The First Modern Olympic Games at Athens, 1896 in the European Context in European Studies, vol.5, 2006, Zentrum für Deutschland- und Europastudien, University of Tokyo, 59-76. (original) (raw)

This paper is analyzing the revival of the Olympic Games and their celebration in Athens (1896) not within the context of a continuity from ancient times to the nineteenth century, but, on the contrary, within the framework of the great changes – economic, social, ideological, cultural – which took place in Western societies from the eighteenth century on. I will try to show why Olympism was successful both in Europe and in Greece in late 19 th century and to interpret the revival of an ancient institution and the first Olympic Games in the light of concurrence of internationalism and nationalism.