Friday, March 5, 2010

Living on Olympus

Visiting the Olympic's Athlete Village, I could not help but think back to Greek mythology and the many classes I took in junior high school . 

Olympus was the residence of the divine family, the twelve most important ruling gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, who therefore were called the Olympians. There they all lived together in an enormous palace, high above the clouds. Olympus often it is identified also as some mysterious region far above the earth.Olympus is not the equivalent of heaven. According Homer, Poseidon says that he rules the sea, Hades the dead, Zeus the heavens, but Olympus is common to all three.

The builders of the palace at Olympus were the Cyclopes, gigantic one-eyed Titans who were freed by Zeus from Tartarus and in thanks gave him his famous thunderbolts. Hephaestus, the talented god of the smiths and the forge created all the furnishings and artwork on Olympus, even making some of the chairs and tables able to move themselves in and out of the celestial hall.In between was a square court, open to the sky, with private rooms on either side belonging to the other five Olympian gods and five Olympian goddesses. 


Homer says that no wind ever shakes the untroubled peace of Olympus; no rain ever falls there or snow; but the cloudless firmament stretches around it on all sides and the white glory of sunshine is diffused upon its walls. (From Thomas Bullfinch's "The Age of Fables")

Yeah, it was a lot like that...


  1. I'm envious . . . and wondering what the significance of the Blue M is?

  2. University of Michigan. Jeremy was rooming with Evan Bates, Charlie White (U of M) and Ben Agosto.

  3. GO BLUE! :o) As a fellow Michigander, I loved seeing the Michigan flag on the wall - even if it was Charlie and Evan's. Hopefully Jeremy has learned to become a Wolverine fan now that he's training in Michigan. ;o)

    Awesome pictures. I love getting an insider's view of what the Olympics looked like. I've always wondered though... what do they do with the Olympic Village after the Olympics end?

  4. Beth - The Village in Vancouver was originally designed to be condos and rental units. From what we were told, the condos were all sold in advance. The kitchens were covered to protect from damage. The area itself is gorgeous and near Granville Island, too. This is an up-and-coming area; very young and trendy. With the expansion of public transportation, it will be the new, hot area for young Canadian professionals. It was just gorgeous.

  5. Nothing like a little communing with the gods! Great post.