The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games"The Olympic Odyssey takes the reader on a mythic journey from the ancient to the modern Games, telling tales of gods, athletes, and coaches in all their splendid pageantry. But their fabled gold medals are only half the story. Author and life-long athlete Phil Cousineau's real fascination is for what Olympian Jesse Owens called the athlete's "inner life," the mysterious source of the drive, deeper than the one to win, to excel for an ideal beyond the self - transcending gender, race, nationality, and perhaps even the line between the human and the divine." "To explore this territory, Cousineau interweaves mythology, religion, and sports history, quoting from Homer to Whitman, Jim Thorpe to Babe Didrikson, and Yeats to Yogi Berra. His exuberant call to revive the ancient Greek ideal of integrating body, mind, and spirit reminds us that the Games provide marvelous metaphors for how to go about any venture: with passion and compassion, focus and fairness, and a sense for the sacred play at the heart of life."--Jacket. |
Other editions - View all
The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games Phil Cousineau Limited preview - 2003 |
The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the True Spirit of the Great Games Phil Cousineau Limited preview - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
1936 Berlin Games American ancient Games ancient Greek ancient Olympic arete asked Athens athletes basketball beauty Berlin Games bronze Bud Greenspan called century B.C.E. ceremonies chariot compete competition contest Coubertin courage Derek Redmond discus dream excellence feet finish fire glory gods gold medals Greece gymnast heart Herakles hero honor human ideal inspired International Olympic Committee Iphitus Jesse Owens John Naber John Wooden Kerri Strug King later Luz Long marathon Marciulionis meters modern Games modern Olympics myth mythic Nurmi Odyssey Olym Olympia Olympic champion Olympic Games Olympic history Olympic movement Olympic spirit Owens Paavo Nurmi Pausanius peace Pelops philosopher coach play players poet race relay remind revival ritual Roberto Calasso runners sacred says soul Soviet spectators sprinter stadium statues story strength torch track and field trainers transcend victory vision winner words world records wrestling writes wrote young Zeus