Athens 2004 | Opening Ceremony | Klepsydra

[sigitas0805]

@vabilas28 No, I think he took power, but the old gods in prayer, give them strength, to allow it to regain his powers. Old paganic gods was strong, and they help nations, who peoples pray in gods. Lithuania was a pagan until the year 1387, and as it was strong. But Christianity came to Lithuania and has become weak. Before now, we remember the prayers of the old gods, Perkūnas, Žemyna, Laima, Milda, Žemėpatis, Andajas, Bangpūtys and others lithuanian gods.

[Multiplydisorder]

Perfect.

[andersonms2006]

4:39 Athens

[AenigmaVitae]

THIS WAS THE BEST! BEEEEST! LOVE YOU GREECE!

[preysolidus]

collasping castle of card is europe,and if you thing german he wants to help us sorry but you dreamig.we will se all what will be happen in few years 1-2.

[manderas]

the most unique and stylish Olympic opening ceremony EVER !!! I have watch this many times! Music is sooooooooooo beautiful ! can somebody give me any titles of the song ?

[ChristosM1]

@manderas If I remember well, it's called "Perasma" (Πέρασμα) by Konstantinos Vita, originally composed for the ceremony.

[PsychotronicWar]

Ελλάδα μην ξεχνάς (για αυτά που τραβάς): ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΤΕΛΕΥΤΑΙΟΙ ΕΣΟΝΤΑΙ ΠΡΩΤΟΙ...

[EffLabels]

This is AMAZING. over 3000 years of history in a couple of minutes.lol

Just watching this restores my faith and love for Greece. Bravo!

[sigitas0805]

@vabilas28 Yes, and I have big emotions, when see gods of Ancient Greece.

[sigitas0805]

Oldest greek gods- it's wonderful. Where now is Zeus, Areus, Aphrodite, Athena and all gods?

[vabilas28]

@sigitas0805 Jesus killed them

[MANIATAKOS1]

RESPECT

[nikolaos1010]

αυτο ειναι το βασικο χαρακτηριστικο του Παπαιωαννου γενικα: η κίνηση πάνω στη κίνηση

[nikolaos1010]

yes, and this is just a sampling

[Pegasos4]

brilliant, amazing, detailed, mystic, history!

[vabilas28]

04:40 - 05:20 στο απόσπασμα αυτό που οι μορφές παίρνουν τη θέση τους πάνω στα αρχαία γλυπτά βιώνω ταυτόχρονα τόσα συναισθήματα

[PITBULLI79]

@vabilas28και γω φιλε

[vabilas28]

@PITBULLI79 Ναι ρε φίλε, είναι λες και καταλαμβάνουν οι μορφές τη θέση τους στην αιωνιότητα... Απίστευτο στη σύλληψη

[mspenelusuk]

wow this is so brilliant! greets from indonesia

[itachiitachi1946]

olympic games should be take place ONLY in greece.or at least every 8 years in greece and every 4 years in some other country.british r great antigreeks and yet they have to do the olympic games of 2012.i have to admit.that offends me very much.

[manouskaya1]

ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ ΠΟΥ ΣΕ ΣΤΟΙΧΕΙΩΝΕΙ, ΑΛΗΘΙΝΗ ΜΥΣΤΑΓΩΓΙΑ...

[hydrofal78]

considered the result of the efforts I believe none from the International Monetary Fund should ask from greece to pay back the loans , come on , we offer the best spectacle

[remali2013]

This is the beggining of western civilization as we know it today.....

[ricksterga]

@remali2013 ditto

[sam0xin]

I NEVER SAW IN MY LIFE SUCH A MAGNIFICENT EVENT γεμάτη θετική ενέργεια και αισθητική !!! full of positive energy and aesthetics !!! полно эстетике и позитивной энергии !!! լի դրական էներգիայով եւ գեղագիտություն !!! 充滿正能量和美學 !!! plein d'énergie positive et l'esthétique !!! וfullt af jákvæðum orku og fagurfræði !!! LOVE GOOGLE TRANSLATE !!!

[marapryds]

HELLAS IS EVERYTHING. HELLAS IS EVERY WISE CONCEPT AND EVERY DANCE. EVERY DRAMA AND EVERY SCIENCE. RESPECT FROM THE USA

[sam0xin]

Greece ! One of the symbols of civilisation ! Greetings from Armenia !

[sam0xin]

@sam0xin p.s. unlike vandals & barbarians , animal-like cockroaches... are only able to rob, kill and destroy ONLY!

[SpartanKing2782]

@sam0xin Greece. THE symbol of Civilization. Period.

[colexiou]

4:45 A strong message to Britain to return the STOLEN by Lord Elgin Partenon marbles. The figures from Parthenon's pediment reunite with the fragments that are currently hold by the British Museum. These artworks MUST RETURN back to their homeland and placed in the new world-leading Acropolis Museum in Athens.

[MPCANTE]

FANTASTIC! WAS EMECIONANTE THIS OPENING OF THE GAMES IN ATHENS. CONGRATULATIONS TO BRAZIL.

[manderas]

Super Opening Olympic Games! The most stylish Ever !!! .... after 7 years it's still great to watch!

Congratulations Greece !

[Polunikos]

5:30 I'm in love with her!!!!!!!

[firespawn0006]

Fascinating to watch

[panos23kkk]

ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟ 7:00 ΠΕΘΑΝΕ ΤΟ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ.....ΕΥΤΥΧΩΣ ΟΜΩΣ ΠΟΥ ΔΙΑΤΗΡΗΘΗΚΕ Η ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΓΛΩΣΣΑ

[GeoAlKrass]

The Human stands beyond human thinking... Human Poems are only the "Alpha" (A) for describing Him... We need only some human understanding for other humans to reach the "omega" (Ω) of the understanding of the Human. ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ

[YorgoSkep]

It's an artistic, mystical presentation of Greece's offer throughout history! It reminds us the other aspects of human spirit apart from...achieving financial goals...!

[international153]

5,000 years in just 10 minutes!!

Thanks Greece

From Russia

[bm100]

Amazing - purely amazin, I wish the arabs can one day do their history justice like the Greeks have done here. Beautiful Greece.

[panos23kkk]

GREECE is the most raped country .......LOVE YOU GREECE YOU WILL NEVER DIE.....PROUD TO BE GREEK AND I WILL DIE GREEK

[cruonit]

the bankers are taking over our country and soon we'll declare bankruptcy but our spirit, our greek fucking spirit, will always be there, for better or for worse.

RIOT baby!

[rounick]

@cruonit We will NEVER declare bankruptcy because the point to ALWAYS BE IN DEBT. He who controls the debt, controls EVERYTHING.

[dangnoig]

ชอบอ่ะ

[Transperse]

i love it

greetin from algeria

[panos23kkk]

extremely beautifull......you will never die greece never .....even soros want to destroy you your spirit will be intact

[nmnova214]

does anybody have an mp3 version of this song? I've loved it since 2004 when I first heard it, and I've looked everywhere, but I cannot find it =(

[stevebton]

@ChristosM1 Thanks for the information and so quickly too! The Web is amazing as we know. I would never have found the name of the dancing if you hadn't responded!

[stevebton]

This is an amazing parade but there are a couple of pieces where my Greek history falls down. Can anybody tell me: a) who is the man in white at 4:08 and especially what are the group of 8 men with long black hair at 8:19 are doing? Is it some specific historical dance?

[ChristosM1]

@stevebton

The men dressed in black are dancing a traditional dance of Pontos. About the man in white, I admit, you caught me. It should be from Aristofanis, but I'm not 100% sure.

[tinie15]

@ChristosM1

That's Oedipus and he is approaching the Sphinx.

[tinie15]

@tinie15 ...oops, didn't see there was an answer already... sorry.

[apostolakos1986]

@ChristosM1 The man in white is not Aristofanis but Oedipus..:-))

[Nimbus8100]

@ChristosM1 I think that the man is Aesop, that is why the rest of dancers are dressed as animals

[ktakakis]

@stevebton Hi!!! The man in 4:08 is Oidipus, the tragic king who killed his father and married his mother! It is the most famous tragedy written by Sofokles!!! Oidipus Rex!!! I hope I was helpful!!!

[veon11]

@stevebton The man at 4.08 its Oedipus, cause its obvious by his walk and because he goes to the Sphinx if you notice! ;)

[stevebton]

@veon11 Thanks for your answer. Can you tell me what it is about the way Oedipus walks that identifies him?

[veon11]

@stevebton Oedipus means "swollen-footed" because when he was a child Laius, his father, had his ankles pinned together so that he could not crawl. Thus he was walking like that. Search the story, it's very nice and it links to The Oedipus complex and Oedipism. ;)

[veon11]

@stevebton Oedipus means "swollen-footed" because when he was a child Laius, his father, had his ankles pinned together so that he could not crawl. Thus he was walking like that. Search the story, it's very nice and it links to The Oedipus complex and Oedipism. ;)

[Lara681]

@stevebton

the man dressed in white is Oedipus, a mythical king of Thebes and he encounters the Sphinx.he is blind(see the walking stick he's holding)because he fulfilled a profecy that said he would kill his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta.he punished himself by gouging his eyes because he brought disaster to his family and city.

[effie1greece]

@stevebton The man in white at 4:08 must be Herodotous, but I'm not quite sure, a famous historian of his time, traveller and story teller coming from Efessos at the west coast of Ionia, Micra Asia later on and Turkey today, and the the group of the 8 are dancers from Pontos a former Greek province, at the south-west coast of the Black Sea.They don't have long black hair, it's just their hats part of the dratitional costume they wear and they dance a local dance.Almost desolated by the Turks

[deezacharo]

@stevebton

men in black are greeks who lived in north Asia Minor todays turkey 2500 years ago

we greeks call that that land Pontos or Pondos. many greeks today have desend ancestory that comes there,and there have a very diferent dialect from mainland greece. No Greek( Pondian} lives anymore in Pondos after 1920 when the Turks in 1917-20 killed many greeks and Armenians.

The man in white has is Oepidus.

[alyctus]

@stevebton the man is Oedipus a mythical king of Thebes based on an Aeschylus tragedy.He got blind by fulfilling a prophecy because he married his mother (aka oedipus complex) and killed his father without knowing.He faces the creature Sphinx that asks him the famous riddle: "What walks on four feet in the morning,two in the afternoon and three at night?" and Oedipus answers:"Man:as an infant, he crawls on all fours, as an adult he walks on two legs and in old age he relies on a walking stick"

[Nikechagias]

@stevebton he is Oedipus!!!

[sagelastos]

@stevebton it is obviously oedipus..

[nikokk2]

@stevebton It is the personalization of Wealth, the Ploutos, from Aristophanes comedy of the same name who wanders alone.

[nikokk2]

@stevebton Indeed it is Oedipus from the Sophocles tragedies. I made a mistake!

[bixbixi]

@stevebton

At 4:08 > Perseus, the gorgon Medousa killer.

8:19 > Greeks from Pontus, Black Sea, now turkish north coast.

[apostolakos1986]

@stevebton The man in white is Oedipus my dear friend... The man who killed his father, married his mother and when he found out what he had done he took his own eyes off...

[HPLA1940]

@stevebton

The man in white is Oedipous. It's a reference to this: faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Oedi­pus_vase.html

[aonoflove]

@stevebton The man in white is Oedipus wondering blind. He walks towards the sphynx which gives it away

[yianniskar4gr]

@stevebton that's King Oedypus facing the Sphinx - he's the main character of Oedipus Rex, a play written by Sophocles

[argy29]

@stevebton νατι να βαάλουν τους αχρηστους τραγουδιστες της Ελλαδας ας είχαν αυτον τον ηχο

[argy29]

Απάντηση σε αυτό το βίντεο... ok...google a bit 

[missdaniela68]

@stevebton i think it is oedipus

[PolemarchosXI]

@stevebton the man at 4:08 is Aesop ancient Greek fable writer.

[yunie456]

@stevebton The man on the white I believe is Oedipus the tragic hero.

[Arouraiouli]

@stevebton The men is Oedipus from Sophokles drama "Oedipus Tyrran". Oedipus encountered a Sphinx, who would stop all travelers to Thebes and ask them a riddle. If the travelers were unable to answer her correctly, they would be killed and eaten. Oedipus answered and arrived to Thebes and without knowing it he married his mother.

[mak000013]

@stevebton the man in white is Oidipodas, or as you may know him Oedipus Rex. the men in black are dancing a war dance of the Pontos region, but these aren t the actual moves, it s a minimal interpretation

[Percernis]

@stevebton :

Oedipus. You can see that he walks towards the Sphinx (in ancient Greek mythology it was Oedipus who solved the enigma of the Sphinx, thus saving the city of Thebes from the monster and as a reward marrying the widowed queen, and unknowingly his own mother - he was also the one who made her a widow by murdering, also unknowingly, his father).

[111provence]

@stevebton the man in white at 4:08 is greek shepherd !!! 

[sitarcos]

@stevebton The man at 4:08 is Oedipus (check wikipedia). The men at 8:19 are people of Pontos, Greeks from the Black Sea, dancing Pyrihios, an ancient war dance.

[negropontero]

@stevebton The man in white is Oedipus, the mythical Greek king of Thebes. A Sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head) stopped him and asked him a riddle that nobody had answered correctly before: "What walks on 4 feet in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 3 at night?". Oedipus was the first ever to answer "Man: infant crawling on all fours; adult walking on two legs; old man using a stick". The Sphinx, having heard that, killed herself by throwing herself into the sea.

[pacosermis]

PERFECT !!!

[technologicalsky]

Thank you for your words..Viva Spain!!

[effie1greece]

@ulises1b Yes indeed Greece is the beginning of Europe, after all Europe is a greek word, but seem to forget that Europe doomed us..Beware, your turn is soon to come, there are no friends left in the European "Union". The Nothern European countries call us P.I.G.S.(Portugal-Italy-Greece­-Spain) because we seem to have failed achieving the economic goals they dictated us!What a great spirit of support and sympathy, don't you think??

[rounick]

@ulises1b Thank you for remembering. So many of my own countrymen have forgotten..

[ricksterga]

@ulises1b si que lo es

[SpartanKing2782]

@ulises1b Greece is the beginning of the WORLD.

[spanier24]

@ulises1b Si, Grecia es el principio de Europa, y ahora es el Fin.

[EffLabels]

@spanier24 Greece will bring democracy back to the dictatorship Europe has become

[spanier24]

@EffLabels Yes, and Europe will bring money back to the corrupt Greece.

[DespinaKouros]

@spanier24 you are German and you speak about corruption?Man,you made me laugh!!! Before talking about Greece's corruption just consider which GERMAN companies were bribing the Greek (and not only) political system so Germany can take every public work in Greece including weapons and artilery!You know what?You hate Greeks because they showed to Europe that the "King Germany" is naked!!!Your time is near!You'll collapse like a castle of playing cards!!!

[spanier24]

@DespinaKouros Sorry, but you are wrong. I'm greek, but I growed up in Germany. The only collapsing castle of cards is Greece. Cant you see it? Meanwhile, Germany tries to save us.

[DespinaKouros]

@spanier24 don't you speak Greek?Anyway,friend,NOBODY'S trying to save us!Their trying to buy us cheap and keep having us under control! And that goes for the rest of the members of this parody called "European Union"!South is suffocating in high debts and North is flourishing!Obviously you really didn't pay much attention to my previous message!Both Greek and European politicians are guilty of treachery,treason, and lies! What happens in Greece right now is called GENOCIDE!

[spanier24]

@DespinaKouros I speak english here, cause english is the language of the comments in this video. Europe has spent lots of money in Greece, a land that entered the Union by hiding the real data of the economy. I love my country, but its wrong to say that Europe wants to buy us.

[ChristosM1]

@spanier24 Please, don't tell me now that the "Union" didn't know back then if Greece used real or fake data.....they knew it but they wanted as many countries as possible in euro.

[spanier24]

@ChristosM1 Obviously you dont know the history. For you it is easier to think that everything is a big conspiration against us. For you, everything outside Greece are monsters and pure evil. Good, keep on thinking in ghosts, but in Europe there is people working and trying to save the economy of the continent. Good bye.

[ChristosM1]

@spanier24 I didn't say anything about conspiracies....just about hypocrisy by them.

The economy of the continent will not be saved by this plan, that's the only sure.

Good bye to you too.

[Pegasos4]

@spanier24

you are never greek, spanier!

[spanier24]

@Pegasos4 I was born in Volos. My father is Greek, my mother is german.

[vabilas28]

@spanier24 Well, my grandma remembers perfectly well the last time Germans tried to "save us". It was back in the ' 40s.... Now they re trying to achieve what they didn t manage to do back then... Come and get it if you like... we r waiting

[yuca27]

wow

[stratosk1]

the music is perfect thanks to Konstantinos Vita

[YaniHartonen]

Please help, do anybody knows what is exact name of that flute or oboe which plays from the start and till 1:45

But mainly sounds 00:52

Thanx in advance!!!

[DespinaKouros]

It is not an oboe or a flute. It is an ancient instrument which is called "askos" or "tsampouna" in Thrace!!! Later on the Greeks gave it to the Celts which call it "Bagpipe"!!!

[YaniHartonen]

@DespinaKouros

thank you very much!!!

[swasdeeswan]

So like a picture ... Like a dream .... Very beautiful -0-

[YaniHartonen]

Great Opening i ever seen!!!

Music is heavenly clear - Gods music

Dimitris made best performance!!!

ChristosM1

I'd love to ask you - where can i get that copy of not commented video with closeups as your!!!

[DespinaKouros]

This music is haunting...chills run down my spine!!!! I'm proud to be Greek!!!

[YaniHartonen]

You should be!!!)))

[teufelstaub]

What an incredible bounty the Hellenic peoples have to draw upon as just a sampling of their widely varied contributions to the entire world.Truly an amazing display of art,beauty,drama,culture,warfa­re,literature,music,religion,m­ythos and advances in all fields.Prodigious and tremendous race!

[bellinivernon]

Exelente ! ; gracias ,desde argentina.

[HarryHayfield]

Which if you can believe, some viewers on the NBC network in America complained about citing nudity. Of course, they were nude. Read your history books (or even better watch the Moscow 1980 film!)