LONDON MAYOR Boris Johnson will read out an Olympic ode in ancient Greek composed by an Oxford academic to celebrate the athletes and personalities of the London 2012 games as part of opening ceremonies.
The ode is in the style of ancient Greek poet Pindar, whose poems celebrating the victorious Olympic competitors of the ancient world were highly prized.
Oxford university classics faculty member Armand D’Angour wrote the ode at the instigation of the loquacious London mayor, who took his degree in classics at Oxford. It includes references to athletes and personalities such as sprinter Usain Bolt and London Olympic organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe.
“Pindar was the greatest poet of his time and sponsors paid a great deal of money for athletic victors to be honoured with an ode by him,” Dr D’Angour said in a statement.
“I have aimed to be faithful to ancient style and form and used alcaic metre. Of course the puns may make people groan, but Pindar’s audiences may have done so too.”
Mr Johnson, who will read out the ode at today’s opening gala for the International Olympic Committee, said he was looking forward to demonstrating his command of ancient Greek before the International Olympic Committee and delivering a second reading in English. “I shall try to resist the temptation to regale the attendees a further time in Latin, though I cannot make any promises,” he said.
Dr D’Angour wrote the ode in ancient Greek with modern lyrics.
The six English stanzas are written in rhyming couplets and include references to Bolt (“the lightning bolt around the track”), Mr Johnson (the name Boris is punned on by barus in Greek, which means “weighty”) and Lord Sebastian Coe (“Join London’s mayor and co within”).
There are also allusions to British athletes, including volleyball captain Ben Pipes and diver Tom Daley. Cryptically embedded in the Greek text are the names of more than a dozen athletes, including Britain’s Tessa Sanderson, Paula Radcliffe, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis.
Dr D’Angour also composed an ancient Greek ode for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Meanwhile, London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe insisted that the choice of person to light the Olympic flame on Friday was not his call.
Lord Coe said he had an input but that the final decision would be taken by the opening ceremony creative teams headed by Danny Boyle and Stephen Bayley.
This appears slightly at odds with British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Hunt, who yesterday said it would be a joint decision between the association and London 2012.
Lord Coe also insisted that despite a report last week, he was not pushing the claims of his best friend, Daley Thompson, over Sir Steve Redgrave.
“It will be a judgment made by our creative teams led by Danny Boyle and Stephen Bayley, and of course I will be a part of that, but I have been very, very clear that it is not my call.
“I am certainly not pushing one person over another and it still has not been decided, absolutely not,” he said.
The identity of the person is supposed to be kept a secret until the moment of the flame-lighting.
Other possible people for the lighting include Dame Kelly Holmes, Roger Bannister or David Beckham. The creative teams have even discussed whether the person needs to be well known or should be symbolic – for example a child from the East End of London.
Lord Coe added: “Do I have a view on this personally or privately? Yes, of course.
“Have I asked our creative teams to get their minds around this? Yes, I have.
“Have we made a judgment about this? No, we haven’t.
“Is Daley Thompson a really close friend of mine? Yes he is, it’s probably not the best-kept secret that he’s probably my closest friend, and do I get on well with Steve Redgrave? Yes, I do.
“This is not that complicated nor conspiratorial. This isn’t an exact science. I have said all along it may be very obvious – but it may not be.” – (Reuters, PA)