What does the Olympic flame symbolize?

Prison

The flame represented the "endeavor for protection and struggle for victory". at the Ancient Games. The flame originated at the 1928 Olympics stands for "the light of spirit, knowledge, and life". http://www.janecky.com/olympics/flame.html Aug 01 09, 11:56 AM

armindasantana

I really thought that the answer to this was "Continuity between New and Ancient Games. Aug 01 09, 3:01 PM

zbeckabee

On the opening day of the Games, the torch is taken into the stadium and the chosen torchbearer lights the cauldron. This ritual symbolizes the continuity between ancient times and the new generations. The Flame burns for the entire duration of the Games and is extinguished during the Closing Ceremony of the competition. http://www.canada2010.gc.ca/101/histor/010204-eng.cfm The ancient Greeks considered fire to be a divine element and they maintained perpetual fires in front of their principal temples. This was the case in the sanctuary of Olympia where the Ancient Olympic Games took place. A flame burned permanently on the altar of the goddess Hestia, situated in the Prytaneum (building used for the large banquets held in honour of the athletes at the end of the Games), and such fires were also lit on the altars of Zeus and Hera, the temple in front of which the Olympic flame is lit today. In the context of the modern Games, the Olympic flame is a manifestation of the positive values that Man has always associated with fire. Like the messengers who proclaimed the sacred truce, the runners who carry the Olympic flame encourage the whole world to put down their weapons and turn towards the Games. http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino/torch_relay/full_story_uk.asp?id=1623 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_flame Aug 01 09, 5:46 PM