The Reception of Ancient Olympic Epinikia in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century European Poetry

Abstract

The ancient links between poetry and the Olympic idea were rediscovered and revived in the Renaissance period and beyond. The first references to the ancient Olympic Games appeared in fifteenth-century Italian literature. Then they were exploited by German, French, Polish, Scottish and English poets in the following century. An analysis of sixteenth-century and seventeenth-century poetic works demonstrates that Olympic themes were used in poetry for comparative purposes to evoke moral, ethical, organizational, and athletic models, and even to raise the prestige of local events. The dissemination of Olympic traditions through poetry also contributed to the development of some well-known carriers of the Olympic tradition called pseudo-Olympics, famously exemplified by the Cotswold Olimpick Games organized in England by Robert Dover and widely appraised by English poets. All these activities testify to the significant role of poetry as a principal component of Olympic legacy in European culture.