Word: idiotai
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...concept of place and show -- only winning. Contestants cried, "The wreath or death!" In fact, the Greek word for contest, agon, has become rather painful in English. But the rewards of victory were enormous: places of honor, money, sinecures and the admiration of nonathletes -- a word in Greek, idiotai, that has also survived in one form in English. Get thee to a gymnasium quickly...
...most of us idiotai, though, it is too late. Today's athletes were at the gym years ago, some since infancy, honing physical gifts with the huff-and- puff of endless gruntwork, the torturous frowns of coaches who could never be pleased and the sacrifice of the life and leisure that we take for granted. So who are we to begrudge them gold and glory? Grace and strength may seem perfectly natural, but they require painful perfection. Thus with the same envy, wonder and anticipation that the ancients experienced, we await a new round of Olympic spectacle. Let the Games...
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