Lecture by Claude de Warren, February 2024
Please click the link to watch youtube video: THE OLYMPIC GAMES: Their true meaning in ancient Greece
Let us set aside the images and the ideas of the Olympic Games we have about them today, and transport ourselves to ancient Greece in the second millennium BC. This era is much earlier than the construction of the Parthenon in the 5th century BC and long before a stadium was built at Olympia – a site that had served as a ‘spiritual sanctuary’ for ages.
The Olympic Games, along with the three other great Games celebrated in Corinth, Nemea, and Delphi, were not originally intended to celebrate athletes, but rather to honour spiritual seekers at key stages in their progress.
Sporting events were subsequently integrated into what were originally a series of initiation ceremonies. Renowned historians like Moses Finley and H.W. Pleket have noted regarding the Olympic Games: “Thus, games are incorporated into the Olympic programme because of the sanctuary’s reputation and not vice versa: religious rituals precede the sporting games and remain prominent in the games’ schedule”. It is also safe to say that the same principle applied to the other major games as well. In fact, this observation is supported by the finding that, in most of these sites, there was a gap of up to 300 years between the initiation ceremonies and the construction of the stadiums.
As the profound significance of myths and the potential for connecting with the spiritual realms began to fade – which was already the case at the time of the three great Tragic writers Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides in the 5th century BC, over 300 years after Homer – secular sporting events were introduced. These contests most probably did not involve the spiritual seekers themselves but rather athletes who had come to take part in the celebrations.
In fact, the 6th and 5th century BC mark a turning point during which the celebrations in the sanctuaries lost their true raison d’être – the celebration of initiations – and were gradually replaced by secular festivals, essentially sporting.
Hence, the significance of the great games of ancient Greece cannot be understood without considering what took place in the initiation schools. Indeed, it is the myths behind the four great games that explain the relationship between the games and these Mystery Schools.
For, on the one hand, there existed an external religion, while on the other, spiritual centres of initiation, like those in ancient Egypt, were present. There, the spiritual path as encoded in Greek mythology, was revealed, and the profound meaning of myths, practices and rituals were taught. Initiations, giving access to certain powers were also transmitted, akin to Tantrism in India.
The initiate is referred to as “one who knows the mysteries of the gods”.
There were two main initiation centres in Greece. The first, located on the island of Samothrace, was specifically for seekers who wanted to embark on the spiritual path. The second, situated at Eleusis, was reserved for more advanced seekers.
Very little is known about these Mystery Schools and the initiations conducted there, as prospective initiates were strictly forbidden to talk about them. Moreover, divulging any information would result in painful death. The ancient Greeks were very strict in upholding this rule rigorously.
Aeschylus, a playwright from the 5th century BC, narrowly escaped death when accused of revealing things reserved only for initiates in one of his plays. To save his life he had to swear that he was not an initiate.
On the other hand, the deeper meaning of the myths rapidly faded under the influence of the cycles that govern evolution, particularly those of 2,160 and 26,000 years linked to the cycles of the mind.
SAMOTHRACE
The island of Samothrace lies in the north of the Aegean Sea, around 300km from Athens when measured in a straight line.
Reaching Samothrace by sea was not easy with the ships of the time, as the winds were favourable only during certain months of the year, typically from April to October. Additionally, the threat of unpredictable storms also posed further difficulty. Travelling overland through Thrace was not without its dangers either, no doubt because of the highway robbers.
So, it took a certain amount of courage – an essential quality required of all aspirants to the spiritual path – to undertake the journey from Attica and the Peloponnese. This likely explains the reason why this Mystery school was established on an island so far from Athens and with such challenging access.
The name Samothrace – Samos (Σ+Μ) + Thrace (ΘΡ+Κ) – indicates an opening (Κ) towards a just evolution (Ρ) of the inner being (Θ) through a balanced opening between reason and intuition (Μ) of the intelligence (Σ).
The earliest traces of spiritual activity date back to the 7th century BC. Rituals were addressed to the “Great Gods” (Theoi Megaloi in Greek). The identity and nature of these “Great Gods” remain enigmatic, as it was forbidden to pronounce their names in the secular world, no doubt to accustom postulants to secrecy.
It was only after Herodotus (5th century BC) that they were wrongly equated with the Cabires, deities prayed to in Lemnos and Thebes.
Access to the sanctuary was forbidden to the uninitiated. All applicants were admitted, regardless of origin, sex, age, or social rank – at least from the time when written records are available, i.e. the 5th century BC.
There were two categories of Mysteries: The Lesser Mysteries and the Greater Mysteries. There is every reason to believe that only the Lesser Mysteries – those corresponding to the beginning of the spiritual path – were celebrated in Samothrace.
Initiatory ceremonies took place over an extended period, involving preparations, initi