What is the origin of the Olympic torch in the modern Olympic games?
The modern Olympic Games are based on the ancient Greek Olympics, which had a fire burning throughout them as celebration of Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus, so having an everlasting flame throughout the Games is based on that tradition. The torch is always lit at the site of the ancient games at Olympus, Greece by reflecting the Sun’s rays from a parabolic mirror it is then transported to the site of the current Olympics. The fire was introduced into the modern games in the 1920s and the torch relay of runners started for the Berlin games in 1936. There’s a lot of potential for debate here because of the involvement of Ancient Greek religion and the fact that Nazi Germany introduced the relay.
