When Peter Thiel said this February that he wants to bankroll a new Olympics that permits the use of steroids, critics slammed the billionaire entrepreneur for his views.

But his idea is, in a way, excellent. We should welcome a reimagined Olympics that returns the games to their classical roots.

Grigory Rodchenkov, a doctor who revealed Russia’s state-backed steroid program, claimed that Thiel’s proposal threatens the health of athletes. 

The side effects of anabolic steroids, after all, include an increased risk of heart disease, excessive aggression, and liver damage. 

One documentary, which tells Rodchenkov’s story, likens steroid usage to the myth of Icarus, a man who, in rebellion to the sun god Helios, flew too close to the sun with a pair of crafted wings and eventually fell from the sky. 

Yet ancient Olympics had nothing to do with Icarus and his selfish and absurd quest. Instead, they honored Zeus, and sought to subordinate the individual to a greater purpose.

Modern anabolic steroids did not exist in the 8th century B.C., but evidence shows that the earliest Olympians used performance-enhancing substances. Many took hallucinogens in an attempt to improve performance. 

Rather than a radical innovator, Thiel is just an old-fashioned traditionalist.