Seine mockery at Olympics

Folks with a smattering of classical education look down their haughty noses at Christians and others who were offended by the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Don’t we plebs understand the literary and historical allusions? Wasn’t it all so clever?

Oh, so you didn’t know that the tableaux which caused the fuss was not a sacrilegious parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century depiction of Christ at the Last Supper? I didn’t either.

ALSO READ: Churches around the world denounce Olympics opening ceremony scene

Friday night’s crew was described by one commentator as “transsexuals, drag queens, exposed testicles and a fat, blue-painted, semiclad man…” The show certainly wasn’t for prudes.

Yet we, the illiterati, are supposed to have known it was a representation of something much earlier, the 5th-century feast of Dionysus.

And of course, everyone knows Dionysus was an ancient Greek god of festivity, feasting, ritual and theatre.

Or simply the god of wine, not to be whined about. In fact, most of the millions of viewers wouldn’t have a clue what the ceremony’s artistic director was trying to convey.

Dionysus has a French connection as the mythological father of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine, the river along which most of the festivities were held.

All very fitting and proper, no? And what about the pale metal horse ridden by a cloaked horsewoman, galloping along the Seine with the Olympic flag?

Some saw her as St Joan of Arc, the holy warrior who fought the English in the 15th century.

However, the organisers say it represented Sequana, the Seine river goddess who was also a symbol of resistance.

Many Christians saw the “death rider” and pale horse as leaping straight out of Revelation.

The biblical quotation is: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and the name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”

(Having perused Behold a Pale Horse, a 1991 right-wing conspiracist manual by Milton William Cooper, I was initially startled to see this creature during Friday night’s ceremony.)

WATCH: Scenes from the Paris Olympics opening ceremony

Meta AI, a Mark Zuckerberg artificial intelligence outfit, says the horse and rider were used to represent the fragility of life and the importance of living in the present moment.

The paleness of the horse symbolised “the impermanence of life”. The rider’s costume designed by French fashion designer Marine Serre featured a mirrored jumpsuit, “representing the reflection of human existence”.

Using the horse and rider, “the ceremony’s creative team sought to add depth and meaning to the event, encouraging viewers to reflect on the value of life and the significance of the Olympic Games as a celebration of human achievement and unity”.

The term horse manure comes to mind. In truckloads. Such explanations – and the organisers’ half-hearted non-apology – have failed to stem criticism.

Critics are still venting. Perhaps gestures such as the provocatively exposed testicles gave the lie to the plea of innocence.

Or maybe it was the attitude of some central performers, who have shown no interest in apologising.

Selective mockery of one religion is divisive. It contradicts the Olympic motto: “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together”.

Thankfully, the world’s best athletes provide an antidote. All hail golden girl Tatjana!

ALSO READ: Tatjana Smith aims to make history as she sets her sights on another gold