PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — The first time that “Olympiakos Ymnos,” or the Olympic hymn, was played in front of a large audience, in Athens in 1896, the Greek composer Spyridon Samaras conducted a massive orchestra and a large choir in a performance of the song he had written.
“When the trumpet gave the signal and Samaras, a chubby fellow, lifted his baton,” another Greek composer recalled, “the Olympic hymn with those grandiose chords vibrated the national string in the souls of the myriad spectators who have filled the stadium and with national pride clapped maniacally the resurgence of the ancient Olympic Games.