness - sometimes it is lucky enough to have some abundant strength left over. This strength it seeks to squander in sport. Civilization begins at the moment sport begins. As long as life struggles for preservation - to protect itself from its enemies, maintain itself upon the surface of the earth - civilazation cannot be born. It is born the moment that life satisfies its primary needs and begins to enjoy a little leisure.¨
Nikos Kazantzakis ¨Report to Greco¨
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