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>> give it to the olympic committee and its president. >> the traditional exchange of gifts, and just before that, you got a sense of the sheer number of people -- when you look at the shot of the stadium as a whole, in that ancient stadium dating back to 776 b.c. but there are many, many thousands of people here in the baking sunshine in ancient olympia. remarkable when you consider how many people do come. we will see in a moment that the v.i.p.'s are now invited to make their way through to the

temple, which is the really beautiful part of this ceremony, the actual lighting and the perform abc and recital by the heralds. it really is quite beautiful. but that area is strictly for the v.i.p.'s only, so the public will remain seated around the ancient stadium while the lighting of the flame took place. the passageway you're looking at now, once the flame has been lit, this is where the first torch bearer will make his way back out to the stadium. and they're talking about the second torch bearer, who you may have seen me talking to earlier in the day, a 19-year-old from east london with a greek father and a british mother. he has been chosen to represent the beginning of britain within

all of this, given his jewel heritage. but interesting that the first torch bearer, when we will see in a little while is a greek swimming champion, but he too has a greek father and a british mother. so very much thought through that they wanted the first two torch bearers to represent the unity of the two nations. >> music written, original music written by messini.

let's remind you here with us, following all of this with us on "bbc world news" is an expert on the area and the olympics, a resident of olympia of many, many years standing, also joining us, the author of the book "the history of the olympic torch". and just a little while ago, we are talking about the classical dress we are now witnessing. those are the heralds, the men, and there are women. >> they're representing the way the ancient presesses were dressed, and those girls from the mother city of olympia would also perform similar ceremonies when they had the games for women. this is different from the olympics.

>> yes, women were allowed to participate in running, i think, but one month apart. >> they were big for women, for virgin girls, unmarried girls, in this same stadium we're standing in now, but in similar dresses to this, but with one breast exposed, symbolizing fertility. they did their own sprints, their own running of the stadium. >> and phillip barka, as we watch the beginning of this element of the ceremony at the ancient temple i feel as if we've already heard some of these key ideas, the essence of what today is about, the eternal values of the olympic movement. >> absolutely. this is one actress' first time performing as the high priestess, but in 2008, she called the ball with the olympic flame that came through

to the stadium. the herald are drawing up -- there are 14 of them, young men from across greece. they're basically all classically trained, and they come into the temple, the presesses, at least four of them are doing it for the first time, but many of them have participated over many years. there will be a performance, a ritual by the heralds, as we call them. in some of the ceremonies recently, they have come up to the top of the hill, because their traditional role was to go out to the cities and let them know that the games were coming. here they will perform a dance in the temple of hera. it's only the second time the men will be here. it's inspired by ancient times, but, of course, there was no torch relay at the ancient games. the flame was important, the

fire was important. the torchery wasn't even included in the first olympic games of the modern era in 1896. this was a flame burned in amsterdam in 1998, los angeles, and then in 1994, the i.o.c. member in greece and the german organizer decided what a good idea, let's symbolize the link between olympia and berlin, and they decided to have a relay. >> let's just listen in to some of the music. ♪

♪ >> we should explain the role of children in this as well with nikki and phillip. although, before we do that, i feel a slight fluttering because there was a bit of cloud cover there and the sun is all-important in the next few minutes. >> definitely. but they're tricking the whole situation. he's going to give us the sun ray for sure, he is. >> i've had that sense of optimism from every local person i've spoken to the last

couple of days, i have to say. >> that's something to do with the greeks anyway. we're very optimistic. >> this is the pop there, with the flame in it. it's her responsibility to bring it into the stadium after the flame has been lit, and that's quite a responsibility, because the the entrance is quite steep, so she has to mind her footing and make sure she doesn't trip. she's been rehearsing this for weeks. >> and the little boy we caught sight of, he will hold or is holding the olive. >> he's going to hold the olive branch, symbolizing a lot about the ancient olympics, because according to one of the founders of the ancient olympics, herk you're leeze, who came and did the games in honor of his father, zeus, and actually walked the length of the stadium, he was also the one to plant the first sacred olive tree right next to the

temple of zeus, and that was a tree from which a young boy that had both of his parents in life would have to cut with a golden scissors the branches -- that they would use afterwards to make the wreath for all the olympic winners, so there was a crown by the end of the game, right in front of the great statue of zeus, made of gold and ivory, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. >> this woman will deliver an incan station to the gods there. >> let's hear a little of that. >> very soon, she will come forward to light the olympic torch, and before she does so, she will utter a prayer to apollo in front of that bowl. you just see it in the foreground there. that is the bowl, it has a little bit of olive oil in it,

just to help the sun's rays come down, and they will use a special torch, which was commissioned in 1992. they won't use the london olympic torch. that will be saved for the stadium. but this is a distinct torch by the jeweler from greece. it was suggested the i.o.c. member in greece, they wanted something to give the world.

>> a sigh of relief and a ripple of applause by spectators here. as you suggested, no problem at all lighting the flame today. cloud cover did not interfere, and just explain what we were listening to, what she was effectively calling for. >> she was calling for silence from apollo.

and this has come forward with the bowl, and it will be her responsibility to transfer this to the olympic stadium so the olympic flame for london is on its way now. she will process down and across the hill, and that will be the first sight that most of the crowd here have of the olympic flame for london. and the they will process with the 9-year-old boy, actually the son of the man who choreographed this ceremony. and some in ain kept greece believe he was involved in a greek wedding because the child was necessary to give the couple a blessing that they would be abundant and have children, and so these children are so important. i mean, the message chimes in with all of that, but early on, it's his torch that's done its job, and now they make their procession down, and you will see them come through the olive groves, and the little boy will veer off towards the olive

branches. in 2004 in athens, they actually used the wreath as the official emblem of those games. you might have seen it with some of the other british medalists receiving the gold medals. they stood on the medal ceremony table on the podium, and all the presesses will now process in great state from the temple of hera down toward the olympic stadium. the ceremony here has been watched by an i.o.c. member in great britain, by the chairman of the british olympic association, by the president of the international olympic committee, and also by the torch bearer, the president of the rio dejannier owe organizing committee for 2016. they really have thought about this. you said the nice symbolism of the first and second torch bear,, they've also got one from brazil to show this flame is eternal, and it goes on from

city to city. >> and this really is one of the most beautiful parts of this, this very simple procession. as a local, you've seen this many times. do you still find it moving to watch each time? >> i do. i absolutely find this moving, and i can feel my skin trembling every time the torch is being lit. it's really amazing. now you're going to see the boy cutting the branch from the olive tree. >> my goodness, what a moment. >> that must make it easier. he's got the olive branch.

>> in 2008, that was the first season. they used to have a lady who had taken part in a very first torch relay. it was choreographed from 1964 until the 2006 winter games, but now artemis has taken over, and she tries to bring a little bit of herself to this. she's worked closely with the music you heard earlier has been specially composed for this ceremony. they spent 18 months working it together so it will be in absolute synchronicity with the moment in the stadium. >> and let's let them move through. they will make their way along now, as we grad weight approach the point, and this is the next exciting element of the journey in a few minutes when, of course, we can start seeing and talking about the torch bearers. we've been talking about the first two with their jewels, greek and british heritage.

>> we've said how important the children are in this, and the two little girls who are hopefully going to be presesses one day. >> and it's an honor to play the role of the high priestess, isn't it? the actress who is the high priestess today, she's a classical actress with a long history working in theater. it is considered prestigious to do this, isn't it? >> it's actually a very, very big thing, yes. it's a very big honor. they're all important. they're all members of the greek national theater, which is in athens, and it's definitely a big honor for them to be here and to be performing this in front of all these people around the world. i believe that most of them would even pay to do this, would definitely dream of this all their life. the high priestess is the one

who almost always gets the credit. >> you see them funneling offment the main body of the escorts will now appear at the top of the hill in a moment, while the high priestess and the choreographer process through the ancient temple. you'll see the heralds moving off in a different direction, and they will be the first people that the crowd here in the stadium will see. they will appear off the top, and it's a wonderful moment, because you see the priestess for the first time, and the crowd will gasp. there are 23 of them, and they will dance the dance, which is specially choreographs. here they come. >> actually they're entering the stadium, and this is all covered. it is like the soccer field today. it is 36 meters long. >> imagine this at 9 years old to be doing this. a memory to last a lifetime.

>> and there we see them behind us now, coming into the stadium, the v.i.p.'s breaking into applause, and then the crowd to the left and behind us, tens of thousands of people applausing the high priestess and the little boy. and yes, as phillip was saying, the remaining priestesses making their way down the hill. but it is the high priestess who has the responsibility and the honor of passing this on to the torch bearer.

>> this is the dance of the ni mh. we can see just over the brow of the hill waiting in a line. and again, as with the costumes, as with the dresses, there is no greater nod to the ancient times. just a reminder that we are standing somewhere that was a track that was run on very nearly 2,000 years ago. >> exactly. and the people would gather each time for the glorious games, would stand in the sun all day just to attend this big festival in honor of the gods.

>> yes, i suppose that's what we have gotten from today. we should remember, the entire area where we're standing, this whole ancient area, was used for sport, but it was also a site of cultural activities and a site of religious activities as well. it was meant to encompass all the key areas of life. >> yes, but it started make and basically as a religious festival, and an athletic festival, of course in addition to that. the whole character of the game started changing after the fifth century that it was became more political. but always, it was completely related to the worshiping of those gods. they brought tons of animals they were sacrificing in honor of them. and they were showing their dedication to them, and this is what kept them going for so many years, so many hundreds of years.

>> and what of the spectators? were they in some way honoring the gods by watching those tens of thousands of people, or was the focus very much on the competitor, the athlete? >> they were coming first of all to worship the gods, but, of course, to support the actors from their cities. imagine that this whole stadium with 45,000 people i mentioned would be separated in different sections where the spartans would go, the athenians would go. the greeks prefer to call themselves in the name of the city state, and this is the main reason why they began, to stop thinking as individual cities and start thinking more as the same nation. and they were the spartans, atheepians, different people from the colonies, and they were supporting their athletes. and it was a huge honor for each city to have as many winners as possible at a time.

there was a famous man who was an olympic winner himself when he was young and came into the stadium old enough to not be able to run and compete, but he was participating. they both won, and just enough to go and hug them. one of the people from the audience stood up and started yelling at him, die, die, there is no point for you to live any longer. he wanted to show he had an incredible and high honor of life.

>> well, as we move gradually towards the handover of the torch, handing the flame to the first torch bearer, who is a greek swimming champion, let's just get the thoughts of the bbc's olympic correspondent, james pierce, who's been watching all of this with me, and in terms of the words we've heard, james, from the v.i.p.'s and the speeches, we're certainly getting lots of sentiment about the olympic ideals, about people coming together through sport. of course, that is the essence of it, isn't it? >> there is no doubt this is a very big moment. it's really easy to be cynical. everybody is an actor or actress and they're not doing it for real, but at the heart of it is an important message, a symbol of fellowship and peace, in the words of the i.o.c. president. but this is for those in the audience, who have been on a 10-year journey, that's how long it is, and we're first going to see it. now for the first time since 1948, they can see a london

olympic flame burning again, and that's for them, of course, a very, very important day. >> yes, and jacques rogge making the point that, as he put it, london is ready for the third time. this is quite something. it is going to be the third time that the u.k. has had the olympics. >> and for the second time in a row, in difficult financial circumstances. again, 1948, off the back of the second world war, and interesting hearing in the speech, talking about a difficult financial situation in which the world is facing itself, but how he hopes these games could bring some brightness into the lives of many people who have had a very difficult time. that certainly will be the hope of london 2012. >> and we can't ignore what is happening, and we will be watching happen in greece in recent weeks and months. here we are talking about the

spirit of friendship. does any of this, will any of this sit uncomfortably today with some greek people? will anyone see it as a distraction from more pressing problems at home or are the olympics so fundamental that this day is set aside and everybody enjoys it? >> i think that's exactly as you describe it, the last part of your sentence. the greeks today will not be thinking of all this, facing the last couple of years. we'll continue that being the fighters throughout the century of broader history, we're going to make it again. let's leave that for tomorrow. >> yes, he said earlier that greeks are naturally optimistic, and that we are. >> we are very, very optimistic in general terms. >> and james, in terms of the symbolism that we're going to move through to in the next few

minutes, let's talk a little bit about this. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

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