What are the Olympic Hymn lyrics, and who composed the 1896 choral cantata?

2 February 2022, 09:51 | Updated: 18 September 2023, 16:36

Listen to the ‘Olympic Hymn’, a choral cantata composed for the 1896 Summer Olympics in Greece. Picture: Alamy/Wiki

By Rosie Pentreath

The official anthem of the Olympics is heard when the flag is raised and lowered at the opening and closing ceremonies. But what are the lyrics and history behind the Hymn?

This is the story of the stirring choral anthem that marked the first-ever modern Olympic Games in 1896 – and will mark the Games as they return in 2021.

The ‘Olympic Hymn’ is a choral cantata composed by Greek opera composer Spyridon Samaras, with lyrics by the Greek poet Kostis Palamas.

It was written for the first summer Olympic Games in modern history, which took place in Athens and saw fourteen nations, and over 200 athletes, compete in the Greek capital.

It was Demetrius Vikelas, the first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who chose both artists to pen this important work. The hymn was first heard during the Opening Ceremony of the first instalment of the games, which was formally called the Games of the I Olympiad.

Olympic Hymn

For the following Olympics, nations took on the tradition of commissioning their own anthems for ceremonies, until 1956 when the hymn was used again. In 1958, the IOC declared Samaras’ Olympic Hymn the official anthem of the games, and it was sung, in its English version, at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley in the US.

The ‘Olympic Hymn’ from then on had an important place in the meticulously laid-out opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, the rigorous orders of which have been determined and entrenched by the IOC. Since being declared the official anthem, the hymn has been heard at every Olympic games during the Opening Ceremony as the Olympic Flag is raised, and during the Closing Ceremony when the flag is lowered.

The IOC decreed that the ‘Olympic Hymn’ should be performed in Greek or English, or else in the host nation’s language – as long as it was translated from the original Greek of Palamas’ pen.

The piece itself is an optimistic, brass fanfare-fronted choral cantata in a major key. It has an invigorating melody that embodies strength and hope.

The song’s words are also drenched in unfailingly uplifting messages of hope, bravery and victory, telling of the immortal Olympic Flame and how it can ‘unite’, ‘inspire’ and ‘bring honour’ as it lights the way for nations and our sporting heroes, as they come together every (mostly) four years.

With that, let’s take a look at the rousing lyrics.