Since torches have been replaced with flashlights as a means of a portable light source, they have come to serve a more symbolic and ambient function than a functional one. The torch is still used in religious ceremonies, particularly some Catholic masses, and often symbolizes enlightenment, life, or truth. There are some torches that have come to have special meanings in today's world. The two most recognizable torches today are the Olympic torch and the torch of the Statue of Liberty.
In Greek mythology, the god Prometheus stole fire from the hearth of the gods and secretly gave it to mankind. The Greeks would hold relay races in honor of the gift of Prometheus, in which the athletes passed a lit torch from one to another until the winner reached the finish line. The first Olympic Games took place in Olympia, Greece, in 776 B.C. At Olympia, there was an altar dedicated to Hera, the Greek goddess of childbirth and marriage. At the beginning of the games, the Greeks would light a cauldron of flames upon Hera's altar as a symbol of purity and reason.
The first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens; however, the first Olympic torch relay was not held until the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. The relay was introduced as an attempt to reconnect the modern Olympics with their ancient roots. The fire was lit in Olympia, just as it was in the ancient times, and the torch was carried through seven countries to Berlin for the beginning of the Olympics. The torch used in 1936 was fairly simple, and consisted of a thin steel rod that held a circular piece from which the flame burned. Designers now try to create a torch that represents the host country and the theme of the Olympic Games.
The Olympic torch must be able to withstand a great variety of harsh environmental conditions, as well as stay lit while it travels. Fortunately there is not only one torch, but over 10,000 of them, in order to supply the thousands of relay runners who carry them. Each runner gets his or her own torch, and has the chance to buy it after his or her leg of the relay is completed.
The torch begins its journey at the same temple of Hera in Olympia as the ancient Olympics. An actress dressed as a priestess lights the torch in the same fashion as the original Games - using a parabolic mirror - and carries the torch to an altar in the ancient stadium where the Games took place, where the first relay runner lights his torch. The torch then travels through many different cities until it finally makes its way to the host city, where the last torchbearer enters the modern Olympic stadium and lights the Olympic cauldron, signaling the start of the Games.
A second, equally famous torch is the one carried by the Statue of Liberty (actually named "Liberty Enlightening the World") on Liberty Island in New York City. The statue was built by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi between 1876 and 1884 in France as a gift to mark the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence. The torch itself was completed, along with the right hand, in 1876, and sent to Philadelphia to be in the Centennial exhibit there. The completed statue was dedicated in 1886, and the torch was lit using steam-powered electric generators. The generators were replaced a year later with arc lamps both inside and outside the torch.
