Olives & the Olympics
It’s almost time for the olive harvest, and so Jerry and I are on a whistle-stop trip to Italy this week to check on all 500 trees, and the vines. It’s still blisteringly hot, but a joy to be at Sant’Elia in early autumn, to watch the seasons change and to welcome the cooler Adriatic breezes once again. It’s funny to think back to 2005, when we bought the estate, when we were the proud owners of 12 hectares and 10 ancient olive trees. We all thought Jerry was mad when he suggested planting 100 straight away. Now look how many we’ve got – and we’re always thinking about more!
October’s impending harvest got us thinking about the changing seasons, and the nostalgia of a summer well spent, and the incredible spectacle of the Olympics and Paralympic Games. Like the rest of the world, we were glued to both. Team GB were nothing short of inspirational, but did you know it all started with an olive?
Olives and the Olympics have been intertwined since the games began in 776BC. Originally a religious festival to honour Zeus, the father of the gods, the games were so important to culture, politics and commerce that they formed the basis of the Greek calendar. Back then, time’s marker would be something like "the second year of the 20th Olympiad” – meaning two years had passed since the last Games, and there were two more to go before the next. During the Olympics, hostilities between the warring Greek city-states would momentarily cease, so competitors could focus on their sporting disciplines, rather than soldiering.
For the ancient Greeks, training both the body and mind was a crucial part of a child’s education. Heroism was deeply embedded in the psyche, and those competing were striving for individual glory. Team sports didn’t get a look-in. For the upper classes, practising sport was vital preparation for combat – and 2,800 years ago, there was a lot of military skill and strength was required. The athletes would march for days to reach Olympia to compete, and the four years in between each Games allowed them to both recover and train hard for the next. Strength, courage, speed and endurance were the qualities required of those ancient athletes – just as they are today.
Back then, gold medals weren’t always the most coveted prize, rather an olive wreath made from intertwined branches grown at Olympia – the goddess Athena’s gift to the city of wisdom, unity and peace. Winning athletes would also receive amphoras – pottery containers with pointed bottoms, made like that so they could be stacked neatly and transported easily – filled with olive oil.
We can’t promise world-class athleticism when we harvest our olives at Sant’Elia next month, but heroism we definitely can! And we’ll have all of our wonderful family around to help us. It’s our favourite time of year.