Hellenism Goes Global: Why the Olympics Should Matter to Philhellenes Today

The Modern Olympics are the largest and most successful international event in the world. However, a little more than one century after their founding in Athens in 1896, the reasons for their revival have been largely forgotten. In this lecture we see why it is crucial that we pay attention to this modern revival. As our lecturer argued, religion lies at the heart of this story: ancient Greek religion, early Christian religion, and modern religion as well. What we see is that Hellenism, viewed as a vast archive of cultural experience, also provides a spiritual foundation for modern internationalism and cosmopolitanism. Professor Ruprecht is the inaugural holder of the William M. Suttles Chair of Religious Studies at Georgia State University, where he also serves as the Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies. Ruprecht's work traces ancient Greek ideas in subsequent cultural periods in the realms of art, eros, democratic institutions, and much more. His most recent book is Reach without Grasping: Anne Carson's Classical Desires (2022). For his work bringing classical Greek ideas to modern-day scholarship and culture he has been granted the Gold Cross of the Order of the Phoenix by the President of the Hellenic Republic.