Are you watching the Olympics? We have watched Celine Dion’s performance a few times already and wow, was she a powerhouse! This year, the new Olympic events include breaking (breakdancing) as well as rock climbing. I think I will be checking out breaking! We just watched Simone Biles and Suni Lee do their gymnastic magic in the qualifying rounds and can’t wait to see them at the Olympics itself! But I have another question for you: Did you know about the Poetry Olympics connection?

Or rather, did you know they used to give out medals for arts and literature in the Olympics? Or that poetry has a really long Olympian history? Read on to find out more in the Poetic Sundays section.

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support. Please see the full disclosure for more information. I only recommend products I definitely would (or have already) use myself

Poetic Sundays: The Poetry Olympics Connection

When I went looking for poems about the Olympics as well as poetry forms that have something to do with sports/Olympics, I stumbled upon these very cool poetry Olympics connections! So this Poetic Sunday, I am sharing those with you, starting with the very beginning!

Long Ago, High on the Mountains of Victory…

Were the Pindaric Odes, or other similar poems that led to the poetry Olympics link.

In Ancient Greece, victorious athletes and their families commissioned poets to write odes to celebrate the victory. Pindar wrote many such poems, and what is more, they survived the tides of time so we can still read them today. The first such poem, First Olympionique, is titled To Hiero of Syracuse, victorious in the Horse-race.

A Little Later, in the 1700s…

Then, there were the poetry Olympics in Rome that included events like poetic debates and song composition, among others (source).

And then Came the Modern Olympics

“In the high times of Olympia, the fine arts were combined harmoniously with the Olympic Games to create their glory. This is to become reality once again.” – Pierre de Coubertin

Coubertin, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founder, championed the arts and eventually got his wish – including arts in the modern Olympics. From 1912 to 1952, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, to a total of 151 medals over those years. The one requirement to this was that all entries had to be related to sports.

However, as the years passed and entries trickled down in these categories for various reasons, they sunsetted this “Pentathlon of the Muses.” Though the Olympic Charter still requires the host country to “organize a program of cultural events” during the course of the games. So artists from around the country get to display their talents in a competitive, medal-free zone!

h/t, Reference, and Further Reading

• And the Winner Is … Pindar! (Poetry Foundation)
• Before there was diving and relays, there was the Poetry Olympics (The Conversation)
• Did You Know That Poetry Used to Be an Actual Olympic Sport? (Lithub)
• Honoring The Games, And The Past, With Poetry (NPR)
• Kurt Kohlstedt: Pentathlon of the Muses (99percentinvisible)
• Look to the past: When Olympic medals were awarded for architecture, music and literature (Olympics.com)
• Summer Olympics 2016 and Poetry (Poets.org)
• When the Olympics Gave Out Medals for Art (The Smithsonian)

Recently

On My Blog and Home-front

Been a hectic few days which is why I was kind of absent and now catching up…

Upcoming

On My Blog and Home-front

More posts, organizing, cleaning, and interacting… (trying to)

This Week’s Celebrations

The Literary and Close-to-it Celebrations

• The birthdays this week: Sharon Creech on July 29th; and Emily Bronte on the 30th of July; July 31st is J. K . Rowling and Primo Levi; Herman Melville on August 1st; Isabel Allende and James Baldwin on the 2nd of August; Leon Uris and P. D. James birthdays on August 3rd; Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jojo Meyeshe, Robert Hayden, and Dennis Lehane on the 4th of August
• It is Paperback Book Day on July 30.
• Look, up there, on that building, it is Spider-Man Day!
• August 2nd is National Coloring Book Day

The Foodie Celebrations

• It is National Milk Chocolate Day on the 28th of July
• Followed by National Lasagna Day on the 29th of July (we just had delicious homemade lasagna this weekend at a friend’s place!)
• National Cheesecake Day is on the 30th!!
• The 31st of July is  National Avocado Day 
• August starts off sweet with National Raspberry Cream Pie Day on the 1st
• Followed by more sugary treats for it is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day on the 2nd!!
• Then the 3rd is National Watermelon Day and National Grab Some Nuts Day
• National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, Braham Pie Day, and International Beer Day are on the 4th of August

The Other Celebrations

• Rain Day on the 29th along with National Lipstick Day and International Tiger Day 
• The 30th is Share a Hug Day as well as International Day of Friendship (a UN holiday)
• Followed by World Scout Scarf Day and National Girlfriend Day on August 1st
• The 2nd of August obseves Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day 
• While the 3rd is Clean Your Floors Day
• And it is Hooray for Kids Day on August 4th
• The 4th, being the first Sunday of August, also celebrates National Sisters Day, American Family Day, and National Friendship Day.
• August happens to be International Peace Month,  Family Fun Month, Happiness Happens Month,  Romance Awareness Month, and National Crayon Collection Month 

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, this was it for this post. As always, appreciate and totally welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions on these scribblings on Sunday! And which of these days in this wonderful week do you plan to celebrate? And what about you, dear reader – will you be hosting your own poetry Olympics?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon and of course the UBC