First Athens’ 2004 Summer Olympic Games organizers were criticized for being behind schedule. But just last week the IOC praised Athens’ preparations for the Games.
Now the two Games’ mascots that were unveiled during the IOC’s visit last week is also being criticized. Associated Press reports that an informal poll conducted last weekend by Greece’s private Star television channel found that about 75 per cent of those who called the station disapproved of the design.
The mascots, named Phevos and Athena, were selected from 196 entries submitted to Athens 2004 organizers. The pair are actually siblings inspired by an ancient Greek doll named after Olympian gods, and have cone-shaped torsos, long necks and oversized, triangular feet.
Associated Press reports that a cartoon in Athens’ English-language Kathimerini newspaper showed a figure from Greece’s traditional shadow theatre likening the pair to mutants resulting from a nuclear accident.
Critics have called the designed “oversimplified” and one cartoonist said they had a passing resemblance to a part of the male anatomy. The pair has even been likened to the Simpsons.
The Express wrote, “unfortunately it’s too late to ask for their withdrawal”. The liberal daily Eleftherotypia praised the choice of names but criticized the design calling them “two vague figures…with big feet but without character, fighting spirit, spirituality or feeling”.
The International Olympic Committee’s chief inspector for Athens, Denis Oswald, acknowledged there might be those who did not like the mascots but gave them his full personal endorsement. “Personally, I like the mascots very much because they create the link between the past, the history of the country and the present times”.
In defence of Athens 2004 choice, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of Athens 2004, said, “the 2004 Olympic mascots are unique, have a long history as well as a modern face”.
And Spyros Gogos, the mascots’ designer, thinks the hostility will wear off. “As soon as (they) become part of our everyday lives, I’m sure we’ll look at them differently”, he said. He added that if some adults don’t care for his creations, children will love them.
Mascot defenders also point out that new designs and works of art are often criticized when unfamiliar, only to be admired later on.
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said, “we will need time to love them”.
