Oxford classicist writes Greek ode for the Olympics

3 August 2004

Oxford University will be represented at this year's Olympic Games by a classicist. Dr Armand D'Angour, Classics Fellow and Tutor at Jesus College, has written an ancient Greek ode in praise of Athens. The ode, written in the style of the classical Greek poet Pindar, will be recited at the closing session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday 29 August.

Ode to Athens was composed at the request of Dame Mary Glen-Haig, a former Olympic fencer and longstanding member of the IOC. Dame Mary discovered that an Oxford scholar, George Stuart Robertson, had read out a Pindaric ode of his own composition at the closing ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. She contacted Professor Michael Vickers of Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum to see if a similar performance could be arranged. He suggested she ask Dr D'Angour, whose lectures include topics in Greek literature and metre.

The result is the 25-line celebratory Ode to Athens, written in the style of Pindar. "Pindar was the greatest poet of his time and was often commissioned to write victory odes for the ancient Olympic Games", says Dr D'Angour. "He was famous for the complexity and beauty of his poetry, which generally employed a three-part structure using repeated rhythmical patterns of words. I have composed a contemporary ode in ancient style, as a tribute to him and to Athens. There are many elements that will have a familiar ring to those who know Pindar's poetry." Commenting on the ode, Michael Vickers, Professor of Archaeology and Senior Assistant Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum, said: "Armand D'Angour's Pindaric ode is an exquisite piece of work, full of delicate allusions and wordplay of a kind worthy of the master himself. He has entered fully into the spirit of the genre."

Dame Mary Glen-Haig will recite the ode in English at the IOC's closing session on 29 August. Dr D'Angour will be there with his wife, Dr Karen Ciclitira, who also holds a connection to the Games since her great-uncle Constantine Tsiklitiras was an Olympic gold-medallist in 1912 and a famous Greek athlete.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the ode please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on 01865 280528, email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk.

• View the ode in English (pdf file)
• View the ode in Greek (pdf file)

Notes to Editors:

• Dr Armand D'Angour is co-author of the best-selling The Art of Swimming (Ashgrove, 2001) with Steven Shaw - a guide to swimming using the Alexander Technique.
• Dr D'Angour's wife is Dr Karen Ciclitira, Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Middlesex. Her great-uncle Constantine Tsiklitiras won two silver medals in the London Olympics of 1908 and a gold for long jump in Stockholm in 1912. The Tsiklitiria Games were founded in his honour in 1963 and form part of the European Grand Prix.