Olympic Flame Begins Sojourn

ATHENS — An actress dressed as a high priestess of ancient Greece today lit the Olympic flame that will be carried to Seoul, South Korea, for the 1988 Summer Games beginning Sept. 17.

The semi-official Athens News Agency said the actress ignited the Olympic torch from the sun’s rays focused to a point by a concave mirror at the sanctuary of Zeus, a god of ancient Greece, in Olympia.

The flame is to be carried from the sanctuary to Athens by a relay of runners and will travel part of the way on a replica of a trireme, the many-oared vessel of ancient Greece.