Athena and Phevos are one of the few examples of anthropomorphic mascots in the history of the Olympics. According to the official mascot webpage, "their creation was inspired by an ancient Greek doll and their names are linked to ancient Greece, yet the two siblings are children of modern times - Athena and Phevos represent the link between Greek history and the modern Olympic Games."[1]
The Athens 2004 Olympic Organizing Committee claimed that the mascots represented "participation, brotherhood, equality, cooperation, fair play [and] the everlasting Greek value of human scale."
For the Paralympic Games, ATHOC subsequently requested Gogos for the creation of a new mascot along the creative lines of Athena and Phevos. He created Proteas, a seahorse that is to convey the nature of the competitions and the athletes’ constant goal of achieving excellency.[2]
The mascots have been emblazoned on a variety of items for sale, including pins, clothing and other memorabilia.
The mascots were named after the Greek godsAthena and Apollo, Phevos being a transcription of the modern Greek pronunciation of Phoebus, an epithet of Apollo. They were loosely modeled after an archaic Greek terra cottadaidala from the 7th century BC, which was recommended by curators at the National Archaeological Museum.
Prior to the Games, a group affiliated with the Societas Hellenica Antiquariorum called the Greek Society of the Friends of the Ancients and a Hellenic polytheistic group called the Committee for the Greek Religion Dodecatheon, devoted to the preservation of ancient Greek culture, sued over the mascots, claiming that they "savagely insult" Classical Greek culture.[3] In a BBC Radio interview on June 26, 2004, Dr. Pan. Marinis President of the Societas Hellenica Antiquariorum said that the mascots:
"mock the spiritual values of the Hellenic Civilization by degrading these same holy personalities that were revered during the ancient Olympic Games. For these reasons we have proceeded to legal action demanding the punishment of those responsible."
The fact that the organizing committee referred to the daidala as dolls has been the cause of some controversy among scholars of Ancient Greek culture, as the daidala were religious artifacts[citation needed].
^. Archived from the original on 2006-12-18. Retrieved 2007-01-30.[1]
References
The Beijing 2008 Olympics site notes "their whacking feet, longish necks and puny heads" and reports the garbled mythology as issued by the 2004 Olympics Committee.
athena, phevos, proteas, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, no. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Athena Phevos and Proteas news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Athena and Phevos Greek A8hna Foibos pronounced a8iˈna and ˈfivos were the official mascots of the 2004 Summer Olympics and Proteas Greek Prwteas proˈte as was the official mascot of the 2004 Summer Paralympics both held in Athens Greece Athena and PhevosFoibos kai A8hna in Greek Mascots of the 2004 Summer Olympics Athens CreatorSpyros GogosSignificanceTwo modern children resembling ancient Greek terracotta daidalaProteasPrwteas in Greek Mascots of the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athens CreatorSpyros GogosSignificanceA seahorseAthena and Phevos are one of the few examples of anthropomorphic mascots in the history of the Olympics According to the official mascot webpage their creation was inspired by an ancient Greek doll and their names are linked to ancient Greece yet the two siblings are children of modern times Athena and Phevos represent the link between Greek history and the modern Olympic Games 1 The Athens 2004 Olympic Organizing Committee claimed that the mascots represented participation brotherhood equality cooperation fair play and the everlasting Greek value of human scale For the Paralympic Games ATHOC subsequently requested Gogos for the creation of a new mascot along the creative lines of Athena and Phevos He created Proteas a seahorse that is to convey the nature of the competitions and the athletes constant goal of achieving excellency 2 The mascots have been emblazoned on a variety of items for sale including pins clothing and other memorabilia Contents 1 Design 2 Controversy 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesDesign EditThe mascots were named after the Greek gods Athena and Apollo Phevos being a transcription of the modern Greek pronunciation of Phoebus an epithet of Apollo They were loosely modeled after an archaic Greek terra cotta daidala from the 7th century BC which was recommended by curators at the National Archaeological Museum Controversy Edit The Olympic mascots were based on this archaic terracotta daidala at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens Prior to the Games a group affiliated with the Societas Hellenica Antiquariorum called the Greek Society of the Friends of the Ancients and a Hellenic polytheistic group called the Committee for the Greek Religion Dodecatheon devoted to the preservation of ancient Greek culture sued over the mascots claiming that they savagely insult Classical Greek culture 3 In a BBC Radio interview on June 26 2004 Dr Pan Marinis President of the Societas Hellenica Antiquariorum said that the mascots mock the spiritual values of the Hellenic Civilization by degrading these same holy personalities that were revered during the ancient Olympic Games For these reasons we have proceeded to legal action demanding the punishment of those responsible The fact that the organizing committee referred to the daidala as dolls has been the cause of some controversy among scholars of Ancient Greek culture as the daidala were religious artifacts citation needed See also Edit Olympics portal Sports portal Europe portal Greece portalNational Archaeological Museum of AthensNotes Edit Phevos and Athena Archived from the original on 2006 02 08 Retrieved 2008 09 08 The original website is now closed Athens 2004 Paralympic Mascot Proteas Photos amp History Extrajudicial protest denunciation statement of Greek Citizens concerning the 2004 Olympics mascot choice Archived from the original on 2006 12 18 Retrieved 2007 01 30 1 References EditThe Beijing 2008 Olympics site notes their whacking feet longish necks and puny heads and reports the garbled mythology as issued by the 2004 Olympics Committee Preceded byPowder Copper and Coal Olympic mascot Athena and PhevosAthens 2004 Succeeded byNeve and GlizPreceded byOtto Paralympic mascot ProteasAthens 2004 Succeeded byAster Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Athena Phevos and Proteas amp oldid 1106593837, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
