The Greek press is in raptures after the opening ceremony for the Athens Olympics.
Many papers splash the event right across their front page, crowning their photos with a single, simple headline.
But for a few, the doping controversy which has engulfed the country's two brightest sprinting stars is proving hard to shake off.
For the leftist Eleftherotypia, the ceremony was "a hymn to beauty and the variety of human existence".
What Greece gave the world on Friday, it says, was "magic moments, dream-like moments and unique images".
And so "the first gold medal of the Games", it insists, must go to the ceremony's artistic director, Dhimitris Papaioannou.
The independent daily I Kathimerini says it was "all wonderful".
"The opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium was a super-spectacle of high aesthetics," according to the paper.
For the centre-left Ta Nea too, the event was an unquestionable success.
"We entranced, we taught , we stirred emotions. WE DID IT!" the paper says. "The flaming circles entranced them all!"But Rizospastis, journal of the Greek Communist Party, found the whole affair rather too patrician in tone.
"The ceremony echoed the view the ruling class takes of Greek history," it complains.
As a result, it adds, the role ordinary Greeks played in shaping their nation was ignored.
For other papers, politics entered the proceedings as the national teams paraded through the stadium.
"The Americans passed unnoticed," points out Eleftherotypia. But there were "cheers for the children of wars", as the Iraqi and Palestinian teams were given a warm reception.
雅典奥运会开幕式结束后，希腊媒体为之欣喜若狂。
很多报纸都在头版大篇幅刊登奥运会开幕式的相关报道，并在图片上方单独附上简洁的标题。
但是，有关希腊两名最著名的短跑运动员涉嫌兴奋剂违纪的争端，至今仍令一些人耿耿于怀。
据希腊左翼报纸《自由新闻报》报道，这次开幕式就像是“一曲歌颂人类美好而丰富多彩的生活的赞美诗”。
文章这样写道：星期五，希腊带给全世界的是“神奇的时刻、梦幻般的时刻、和独特的印象。”
为此《自由新闻报》坚持认为，本届奥运会的第一块金牌应该授予开幕式的艺术总监迪米斯·琶琶奥奴。
独立日报《每日新闻报》称赞开幕式“太棒了”。
该报认为：“在奥林匹克体育场举行的盛大的开幕式具有很高的审美水准。”
中左翼报纸《塔尼》也认为这次开幕式毫无疑问是一次巨大的成功。
报道是这样写的：“我们欢腾，我们宣扬，我们情绪高昂。我们成功了！熊熊燃烧的奥运五环让所有的人都欣喜若狂！”
但是，希腊共产党党刊Rizospastis却认为整个仪式的风格太贵族化了。
文章指责“开幕式表现的完全是统治阶级对希腊历史的看法。”
文章补充说，因此，广大希腊民众在国家建设中的作用被忽视了。
据其它报纸报道，当各国代表队进入会场时，（观众的反映）带有一定的政治色彩。
《自由新闻报》指出，“美国代表队走进会场时观众的反应不是很大。”但是当伊拉克和巴勒斯坦代表队进入会场时，却受到了热情的欢迎，（人们）为饱受战争灾难的“孩子们”欢呼喝彩。 |