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Olympic Greece

25 images Created 31 Oct 2008

This year the 31st Olympiad controversially comes to London.

In 2004, the Olympics returned to its birthplace in Greece after 2,000 years. Many similarities remain between the debauchery, politics and greed of ancient times.

In 2004 the 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece, birthplace of athletics where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery.

The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.

Richard Baker has photographed a light-hearted profile of life along the ancient Olympic trail amid the heat and hope of this year's Athens games. Photographing from Olympia - birthplace of the original Olympics, across the Peloponnese mountains to Marathon, he finds curiosities along the way that contrast with contemporary Athens itself as it chaotically prepares for this year's spectacle.

Culturally-linked to the ancient games and under scrutiny by those nations, including Britain, bidding for the 2012 event, he looks for anachronistic puns and poignant symbols, wryly observing the ancient sites as places of pilgrimage for globe-trotting tourists while in the metropolis, he finds how the capital has delayed its plans for the next sporting frenzy.
(More text available)

(In addition to the Greek material, there is also work from the Hackney Wick dog racing stadium, now demolished for the east London 2012 games development).

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  • Roadworks on Marathon Avenue. Road works and an Athens Olympic sign on Marathonas Avenue, the ancient Marathon route of 490 BC in an Athens suburb. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past... . ancient, antiquities, archaeology, athens, athletics, baker, cable, capital, ceremony, city, classical, colour, compete, competing, construction, darnening, delay, dirt, EU, europe, european, exercise, famous, game, games, games, gods, Greece, Greek, guard, history, history, hole, landmark, landscape, light, makri, marathon, marathonas, medal, member, mess, mess, nea, news, olympia, Olympic, Olympic rings, olympics, orginal, original, Parthenon, photojournalism, protected, race, racing, reportage, richard, rings, roadworks, route, ruin, ruins, shadows, sky, soil, soldiers, sport, sporting, start, starting, state, summer, tourists, travel, travel, travel, world, wrestling
    The Home Coming09 RBA.jpg
  • Modern town of Olympia. A resident of modern Olympia makes her way down the main street of the trinket town past a tourist a tourist graphic of the original pentathlon. Where the ruins can now be visited few miles away, the ancient Olympics were born. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming05 RBA.jpg
  • On a partially-demolished building, a mural of the ancient  Goddess Nike remains chipped and scraped on an old restaurant wall. Nike was the Goddess of Victory to whom Olympic athletes made offerings and prayers at the Temple of Zeus before competition but this site is in the heart of the modern town of Olympia that has grown up around the birthplace of athletics, amid the woodland of ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad echoed both what was great and horrid about the past.
    greek_olympiad001-20-10_2003.jpg
  • Scaffolding surrounds the Parthenon. The ancient Parthenon (circa 400 BC, the largest Doric temple ever built) sits on the Acropolis hill surrounded by global tourists and scaffolding. Here the modern world's philosophy was born. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming26 RBA.jpg
  • Ceremonial guard, Acropolis. Ceremonial soldiers parade on the Acropolis during the national holiday of 'No Day' - celebrating the day when Mussolini was denied a marching route through Greece in 1941. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming17 RBA.jpg
  • Athens car park. With parked cars in the foreground, the Parthenon sits high above a street in the Athens suburb of Makrigianni. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming02 RBA.jpg
  • Doric columns at ancient Olympia. Fallen Ionic and Doric columns lay in the undergrowth at Olympia, the birth place of the ancient Olympics, Peloponnese, Greece. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming04 RBA.jpg
  • Original Olympic track, ancient Olympia. Tourists play out their own Olympic heroism on the original athletic track at ancient Olympia, Peloponnese, Greece. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet, or 'Stadion,' from which we get the word 'Stadium'. Olympic spectators suffered dehydration due to to extreme heat. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming06 RBA.jpg
  • Tourist's toilet sign, Ancient Olympia. A toilet sign sits near the standing Doric columns and tourists at Olympia's Palaestra or wrestling school. Here training, instruction and bathing took place in the month before the Games. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    Greece Olympia07 RBA.jpg
  • Ancient Greek texts on statue plinth. Original texts on a statue plinth near the main tunneled entrance of the 'Stadion', Ancient Olympia's running track. heroic athletes had statues commissioned in their victorious honour as well as past cheats whose dishonesty discouraged others into making the Olympics a festival of honesty. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    Greece Olympia24 RBA.jpg
  • Old bar sign on Marathon Avenue, the original route of the road race. Abandoned neon pub sign on Marathon Avenue at Nea Makri, the original route that Athenian messenger Phheidippides is said to have run in 490 BC. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming08 RBA.jpg
  • Hotel lobby statue. A classical bust sits in a hotel foyer in the modern town of Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming12 RBA.jpg
  • Garden Olympic reliefs, Rafina. An Olympic discus-thrower relief in a roadside garden items business on Marathonas avenue, Rafina, the original Marathon route of 490 BC. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming22 RBA.jpg
  • Godess statuettes on Marathon Avenue. Cement Godess statuettes on sale in an Athens suberb, Marathonas Avenue - the original Marathon route of 490 BC. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming10 RBA.jpg
  • Buying Greek Olympic tourist trinkets, Athens. Lady tourists select holiday souvenirs in Plaka shopping centre, the largest official Olympic merchandising outlet, down town Athens. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    Greece Olympia13 RBA.jpg
  • Amcient Marathon route. Dawn at the town of Nea Makri, a coastal town on the original Marathon route of 490BC. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming19 RBA.jpg
  • Peloponnese valley landscape. Autumn leaves and far mountains seen on the roadside near Levidi, between Tripolis and Argos. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past..
    Greece Olympia23 RBA.jpg
  • Fake classical Greek statues stand outside a night club in Nafplio, a former Byzantines, Frank, Venetian, and Ottoman coastal Peloponnese port town of 14,000 on the Argolic Gulf. The walls of this modern building seen near wasteland on the outskirts of town are made to look authentic but result in a false tourist style. There are three pieces of fake art that stand on well-watered grass: One of a nude Greek Goddess, a miniature lion in the middle and nearest the viewer is a naked figure of a man - muscular and classically posed as a heroic and mythical figure. Nafplio was also the first capital of independent Greece which was  destroyed in the 7th Century for its alliance with Sparta. This contemporary landscape is therefore bears no resemblance to its heritage.
    greek_olympiad010-21-10_2003.jpg
  • Nike trainers on the ancient Olympia's start line. A tourist crouches on the original marble starting line at ancient Olympia's athletics track where both ancient Greeks and Romans held their games. Nike was the Goddess of Victory to whom Olympic athletes made offerings and prayers before competition. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet, or 'Stadion,' from which we get the word 'Stadium'. Olympic spectators suffered dehydration due to to extreme heat. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    The Home Coming01 RBA.jpg
  • Original Olympic track, ancient Olympia. English tourist family lunge for their own Olympic victory at Olympia's original start/finish line in the stadium. Hercules is said to have paced out the 600 Greek feet - or Stadion - from which we get the word 'stadium'. The 29th modern Olympic circus came home to Greece in 2004 and the birthplace of athletics was among the woodland of Ancient Olympia where for 1,100 continuous years, the ancients held their pagan festival of sport and debauchery. The modern games share many characteristics with its ancient counterpart. Corruption, politics and cheating interfered then as it does now and the 2004 Athens Olympiad will echo both what was great and horrid about the past.
    Greece Olympia14 RBA.jpg
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  • Derelict landscape of the former Hackney Wick greyhound and speedway stadium, demolished for the 2012 Olympics. The stadium opened in 1932 and was principally used for greyhound racing and speedway.
    hackney_wick_stadium4-15-07-2003.jpg
  • Derelict landscape of the former Hackney Wick greyhound and speedway stadium, demolished for the 2012 Olympics. The stadium opened in 1932 and was principally used for greyhound racing and speedway.
    hackney_wick_stadium3-15-07-2003.jpg
  • Derelict landscape of the former Hackney Wick greyhound and speedway stadium, demolished for the 2012 Olympics. The stadium opened in 1932 and was principally used for greyhound racing and speedway.
    hackney_wick_stadium2-15-07-2003.jpg
  • Derelict landscape of the former Hackney Wick greyhound and speedway stadium, demolished for the 2012 Olympics. The stadium opened in 1932 and was principally used for greyhound racing and speedway.
    hackney_wick_stadium1-15-07-2003.jpg
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