On Tuesday last week, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony.
It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000km before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896.
The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It’s meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modelled.
Photo: AFP 照片:法新社
Once it’s been carried by any means imaginable to the host city — it has been beamed down by satellite, lugged up Mount Everest and towed underwater — the flame kindles a cauldron that burns in the host Olympic stadium until the end of the games. Then it’s used for the Paralympics.
An actor playing an ancient Greek priestess holds a silver torch containing highly combustible materials over a concave mirror. The sun’s rays bounce off every inch of the burnished metal half-globe and come together at one extremely hot point, which ignites the torch.
This happens inside the archaeological site at Olympia, before the ancient temple of Hera — wife of Zeus, king of the Greek gods, whose own ruined temple lies close by.
Photo: AFP 照片:法新社
The flame is eventually used to light the first runner’s torch — champagne-colored this year for France — and a long relay through Greece leads to the April 26 handover at the Panathenaic stadium in Athens.
The idea was the result of Greek-German cooperation ahead of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, which were heavy on fanfare — and swastikas. It was based on a mechanism mentioned by ancient writers in a non-Olympic context, and served the desire to blend the games of antiquity with the modern revival.
The 1936 innovations included a torch relay all the way to Berlin, and have been followed, with modifications, ever since. An initial idea to do the relay flame in hollow plant stalks — a nod to the Greek myth of Prometheus who stole fire from the gods — was ditched as impractical.
Photo: AFP 照片:法新社
According to ancient Greek tradition, the games of antiquity, held every four years in honor of Zeus, started in 776 BC. They were the most important of the major Greek sporting festivals, where events included running, wrestling and horse racing. Up to 40,000 spectators could attend.
Like in most preindustrial societies, life in ancient Greece was deeply physical and a well-exercised body was seen as the mark of a gentleman.
The games continued, with minor blips, until the new Christian authorities in Greece banned them as part of the reprehensible pagan past, in A.D. 393.
Photo: Reuters 照片:路透
(AP)
今年夏天將舉行的巴黎奧運,其聖火上週二在古代奧運會的發源地希臘南部,透過精心編排的儀式點燃。
聖火將穿越希臘五千多公里,然後在舉辦1896年第一屆現代奧運的雅典場館移交給法國代表。
自柏林奧運起近九十年來,奧林匹亞的盛典都是每屆奧運的重要部分,其目的是將現代奧運及其所本的古希臘奧運緊密連結起來。
聖火一傳遞到主辦城市,透過任何可想像的方式——曾以衛星發射光柱傳遞、被帶上聖母峰,還曾經過水下——聖火就會點燃奧運主場內的聖火台,繼續燃燒至奧運會結束,之後用於帕拉林匹克運動會(帕運會)。
扮演古希臘女祭司的演員,手持裝有高度易燃材料的銀色火炬,移至凹面鏡上方。陽光由這拋光金屬半球的每一部分反射出來,匯聚到一個極熱的點,將火炬點燃。
該儀式在奧林匹亞考古遺址舉行,位於古希臘眾神之王宙斯之妻赫拉的神殿前,赫拉神殿的廢墟就在附近。
這火焰最後用來點燃第一位聖火傳遞者的火炬——今年巴黎奧運的火炬顏色為香檳色——然後在希臘進行長途傳遞,4月26日將在雅典帕納辛納克體育場交接。
此做法是希臘及納粹德國合作舉辦1936年奧運的產物,當時大張旗鼓,會場充斥納粹黨徽。它所依據的是古代作家所提到的一種機制(但其脈絡並非在談論奧運),目的是將古代運動及其現代復興融合在一起。
1936年的創新包括將火炬一路傳遞到柏林,此後一直沿襲並加以修改。最初的構想是以空心的植物莖傳遞火焰——這是為了致敬希臘神話中向眾神偷火的普羅米修斯——但由於執行困難而作罷。
根據古希臘傳統,古代運動會每四年舉行一次以紀念宙斯,始於西元前776年。這是希臘最重要的體育節慶,活動包括跑步、摔角和賽馬。最多可容納四萬名觀眾。
與大多數前工業社會一樣,古希臘非常注重身體素質,鍛鍊良好的身體被視為高貴人士的標誌。
古代運動會繼續舉辦,雖然有些小問題,直到西元393年,希臘新的基督教當局將它視為應受譴責的異教傳統而禁止。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
Instagram is changing the default privacy settings for many US teenagers, part of an effort to keep them safer and give parents more control over how their kids interact online. The new settings will make teen accounts private by default, limit who those users can send private messages to, and put teens in the “most restrictive” tier when it comes to viewing sensitive content. That means the app will block teens from seeing sensitive photos and videos, including posts that show people fighting or certain cosmetic procedures. These more restrictive settings will be turned on automatically for all Instagram users under 18
Located in the picturesque mountains of eastern Spain, the small town of Bunol might appear to be just another idyllic place in the Spanish countryside. However, it is home to one of the world’s most popular food fights. Each August, tens of thousands of people from all around the globe swarm into Bunol to take part in La Tomatina. On the last Wednesday of August, you will find the streets of Bunol full of people eagerly waiting to hear the blast of a cannon. This signifies the start of La Tomatina, an event where participants hurl thousands of pounds of tomatoes
Get ready to spin on your head -- “breaking” is set to make its Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games! Often referred to as breakdance or breakdancing, breaking was born in the streets of New York City during the early 1970s. It began as a way for African-American and Latin youths to express their narratives and struggles through astonishing spins and movements. B-boys and b-girls, also known as breakers, frequently compete in cyphers: events where they take turns showcasing their dance moves within a circle of spectators. Breaking comprises four main elements: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. Toprock consists
在 COVID-19 成為全球大流行 (pandemic) 的傳染病後,如何有效篩檢確診病患,一度成為討論的熱點。 疫情爆發初期,國內有些縣市首長主張要普篩(全面篩檢),找出隱藏的新冠肺炎病例,不過,疫情指揮中心說明,全面用聚合?連鎖反應 (polymerase chain reaction, PCR) 檢驗來為全民普篩,將耗費近七百億元公帑和醫療資源,不符合效益。 根據衛福部長陳時中的說法,用準確度高的 PCR 方式對全國 2300 萬人普篩,平均一人 3000 元,總額將高達 690 億元。以當時的盛行率萬分之 18,即使不用人人普篩,以看似健康的人口1800 萬人計算,也需要花費 540 億元,才能找出當中的 3 萬 2577 人無症狀感染者,其中還有 1797 人屬於「偽陽性」,即使沒有得病,還是得將他們隔離、再檢測,才能恢復正常生活。 雖然也可以用價格較低(200 元/人)的快篩做篩檢,但此舉也需花費約 46 億元,且準確度偏低,偽陰和偽陽性機率更高。 (新冠肺炎)「普篩/全面篩檢」的英文是 widespread coronavirus testing 或 community-wide screening/testing。「快篩」是 rapid testing。篩檢中,可能出現「偽陰性」(false negative) 有患病,但篩不出來,和「偽陽性」(false positive)沒患病,卻篩檢出來。 在醫學檢測上「陰性」(negative) 代表沒有(病或病毒),「陽性」 (positive) 代表有(病或病毒),避免患病與否造成污名化,因此用比較中性 (neutral) 的詞彙來稱呼。至於驗孕 (pregnancy test),「陰性」代表未懷孕,「陽性」代表懷孕。 「盛行率」的英文是 prevalence rate,即患病率,在流行病學中指特定時間內總人口中罹患該病的人口所占比例。在新冠肺炎的篩檢中,「咽喉拭子」是目前國內主流採用的方式,「咽喉拭子」英文是 throat swab,就是以棉棒擦拭咽喉部位,取得上皮細胞,並置入病毒收集瓶。如果是採集鼻咽部位,就叫「鼻咽拭子」(nasal swab)。 另外,「靈敏度」(sensitivity) 與「特異度」(specificity) 也是醫學檢測時所使用的術語,用以衡量該檢測的準確度。特異度是不帶原者 (non-carrier) 中採檢陰性的比例,而靈敏度則是帶原者 (carrier) 中採檢陽性的比例,靈敏度、特異度越高,代表準確度越高。 文章由書林出版公司提供: www.bookman.com.tw 蘇正隆 — 台灣翻譯學學會前理事長、師大翻譯研究所兼任副教授; 編著《英語的對與錯》,《世紀病毒:必讀防疫英文知識與詞彙》...等