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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks,
-by Edward Marwick Plummer
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks
-
-Author: Edward Marwick Plummer
-
-Release Date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64627]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-Produced by: Ian Crann, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed
-             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
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-             Archive)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT
-GREEKS ***
-
-
-
-
-                      ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE
-                            ANCIENT GREEKS.
-
-
-                        EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.,
-
-     AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON
-         TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY;
-              INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE
-                  MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
-
-
-   Reprinted from the _American Physical Education Review_, 1898.
-
-
-                           CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,
-            LOMBARD & CAUSTIC, PRINTERS, 26A BRATTLE ST.
-                                 1898.
-
-                             Copyrighted
-                  By EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.
-                             Boston, 1898.
-
-
-
-
-              I. ATHLETIC GAMES AMONG THE HOMERIC HEROES.
-
-                    BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.
-
-
-Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner. This
-is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter and
-the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and arms, but
-small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending over his
-work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity of body, and
-often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects result from the more
-primitive forms of labor, it is not at all strange that the laborers of
-the modern industrial world show bodily peculiarities and variations
-that correspond, in a marked degree, to their respective trades. A
-well-known teacher of gymnastics in a New England college has declared
-himself able to designate the various occupations of laborers in a
-Boston Labor Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner,
-merely by inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may,
-therefore, be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion,
-if performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions
-essential to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete
-respiration, and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only
-rarely, if ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.
-
-Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the design to
-produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is not
-deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical
-development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be such,
-is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts and
-powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing not
-only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in other
-words, of developing what the Greeks called εὐρυθμία.
-
-Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks alone
-made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not so much
-because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy to be
-a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly discerned the
-advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor of a powerful and
-graceful body.
-
-For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally
-turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that these
-poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of the
-Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization
-in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one
-hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once
-learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now
-we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe as
-uncivilized;--this art of literature is, nevertheless, only one phase
-of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today the lives
-of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations, outside the
-sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a people that
-has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be versed in
-simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet civilized;
-and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary records of
-that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception would
-be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the Homeric poems
-as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition of
-this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric athletics
-especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development. Hellenic
-legend strengthens this inference. According to a myth, Apollo enjoyed
-the diskos no less than music. He practiced for amusement with his
-favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is related, he accidentally killed by
-an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged
-Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of
-Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.
-
-It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of a very
-select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours
-and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to them.
-French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years of
-the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for
-the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not
-sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes.
-There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime,
-described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification,
-as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must be
-remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class whose deeds
-they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with which the scenes
-of this high life were adorned, would add to the credit of the poet.
-
-Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to our
-subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The Homeric poems
-give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band of Greek nobles
-who, with their followers, had left their native land, to besiege a
-foreign and hostile city.
-
-Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line that throws
-light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable classes.
-Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the Iliad,
-where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial
-occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement
-from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. _Il._ ii,
-773-775. λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ
-αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’.
-
-The word λαός, here used, is usually considered as denoting the
-people or multitude. The λαός before Troy, however, was undoubtedly
-of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of the Greeks
-were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples. And so the
-“folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with the diskos,
-spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the diskos alone
-was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear, in this case
-at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was used both in
-the chase and in war.
-
-The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports was, to
-a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those qualities
-required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means to an end, but
-they were also an end in themselves. Bodily exercise was not an irksome
-task, but an agreeable pastime. The ancient Hellenes were therefore
-a very happy people, the ends that they sought to attain prescribed
-tasks that were congenial with their national temperament. Accordingly,
-we find, in a well-established condition, a system of athletic sports
-that were not directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport
-was diskos throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a
-cylinder, and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who
-hurled the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless
-the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by the
-skilled diskobolos.
-
-That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well as of
-military training, is shown by the fact that when for any reason
-the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their followers
-resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors with years of
-experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they exercised, because
-to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual fighting will not alone
-explain this temperament. With the Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost
-synonymous with life itself. When they desired to escape from the
-chilling effect of a hero’s death, they instituted games, and thereby
-reasserted life. Perhaps the sufficient cause of this predilection for
-athletic exercise was the climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear,
-serene sky over Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity
-but did not dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled
-by the sea, and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains
-and valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must
-necessarily have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a
-free life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed
-to the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.
-
-In order to understand Homeric athletics--the substantial basis of all
-subsequent athletics--one must become interested in the method and
-details of Greek warfare. For to the Greek the road to distinction lay
-in the acquisition of the qualities required of the successful warrior,
-and it was only natural that pleasure and expediency should combine
-to make a pastime of the feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is
-achieved largely by the use of superior machines and by advantage
-of position. Until the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks,
-depended on the muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual
-warriors. The central and principal feature of early Greek warfare
-was a personal hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in
-preparing for war that each separate soldier should be made as active
-and vigorous as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until
-a late date, may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the
-victory of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra,
-B. C. 371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.
-
-Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of
-physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the
-weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered
-by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man. But, throughout
-all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has existed that could
-not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or wrestling. And it
-is certain that those who have survived the risks of these sports--the
-fittest--had developed bodies far superior in agility, and attained far
-greater command over the muscular system, as a whole, than would have
-been possible from practicing sports that do not involve risk.
-
-Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants quickly into each
-other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot or from the ground,
-they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing spears (δολιχόσκια
-ἔγχεα) _Il._ iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both
-came closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each
-other again.
-
-Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted
-to their swords or to any other available implement of offense.
-Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to
-conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric combat.
-In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the two heroes, after
-using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them at each other
-(_Il._ vii, 264-270).
-
-The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as could be
-handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according to the
-strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons, in the
-hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it was but
-natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing the
-strength requisite for adopting them.
-
-Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet, girdle,
-greaves and shield. The Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap,
-covering the head in front above the eyes, and extending down in the
-back, to the nape of the neck from ear to ear. Some forms show that the
-lower part was prolonged and carried round so as to cover all above
-the shoulders. The corselet consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate
-and a back-plate, which were laced together by cords passed through
-eyelet holes made in the sides, below the bottom of which the body was
-protected by metal girdle. The greaves, which were made of flexible
-metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front part of
-the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield consisted
-of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough oxhide, and reached
-from the neck to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is
-pictured on Mycenæan gems.
-
-For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare,
-the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain that the
-attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient. Nestor is deemed
-happy because his sons were “wise-minded and mighty with the spear.”
-The poet frequently makes sly fun of Telamonian Aias, who, although
-gigantic in size and of immense strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat
-dull of intellect. To train the senses, and above all the eye, to
-make the body alert and immediately responsive to the perceptions,
-was considered quite as requisite as to train the muscles. For, in
-the exigencies of battle, a certain quickness of intellect was often
-more effective than brute strength. Agility was, therefore, prized
-and cultivated above all other qualities. When the ponderous spear of
-Menelaos smote and pierced the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and
-escaped black death.” (_Il._ iii, 392.) To fight successfully from
-the chariot, to dismount and grapple with the adversary, necessitated
-not only muscular strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an
-ability to seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or
-fend instantly the deadly thrust.
-
-While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially notable way
-on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a hero, yet it
-should not be supposed that such contests were at all uncommon. On
-the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and sentences
-that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of competitive
-games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (ποδάρκης, πόδας ὠκὺς) _Il._ ix,
-307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer (πὺξ
-ἀγαθός) _Il._ iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being
-shown at the more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited,
-had there not been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again,
-Homer often speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain
-lines of athletics was well known, and had been often sustained against
-challengers. When Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he
-asks for the two who are best (ὥπερ ἀρίστω), _Il._ xxiii, 659, to come
-forward, as if it were well known who the skilful boxers were. When
-Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor in the foot-race, he is called
-the champion of foot-racers among the youth (ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ
-πάντας ἐνίκα). _Il._ xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to
-the fact that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize.
-Athletic skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice.
-We may conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of
-which Homer wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,--so frequent that
-they were taken as a matter of course,--and that on special occasions,
-such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or
-the anniversary of some god’s benefaction, the games were conducted in
-a more public and ceremonious manner; and that on such occasions prizes
-were offered and intense excitement prevailed.
-
-Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when an old man,
-tells of competing in his youth in the various games held in honor of
-Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion, Nestor was in his prime and
-was victor in the boxing-match, the foot-race, and the spear-throwing
-contest; being surpassed only in the chariot-races. Certain recorded
-myths sustain the scholar in referring the origin of funeral games to a
-time much preceding the age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of
-the funeral games in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato,
-as the most ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral
-contest in honor of Androgeos.
-
-In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable minuteness
-the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend, whom Hector
-slew in battle.
-
-The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of racing
-was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic legend assigns
-the origin of the races far back of Homeric times, in the dark heroic
-age of mythology. While the site of stately Thebes was still covered
-with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen in Poseidon’s grove,
-horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from the race. When Apollo
-thought of building a temple for himself at the sacred spring of the
-nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded him, declaring that the god would be
-disturbed by the incessant noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of
-horses, and that every one would prefer to see the beautifully-built
-chariots and the swift-footed horses, and so fail to appreciate the
-temple with its treasures. Oinomaos is said to have offered to her
-suitors his daughter, Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a
-chariot-race.
-
-To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes, and
-called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos,
-and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of swift horses to
-his war-chariot. The competitors were directed to round a goal in the
-distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising his son, Antilochos: “A
-fathom’s height above the ground standeth a withered stump, whether
-of oak or pine; it decayeth not in the rain, and two white stones, on
-either side thereof, are fixed at the joining of the track, and all
-around it is smooth driving ground. Whether it be a monument of some
-man dead long ago, or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient
-men, this now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is
-easy to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of
-the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round this
-goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning (μῆτις) the
-principal factor of victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of
-charioteer. For whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth
-heedlessly and wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course,
-and he keepeth them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though
-he drive worse horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth
-closely by it, neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses
-by the oxhide reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the
-leader in the race.”
-
-On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the advantage
-that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched horses.
-Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed the best
-horses of those that were gathered before Troy; they were very swift,
-and were classified and paired with regard to speed, color, age, and
-stature; they were “matched to the measure of a levelling-line across
-their backs.” _Il._ ii, 763-765.
-
-Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of
-Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race,
-although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios--the immortal
-steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon--would undoubtedly have won for
-him the victory. Through skill and cunning, Antilochos quickly overtook
-Menelaos, left him behind and won the race, although his horses were
-much inferior to those of the latter.
-
-It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile combat, the
-Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood alone in
-his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil of
-battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver (ἡνίοχος). This was
-beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work of
-art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century B. C.
-
-After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered two
-prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the loser.
-He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of first-class
-reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly claimed the first
-prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting this claim,
-gave voice to the following prediction: “I will utterly bruise mine
-adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let his friends abide
-together here to bear him forth when vanquished by my hands.”
-
-Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists cast
-about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of raw
-oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all their
-limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek, and Euryalos
-collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s ripple a fish leapeth on a
-tangled-covered beach, and then the black wave hideth it, so leapt up
-Euryalos at that blow.”
-
-The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again Achilles
-offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the loser. Only
-Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and Telamonian Aias, the
-representative of bodily size and brute force, essayed to struggle.
-After they had girt themselves they went into the midst of the ring.
-Here they stood locked in each other’s arms, like two gable rafters
-joined by a builder. Their backs were gripped with such force that they
-creaked; the sweat ran down their bodies in streams; blood-colored
-welts appeared on their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with
-the advantage on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary.
-At last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful
-of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias fell
-backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was not bought
-with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After Odysseus had tried
-futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell together in the
-dust. They rose and would have wrestled the third time had not Achilles
-restrained them by declaring the contest a draw.
-
-From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes
-practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished
-from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the antagonists
-struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and struggled again.
-When an antagonist had been thrown three times the contest was decided
-in favor of the other. In the latter variety the contestants continued
-the struggle on the ground, after they had fallen. At a later period
-standing wrestling was practiced at all the great games. Plato, who was
-always alive to the value of these contests, as a preparation for war,
-greatly preferred standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles
-of the upper part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders,
-and neck. Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a
-fine carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the
-resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the
-most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.
-
-In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle
-entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after the
-bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic
-exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor and unimportant
-things, does not mention oil in this connection. He certainly would not
-have passed over in complete silence, the use of oil in these contests
-had he been familiar with the custom.
-
-After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was
-ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors
-were three,--Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos, son of
-Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.
-
-That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes the
-duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the contest
-with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been pronounced,
-on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation. It should
-accordingly be considered as data for an account of the athletics of
-later times.
-
-The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of
-javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete, Achilles
-at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his well-known excellence
-in this feat.
-
-The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell upon
-the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of the poem,
-after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a thought given
-to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race, the descriptions
-are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the poet would dispose
-of them as quickly as possible, and as if he would say: “This is not my
-theme.” Achilles superintends the games with a lofty indifference, and
-even cuts some of them short, as if other things were on his mind.
-
-In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a greater
-inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more in
-harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades the Odyssey;
-the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s imagination, and
-have been replaced by those of festivity and pleasure. A new generation
-is described. Athletics have become less violent and the scenes are
-embellished by the interspersion of music, dancing, and poetry.
-
-The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of things
-among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island on the
-western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed Odysseus,
-the representative of the older generation. The shipwrecked stranger
-does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an escort that may guide him
-homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:
-    “Say from what city, from what regions tossed,
-    And what inhabitants those regions boast?
-    So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned
-    In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;
-    No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;
-    Like man intelligent they plow the tides,
-    Conscious of every coast and every bay
-    That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”
-                                   _Odyssey_, Book viii.
-But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal
-entertainment has been provided.
-
-First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the
-Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes and
-of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare for the
-games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger their skill
-in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued forth from the
-palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian athletes exhibited
-themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling match, at leaping,
-throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these games, except leaping,
-are mentioned also in the Iliad.
-
-Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive body,
-invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no greater glory for
-a man in all his life than what he wins with his own feet and hands,”
-says Laodamas.
-
-At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos he
-decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak still on, he
-sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and thick, heavier by
-not a little than those which the Phæacians were using for themselves.
-This with a twist he sent from his stout hand. The stone hummed as it
-went. Past all the marks it flew, swift speeding from his hands.”
-
-Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and he
-challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to contend
-with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,--it matters not
-to him.
-
-Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round” athlete.
-“Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I understand full
-well handling the polished bow. None except Philoktetes excelled me
-with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans tried the bow. I send the spear
-farther than other men an arrow.”
-
-Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the stern mood of
-the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the king, “no, nor
-wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in our ships excel.
-Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance, changes of clothes,
-warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers the best among you
-make us sport, that so the stranger on returning home may tell his
-friends how we surpass all other men in sailing, running, in the dance
-and song.”[A]
-
-[A] Palmer’s Translation.
-
-The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires (the
-mention of whom shows how important athletics have become), clear the
-ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious lyre,” Demodokos, the
-blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring, and is surrounded by
-youthful men skilled in dancing. “They struck the splendid dance-ground
-with their feet; Odysseus watched their twinkling feet, and was
-astonished.”
-
-No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric aristocracy, but
-activity of the most virile type. And, although Homer’s two epics grew
-into form long after the splendid Achæan civilization of which he wrote
-existed only in legend, yet he artfully excludes any references to
-contemporary facts. Only by subtle inferences can information about
-the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works of
-art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes
-them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is
-therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made
-an admission with regard to his own times,--times, which, in fact
-were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have
-demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric
-epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan
-civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the
-Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility
-practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in
-addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as
-if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is
-recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral
-games in honor of Amphidamos.
-
-
-
-
-               II. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.
-
-
-In historic times the great national festivals were already
-established. They had undoubtedly grown out of local athletic
-festivals of very ancient origin. Of these Panhellenic festivals, that
-celebrated once in every four years at Olympia in Elis was the oldest
-and the greatest. The nationalization of this festival is assigned
-traditionally to the year 776 B. C. This date depends on a list of
-Olympic victors, compiled in the last part of the fifth century by the
-sophist Hippias of Elis, and handed down by Eusebios. Modern historians
-are not unanimous in accepting the early part of this register, and
-the minority have supported their charge of spuriousness by adducing
-unharmonious facts. In itself the date 776 B. C. is not unreasonable.
-And when it is considered how comparatively easy and common travel was
-in Hellas, it is not rash to suppose that the festival, when once it
-had become celebrated as a local affair was resorted to by travellers,
-if not as participants, at least as spectators. Certain it is that the
-Olympic festival was already a Panhellenic institution, when the other
-three festivals were established early in the sixth century, and that
-to the close of Greek history it continued the most glorious.
-
-The Pythian games were celebrated on the Krissean Plain in Phokis in
-honor of Apollo. These games were held for several days in January in
-the third year of each Olympiad. The prize was a wreath of laurel and a
-palm.
-
-The Nemean games were held in the groves of Nemea, near Kleonai in
-Argolis, in the winter and summer alternately of the second and fourth
-years of each Olympiad. The prize was a wreath of parsley.
-
-The Isthmian games, instituted in honor of Poseidon, took place at
-Corinth in the spring and summer alternately of the first and third
-years of each Olympiad. This alternation was arranged to avoid
-interference with the Olympian and Pythian festivals. The victor’s
-prize at the Isthmia was a wreath of pine native to the spot.
-
-Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent
-recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a local
-exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the Isthmus, Pytho,
-and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined. Each of the four great
-festivals had peculiar features of its own. Thus, the Pythian games,
-probably next to the Olympian in importance, were characterized by
-competitions in music and poetry in addition to the athletic contests.
-The Isthmian games were distinguished by the addition of boat-racing
-and swimming contests.
-
-But all were essentially alike. All were designed as glorifications of
-the strong and agile body. All were marked with patriotism. All were
-embellished with the greatest products of Hellenic art. All were held
-in honor of gods. And a fitting tribute and worship they furnished,
-not the mumbled prayers of a sallow-visaged, stunted race, but the
-exultant feats of proud, self-reliant men. All were attended by the
-most studied and artistic pomp. The greatest lyric poets of Hellas,
-Simonides and Pindar, for instance, celebrated the victors. Of Pindar’s
-ἐπινίκια or “Odes of Victory,” we possess fourteen Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι for
-winners in the Olympian games. Twelve Πυθιονῖκαι for the Pythian
-games, seven Νεμεονῖκαι for the Nemean games, and eleven Ἰσθμεονῖκαι
-for the Isthmian games. Even the wise men and famous bards of Greece
-could not resist the desire to be present. It is said that the Spartan
-Chilon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, died while witnessing
-these games, being overcome with joy at his son’s victory. Sages like
-Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Sokrates, Plato, Aristippos, Diogenes and
-Thales came, lured not only by the desire of beholding athletic feats,
-but also eager to engage in debate, or perhaps to explain some new
-theory of the universe. Statesmen like Themistokles and Kimon resorted
-to the games and there met the rulers of distant states. Orators and
-sophists like Gorgias, Lysias and Demosthenes, were present at the
-Olympian games. The first two made great panegyric speeches. The games
-on the Isthmus were attended by the great dramatists Aischylos and
-Ion. Historians like Herodotos carried their scrolls to read before
-assembled Hellas. Artists came to exhibit their works of art, and
-perhaps to obtain new customers. Sculptors showed models of their
-skill, and potters exhibited vases. These games, like the Schwingfest
-and the shooting-matches of Switzerland, served not only as pleasant
-occasions of reunion, but tended to the diffusion of national ideas.
-In the language of John Fiske, “young men of the noblest families and
-from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran,
-undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”
-
-The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor to his
-country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and on reaching
-home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal song written
-by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant fact is that the Greek
-era began with the Olympic games; every period of four years was called
-an Olympiad.
-
-About twenty miles above the mouth of the Alpheios, in a long, narrow
-valley surrounded by well-wooded hills, it is joined by the ancient
-Kladeos, coming from the north. At the angle formed by the junction of
-the two rivers is the area known as Olympia, the scene of the greatest
-athletic festival that the world has ever witnessed.
-
-To the north of this plain was a range of rocky hills, the nearest of
-which was the famous Kronion, conical in shape and about 400 feet in
-height. As its name signifies, this hill was sacred to Kronos, the
-father of Zeus. Another low range bounded the valley on the south.
-The western boundary was the Kladeos. Eastward was the hill of Pisa,
-and further in the distance were visible the snow-crowned summits of
-Erymanthos and Kyllene.
-
-During the long centuries that succeeded the extinction of Greek
-civilization, the precinct of the games, and the equipments, buildings
-and statues that remained, were gradually covered by a stratum of
-alluvium from the Alpheios, mixed with a deposit of clay from Kronion.
-The rest of the world was not interested enough to record the process,
-and when in modern times scholars saw no trace of the original scene,
-it was supposed that the Alpheios by its overflowings had destroyed all
-monuments. Recent excavations, however, have revealed a very precious
-remnant at the bottom of the alluvium. It was indeed not really a
-misfortune that during periods when the products of old civilizations
-were treated with fanaticism on the one hand, and rapacity on the
-other, the Olympian scene was covered with earth rather than left
-exposed to the hand of Middle Age barbarians.
-
-The systematic excavation of Olympia was undertaken in 1875 by the
-German government. The work involved great expense, and the willingness
-of the Germans to undertake and execute the task has brought them much
-praise from the scholars of other countries. The excavations were
-completed on the 20th of March, 1881.
-
-During these six years a space in the form of a square, measuring 1,000
-feet on each side, was stripped of the accumulated deposit of twelve
-centuries; the average depth of this covering was estimated to be over
-sixteen feet.
-
-Archæologically, this excavation involved expert care and much labor.
-Neither the care nor the labor was withheld. The result may best
-be described in the language of an eminent professor of classical
-archæology:--
-
-“The result of these excavations, carried on there at great cost and
-with supreme disinterestedness by the German people, has been to
-enable the traveller at Olympia not only to study the scene of the
-greatest of Greek athletic festivals, but to trace the celebration
-from hour to hour and from point to point. He not only sees the hill
-of Cronion, where the spectators crowded, wades through Olympic dust,
-and feels the sun of Olympia beat on his head, but he can wander on
-the threshold of the temple of Zeus, pass from building to building
-in the sacred enclosure of the Altis, and stand at the starting-point
-of the runners in the Stadium. Taking the guidebook of the old Greek
-traveller Pausanias in our hand, we can follow in his steps, and out of
-broken pillars, truncated pedestals and the foundations of demolished
-buildings, we can conjure forth the beautiful Olympia of old, with its
-glorious temples, its rows of altars, its statues of gods and godlike
-men who conquered in the games, its treasuries full of the noblest
-works of art and the richest spoils of war. And we can people the
-solitude with the combatants and with the spectators, a crowd filled
-with the enthusiasm of the place and with delight in manly contests;
-a crowd over whom emotions swept as rapidly as chariots through the
-hippodrome, and who were ever breaking out into wild cries of delight,
-or loud shouts of scorn and derision. We can see the bestowal of the
-crowns of wild olive, and can hear the heralds recite the names of
-those who have been victorious.”
-
-Here, then, in the summer time was held the great athletic festival in
-honor of Olympian Zeus. At the beginning of authentic history it was
-already a venerable institution. We have already learned that early in
-the sixth century the other three Panhellenic festivals were modeled
-upon it. Many myths very early sprang into existence to explain its
-origin. Pindar, it is well known, in one of his Olympian odes makes
-the Dorian Herakles the founder. Of course, the myths do not agree,
-and if they did would establish nothing directly; indirectly, however,
-they show that at the time of their first promulgation the festival
-had attained so approved a system, so wide a celebrity, and so great a
-prestige as to need accounting for and to be compatible with an exalted
-origin. And as a matter of fact, system, celebrity and prestige do not
-fall to the lot of an institution in the period of a single generation.
-
-The festival was from the first under the charge of the Eleians. But
-so liberal a policy did this nation adopt and pursue that people from
-neighboring states were glad to send competitors. Rapidly the custom of
-resorting to the games spread to more distant states. From an Eleian
-event, the festival became Peloponnesian, and finally Panhellenic.
-The Athenians and Thebans at a very early date achieved splendid
-victories in these games. The Theban Pagondas was crowned victor in the
-four-horse chariot race in the 25th Olympiad, when for the first time
-this was a feature of the festival. Thus one state after another turned
-its attention to the venerable celebration, and if it happened that a
-citizen of one state was crowned victor in a contest, interest in the
-games was sure to be increased in that locality.
-
-Even in the absence of positive evidence it would be contrary to
-reason to suppose that the games were originally established as they
-existed at the time of Pindar. In fact, the different features were
-added successively. According to a fairly reliable tradition, there
-was originally and for twelve following Olympiads only one contest:
-the δρόμος, a foot-race consisting of a single lap of a stadion of two
-hundred yards. About 720 B. C., according to the tradition, was added
-the δίαυλος, a race in which the stadion was traversed twice. Soon
-afterward was added the δόλιχος, or long race, consisting of seven,
-then of twelve and perhaps twenty-four laps. The next contest to be
-introduced was the wrestling-match. In the same year that wrestling
-was introduced, about the 18th Olympiad, the pentathlon made its
-appearance. This feature, though consisting of five contests--leaping,
-spear-throwing, diskos-pitching, running and wrestling--was
-nevertheless a single event, inasmuch as victory in one contest alone
-was not rewarded; an athlete to be crowned victor in the pentathlon
-must win at least three of the contests. Boxing and the chariot race
-are said to have been added in the 23d Olympiad. Thus the games grew
-more elaborate, and the time over which they extended was increased
-from a single day to five or six.
-
-The festival was conducted by judges, called Hellanodikai, elected
-by the people of Elis a year beforehand. The number of these judges
-was about ten; they were expected to give close attention to their
-duties. Thirty days before the festival, candidates for the various
-contests presented themselves before the Hellanodikai for examination.
-In order that the name of a candidate could be considered, he must
-prove himself to be of pure Hellenic stock, and must give evidence of
-having practised in a gymnasium for ten months previously; finally,
-the candidate must practise for thirty days in the great gymnasium of
-Elis, under the supervision of the Hellanodikai. The names of those
-who were able to satisfy the judges were placed on a white board which
-was exposed to view at Olympia. After an athlete had been entered for
-a contest, it was considered the greatest ignominy for him to withdraw
-for any reason; indeed, for so doing he was heavily fined. Theagenes,
-an athlete of wide fame, was unable to enter the pankration because he
-had been disabled in the boxing-match; but inasmuch as he had had his
-name entered for both events, he was fined.
-
-Eleven days before the festival, the Hellanodikai caused to be
-proclaimed by heralds throughout all the cities of Hellas the truce,
-sacred to Olympian Zeus, which was to last a month. It was this truce
-that made the Olympia possible as a Panhellenic institution. During the
-month that followed the proclamations of the heralds, all wars between
-Hellenic states were held in abeyance, and travellers were allowed to
-journey through them unmolested. The awful name of Zeus coupled with
-the decrees of rulers made this truce effective.
-
-During the eleven days pilgrims from all over Hellas were approaching
-Olympia. Some of the scenes may be imagined. In the language of
-Professor Percy Gardner: “From all the shores of the Mediterranean
-and the Euxine seas the Greek colonies sent deputations to represent
-them at the games, to bear offerings to the temple, and to perform
-sacrifices on their behalf. And the Greeks readily took a tinge from
-the land wherein they dwelt. There were dwellers on the northern
-shore of the Black Sea, to whom continual intercourse and frequent
-intermarriage with their Scythian neighbors gave almost the aspect
-of nomads; and colonists from Massilia, who in dress and blood were
-half Gauls. There were people from Cyrene, with the hot blood and dark
-complexions of Africa, and oriental Ionians, with trailing robes and
-effeminate airs. There were rude pirates from Acarnania, and delicate
-sensualists from Cyprus.”
-
-To give a detailed account of the competitions at each of the great
-festivals would involve much unnecessary repetition. That held at
-Olympia, therefore, may be taken as the type and the ideal of the
-others. But even at Olympia, the celebrations of which have been most
-widely written of both by ancient and modern scholars, it is not always
-easy to determine the exact order of the various contests.
-
-There is hardly a doubt that at the Olympic festival as well as at
-the others the foot-races were the initial competitions. Plato says
-that at his time when a contest took place the herald first called on
-the σταδιοδρόμος to do his part. The reason for beginning with the
-foot-race was probably an historical one; as has been said, it was
-originally the sole competition at the Olympic celebration. According
-to the old Eleian priest legends, the Idaian Herakles, one of the
-Cretan Kouretes, came to Elis in the reign of Kronos, in the golden
-age, and arranged a foot-race in which the victor was crowned with wild
-olive. The legends further state that the place thus honored by the
-priest of Olympian Zeus was afterward called Olympia, and that in time
-the celebration was repeated at intervals of four years. Of course the
-foregoing is a tale invented to explain the priority of the foot-race
-as well as the founding of the festival. Another legend recounts that
-at one of these subsequent celebrations Endymion, son of Æthlios,
-offered the kingdom of Klymenos, whom he had conquered, as a prize to
-that one of his sons who should be first in the foot-race. Such are
-some of the myths that helped to sanction and endear an inviolable
-Olympic custom. It is noteworthy in this connection that in the Odyssey
-the Phæacians had opened their games with the foot-race.
-
-The technique of foot-racing, the style of running most advantageous,
-and the training and qualities necessary for it, differ considerably
-with the distance covered. Accordingly very early in the history of the
-Olympic festival races of varying length were one by one introduced,
-and the variety doubtless tended to attract a larger number of
-competitors and to make the occasion more interesting.
-
-For thirteen Olympiads, however, the race called the δρόμος was the
-only feature. In this race the stadion was traversed but once. As the
-course of the stadion was about 200 yards, the δρόμος was what we
-call a sprint, and required that a runner exert himself to the utmost
-from start to finish. This simple race remained a favorite mode of
-competition among the Greeks until a late time--being practised by
-Alexander.
-
-The δίαυλος, or double course of the stadion, was introduced in
-the 14th Olympiad. This race required that the runner, after having
-traversed the 200 yards and reached the goal, should return to the
-point of starting. As he rounded the goal he described an arc, and on
-his way back took the opposite side of the track in order that he might
-not collide with other runners.
-
-Very soon after the introduction of the δίαυλος the ἵππιος δρόμος and
-then the δόλιχος were instituted. The ἵππιος δρόμος, which implies a
-horse-race, was in reality a foot-race, the contestant running the
-distance generally covered in a horse-race--namely, four times the
-length of the stadion, or 800 yards.
-
-The δόλιχος was added to the Olympic games in the 15th Olympiad, and
-was, like our long runs, a test primarily of endurance and lung-power.
-The distance covered varied from seven to twenty-four laps of the
-stadion, or from less than a mile to about three miles. At Olympia,
-however, the distance was twelve stadia. As the δόλιχος was run on the
-same track on which the single and double races took place, it was
-really only a series of double races.
-
-In the 65th Olympiad, the ὁπλίτων δρόμος was introduced. In this race
-the competitors wore helmets and greaves, and carried shields on their
-left arms. Pausanias claims to have seen the statue of Demaratos
-equipped with a round shield, helmet and antique greaves. At a later
-period, however, the helmet and greaves were discarded at Olympia, and
-the race was run with shields alone. The distance covered in this race
-was two stadia--the length of the δίαυλος. Pindar, the poet laureate
-of the Olympians, mentions the race with shields, and with poetic
-privilege ascribes its origin to heroic times. Plato considered the
-exercise very valuable as war training, and prescribed it as a part
-of the athletics of his ideal commonwealth. Plato devised two other
-races involving armor: in one the competitor should be equipped as
-a heavy-armed hoplite, and should cover a distance of sixty stadia
-on a level plain; in the other the competitor should wear the light
-equipments of an archer, and should cover one hundred stadia over hills
-and valleys.
-
-The running contests at the great games were governed by certain
-established rules. No fraud or guile was allowed to be used by the
-contestant on the track for the purpose of impeding his companions.
-They were very particular that all should start at the same time and
-from the same line, so that no one might have the advantage over
-the others. It was also contrary to rule for an athlete voluntarily
-to slacken his speed and allow his fellow-contestants to win. The
-competitors were appointed by lot and arranged in groups. These groups
-raced in heats of four, ranged in the places assigned them by lot. The
-first group was followed by the second, the second by the third, etc.
-When all groups had finished, the victors of each again entered the
-contest and strove for the prize; so that every σταδιοδρόμος had to win
-twice before he was crowned victor.
-
-The physicians of olden times mentioned two other foot-races which
-in their opinion afforded excellent gymnastic exercise. The first of
-these was practised in the sixth division of the stadion and consisted
-of running first forward and then backward. In this race the body was
-not turned once, but the distance that was run forward was continually
-shortened by backward running until the contestant finally stood at the
-starting-point. In the second race the contestant ran on tiptoe with
-outstretched arms which he swung violently to and fro. It was practised
-along a wall so that, should the balance be lost, the runner could hold
-and support himself against it.
-
-Among the less important foot-races were two that had their origin in
-certain local celebrations, namely, the torch race and the race of the
-vintage festival, held at Athens. Similar races took place at Sparta
-during the great national festival of the Κάρνεια held in honor of
-Apollo.
-
-In the preparation for these different kinds of foot-races everything
-was done in the way of training that would tend to make the body as
-light as possible and increase its rapidity, although the different
-cities of Greece varied to some extent as regards the question of diet,
-rubbing and baths.
-
-In practising for the foot-race the contestant, having divested himself
-of every shred of clothing and anointed his body with oil, was made to
-exert himself as much as possible. The exertion was often increased
-by making the run in deep sand instead of on firm ground; the foot
-having a less firm support, the runner was obliged to work harder and
-more quickly. In this way these exercises gave to the body not only
-great power of endurance, but also increased speed, and as a result the
-δολιχοδρόμοι possessed strong and well-developed legs. The shoulders
-and upper part of the body, on the other hand, owing to insufficient
-exercise were small and narrow. On that account Sokrates did not favor
-the races because they did not produce a harmonious development of the
-body. The skilled runner naturally strove to preserve an erect carriage
-while running, and to conform to all established rules regarding the
-contest. In this connection it may be interesting to mention the
-strange ideas entertained among the Greeks regarding the influence of
-the spleen over the powers of the body. This little organ, situated
-behind the stomach on the left side of the abdomen, and exercising
-some function which still remains unknown, would in their opinion if
-diseased prove a great hindrance to a contestant in the race. In order,
-therefore, to prevent such a catastrophe they resorted to extraordinary
-means, namely, the use of certain plants which they believed would
-dissolve or eat away the spleen; or even to surgical operations, such
-as cutting or burning it out. On the other hand, they believed that a
-diseased spleen was greatly benefited by exercise in running. Laomedon
-of Orchomenos is quoted as furnishing an example of this kind.
-
-The attitude of the runners we learn from vases. Those who were
-contending in the short race or dash swung their arms backward and
-forward alternately. This is beautifully shown by a painting on a
-Panathenæan vase in the possession of Koller. It represents four
-athletes running, hardly touching the ground with one foot, while
-the other is raised and moved forward in order to cover the greatest
-possible distance with one step. The hands are wide open; the arms are
-moved about freely and appear to act as the wings of the body, and
-their motion is in harmony with that of the lower limbs. Another vase,
-discovered in the ancient tombs of Volci, also shows a similar method
-of running. The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their arms
-as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long distance
-clenched their fists and held their arms close to their sides, as do
-our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during the games. It
-is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in order to retain
-their courage, while at the same time the admiring spectators cheered
-wildly as some favorite or friend neared the goal. As the Greeks did
-not possess the modern mechanical means of communication, they had
-to rely mostly upon messengers; hence the great necessity for expert
-runners. To this fact is due to a considerable degree the development
-of agonistic and running contests in Greece. It is said that after the
-battle of Platæa all the sacred fires which had been profaned by the
-Persians were extinguished, and that Ἐνχίδας, a Platæan, covered in one
-day the distance of a thousand stadia from Platæa to Delphi and back
-again, and brought his fellow-citizens the pure fire from the altar
-of Apollo. As a result of this terrible strain he sank to the ground
-and died. The Cretans were especially noted in the δόλιχος. Sotades
-and Ergoteles were among the most famous. The Arcadian Dromeos was
-another celebrated runner, having been like the former twelve times
-victorious in the δόλιχος. Ladas, the famous Spartan runner, was also
-victorious in the δόλιχος, but according to Pausanias died at the goal
-on completing a race.
-
-Comparison of the speed of Hellenic athletes with that of modern
-runners is exceedingly difficult, because the Hellenes had no means of
-measuring minutes of time; they did not say of an athlete that he ran
-the δίαυλος in such a time, but that he won (_i. e._, surpassed his
-competitors) in a certain Olympic celebration.
-
-Probably the next event was the pentathlon. This competition was
-introduced into the festival at about the 18th Olympiad. As the
-etymology of the word signifies, the pentathlon consisted of five
-distinct competitions, enumerated in a well-known pentameter ascribed
-to Simonides: leaping (ἅλμα), running (ποδωκείην), diskos-throwing
-(δίσκον), spear-throwing (ἄκοντα), wrestling (πάλην). That the poet
-arranged the events in this order cannot be taken as positive proof
-that this was the real order, as it is hard to see how these words
-could be arranged otherwise in a pentameter. It is probable, however,
-that wrestling was the final contest. There is some uncertainty as to
-what constituted a victory in the pentathlon, but it is evident that
-the purpose of this competition was to develop what we call “all-round
-athletes,” and the assertion that the victor must have won three out of
-the five contests cannot be far from the truth.
-
-In such a combination of exercises it would certainly be good athletic
-policy to make leaping the first contest. It may be questioned whether
-an athlete could leap so well after having engaged in the more violent
-exercises, whereas leaping itself, instead of disqualifying for the
-other exercises, would on the contrary rouse the animal spirits without
-bringing on exhaustion, and thereby put the athletes at once in good
-condition. For the leap requires not only vigor and elasticity, but
-also courage and determination.
-
-The beneficent results of this exercise were recognized at a very early
-period by the Hellenes, although in the heroic world the leap was not
-considered so important as the other modes of contest. In the games
-of Achilles the leap is not mentioned. In the Odyssey, however, the
-Phæacians, a light-hearted people, more fond of amusement than of war,
-are said to be skilled in leaping. It is in historic times, however,
-that leaping, as an important event in the pentathlon of the public
-games, acquires its technique, and receives the careful attention of
-athletes.
-
-What may be called the pure leap, that is the standing leap without
-accessory aids, was not practised at Olympia. The leaper held in his
-hands weights resembling our dumb-bells, and known as ἁλτῆρες. To
-determine the dynamic advantage of these weights is not easy, but
-it is certain that with them the exercise required more skill, and
-accordingly more practice, that it called into play more muscles, and
-that it was more attractive to athletes as a mode of competition.
-
-While little information can be obtained from classic writers
-concerning the ἁλτῆρες, much can be learned from archæological
-specimens. Pausanias describes them as having the form of a semi-oval,
-or inaccurately-rounded ring that could be grasped by the fingers as a
-shield was grasped. This description corresponds with a drawing of the
-ἁλτῆρες on a vase in Hamilton’s second collection. Ἁλτῆρες of another
-shape, however, resembling very closely the modern dumb-bells, are
-seen on many other vases and gems. These had both ends rounded, and
-were narrow in the middle in order that they might be easily held. In
-Hamilton’s first collection are vases giving representations of these
-ἁλτῆρες. In the Museo Borbonico may be seen on a patera a drawing in
-which the ἁλτῆρες have still another form: when the hand has grasped
-the handle of these, beyond the hand, on one side only, a club-shaped
-part protrudes. The ἁλτῆρες were usually made of lead.
-
-In the pentathla, leaping never took place without ἁλτῆρες, which the
-athlete usually held directly in front of him, and then, as he sprang,
-brought behind him, thus helping to propel his body forward.
-
-In addition to the ἁλτῆρες, professional athletes made use of another
-aid--the βατήρ. The latter was a board on which they stood before
-taking the leap, and which may indeed have been provided with a spring.
-
-Pausanias especially mentions the fact that the leaping of the
-pentathli in the Olympic festival was accompanied by airs on the flute.
-This music was probably to open the pentathlon, the most splendid and
-stirring of gymnastic contests, as well as to increase the courage of
-the leapers.
-
-The only leap that belonged to the pentathlon was the standing long
-jump. There is no trace of anything like the hop, step and jump. The
-figures of athletes on vases are represented not as running, but as
-standing and swinging the ἁλτῆρες. Then, too, it would seem that in
-the running jump the weights would be an impediment rather than an
-aid. With the aid of the ἁλτῆρες and the βατήρ enormous distances
-were covered. Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said to have covered more than
-fifty-five feet at a leap. But the record is incredible. Some German
-professors, however, are inclined to credit the record on the ground
-that the ancients had studied the theory of leaping more scientifically
-than have the moderns. For the sake of comparison the modern records
-in jumping may be introduced. On May 28, 1890, J. Darby of England,
-without the aid of weights, made a standing long jump of 12½ feet. At
-Romeo, Mich., October 3, 1879, with 22-pound weights, G. W. Hamilton
-made a standing jump of 14 feet, 5½ inches. A record of 23 feet, 6½
-inches, in the running long jump has been made twice: by C. L. Reber at
-Detroit, July 4, 1891, and by C. B. Frye of England, March 4, 1893. A
-jump of 48 feet, 8 inches, without weights and preceded by a hop and a
-step, was made October 18, 1884, by T. Burrows of Worcester.
-
-In the palæstra and the gymnasium, leaping was practised in many
-different ways, as through a hoop, or over a rope. That the high jump
-also was practised is evident from the fact that the athletes leaped
-not only over pointed poles fixed in the ground, but also over one
-another’s heads, after the manner of modern circus performers. Leaping
-from a higher place to a lower was also practised. Leaping took place
-in dancing and in various other sports. A dance, consisting principally
-of leaping was practised at Sparta, particularly by young women and
-girls. In this the dancers aimed to hit their backs with their heels.
-Aristophanes alludes to this custom in the following dialogue between
-Lysistrata and Lampito:
-
-            LYSISTRATA.
-    Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women.
-    How shines thy beauty, O, my sweetest friend!
-    How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame!
-    Why, thou couldst choke a bull.
-
-            LAMPITO.
-                                  Yes, by the twain;
-    For I do practise the gymnastic art,
-    And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels.
-
-            LYSISTRATA.
-    In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold.
-
-It is probable that in the Olympic pentathlon leaping was followed by
-diskos-hurling,--a contest of great antiquity. An old myth represents
-Apollo as a diskos-thrower.
-
-The diskos was circular in form with perhaps an average diameter of a
-little less than a foot, and was made of various materials at different
-periods and places. The heroic diskos, as has been said, was made of
-stone, while that of a later period was of metal, and even of wood.
-The diskos in common use at the Olympic festival was metallic, and
-resembled a small shield.
-
-In the local gymnasia the size and weight of the diskos varied in
-order that an athlete might select one in accord with his strength.
-But in the men’s pentathlon at the public games a standard diskos was
-required,--uniform in material, form, and weight, in order that the
-strength and skill of the competitors might be impartially tested and
-the victory correspondingly awarded. There is considerable doubt as to
-the dimensions and weight of this standard diskos. It is likely that
-the weight was between four and five pounds. A specimen found at Ægina
-and now preserved among the bronzes at Munich is about eight inches
-in diameter and slightly less than four pounds in weight. But another
-specimen at present in the British Museum weighs twelve pounds.
-
-There is also doubt as to the distance to which a skilful athlete
-could hurl the diskos. An extravagant record of one hundred cubits is
-preserved in the writings of Philostratos. It is probable, however,
-that one hundred feet was an extraordinary throw and was exceeded only
-by the best athletes. While it is unlikely that the throws of renowned
-athletes were carelessly measured at the time, it is probable that
-many subsequent accounts were more or less exaggerated. It is well to
-bear in mind that the statue of Phaÿllos was greatly admired among the
-Greeks because that athlete had thrown the diskos ninety-five feet.
-
-It is interesting in this connection to note that at the International
-Athletic Games, celebrated at Athens in 1896, the victor in the
-diskos-throwing competition made a record of 95.64 feet. The diskos
-used in this competition weighed 4¾ pounds. Although three skilful
-Greek athletes participated in this competition and exhibited a
-technique much superior to that of the foreign competitors, yet the
-victory was won by Mr. Garret, an American, who though never having
-handled the diskos before threw it to the above distance, thereby
-surpassing the best throw of M. Paraskevopoulos, the Greek champion,
-by .64 feet.
-
-To return to the ancient contests, the Homeric heroes practised
-diskos-throwing without completely disrobing,--the upper garment only
-being laid aside. But at Olympia after the 15th Olympiad all clothing
-was dispensed with, and the advantage of entire nudity in this sport
-came to be clearly recognized. Nudity characterized, of course, the
-diskoboloi of the other great athletic festivals. Again, while the
-Homeric heroes did not anoint the body with oil, the athlete of
-historic times did not consider his preparation complete without it.
-
-After roughening his hands and the diskos with earth, in order to grasp
-it more firmly and handle it more deftly, the diskobolos ascended an
-eminence, called the βαλβίς. When about to throw, the body of the
-diskobolos was bent quite a little to the right and forward. At the
-same time the head was bent to the right so far that it was possible
-for him to see the upper left side of his body. The right arm was now
-moved from below, first backward to the height of the shoulders, and
-then with a rapid movement forward it described a semi-circle, giving
-the diskos at once velocity and direction. In throwing the diskos, the
-diskobolos rested first on the right foot and then on the left. At the
-moment of hurling the diskos the left knee was slightly bent, while the
-other was kept backward. As the diskos left his hand he took one or
-more steps forward, like a person throwing a ball in a bowling alley.
-
-Again we are indebted to the archæologist who has brought to the light
-of day not only statues but also vases and gems with their elaborate
-scenes of the diskobolos in various attitudes, for they reveal to us
-many facts about which the ancient historians are silent.
-
-In classifying these works of art three different attitudes may be
-recognized:
-  (1) The diskobolos preparing to throw.
-  (2) The diskobolos in the act of throwing.
-  (3) The diskobolos having hurled the diskos and still following it
-with his eyes, or where he has already been declared victor.
-
-In the Museo Pio Clementino is a statue representing an athlete about
-to hurl the diskos. In his left hand he is testing the weight of
-the diskos, but holding the right ready to receive it and hurl it
-into space. This statue was supposed by Visconti to be a copy of a
-diskobolos by Naukydes, the pupil of Polykleitos. Many other copies are
-also seen on vases and gems. On one of Hamilton’s vases the diskobolos
-holds the diskos in his right hand, supporting its weight in his left.
-
-Of the statues representing the athlete in the act of throwing, we
-will consider only Myron’s Diskobolos, the beau ideal of athletic
-motion, famous even in antiquity. Eight copies in a more or less
-mutilated condition have come down to us. That which was found in the
-Villa Palombara in 1781 on the Esquiline is the best reproduction of
-the original. This statue passed from the palace known as that of the
-_Massimi alle Colonne_ to the _Lancelotti Palace_, Rome, where it still
-remains. The attitude of the diskobolos is very nearly that described
-by Lucian and Quintilian. In the _Philopseudes_--1, 8, Lucian gives
-the following description of Myron’s Diskobolos: “Thou speakest of
-the disk-thrower, who is bending forward for the throw, with his face
-turned away towards the hand that holds the disk, and with one foot
-slightly pointed, as if he would raise himself with the action of
-throwing.”
-
-The statue reveals probably the most approved attitude of a diskobolos
-just before making a throw. The centre of gravity falls upon the right
-foot, which, though the leg is bent in a slight curve, rests firmly on
-the ground; both legs are bent at the knees, but the left more acutely;
-the right fore-leg is perpendicular, while the left is thrust backward
-obliquely; the left foot, forming a noticeable curve, is upright and
-touches the ground only at the tips of the toes; the thighs, close
-together, slant upward, making an angle of over 45° with the ground;
-the upper part of the body is bent forward, and is steadied by the left
-arm whose hand rests against the right knee; the upper half of the body
-is twisted to the right; the right arm is extended backwards and is
-straight; the fingers of the right hand, which is somewhat above the
-level of the right shoulder, firmly grip the edge of the diskos; the
-head is turned so far to the right that the right side of the body is
-plainly visible; the eyes are fastened on the diskos.
-
-It is evident that the diskobolos must have swung the disk in a
-semi-circle, and have hurled it from below forward, and that the whole
-body must have relaxed and readjusted itself as the right arm moved
-forward and imparted the pent-up energy to the disk.
-
-The pose of the large cast in the Boston Athenæum, as well as that
-of the cast in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is not in accordance
-with Lucian’s description. Both represent the head as not turned aside
-but directly forward, with the eyes looking straight ahead. There is,
-however, in the Fourth Greek Room, a cast of a small bronze statuette,
-which is preserved in the Antiquarium at Munich. This is in many
-respects an excellent copy of Myron’s diskobolos. In the catalogue
-of the casts in the Museum, this statuette is pronounced especially
-satisfactory from an æsthetic point of view because the line of
-equilibrium falls perpendicularly through the centre from whatever
-point of view the statuette is seen.
-
-Besides this copy of Myron’s statue, we find on many vases and gems the
-diskobolos in the act of hurling the diskos. For instance, on one of
-Hamilton’s vases we see a diskobolos with a diskos in his right hand,
-while the right arm is bent and held forward, showing that he is on the
-point of moving the arm backward, and then forcibly hurling the diskos
-from below, forward. The left arm is bent over the head, the eyes are
-fixed on the diskos, the right foot is placed forward, so that the
-centre of gravity falls on the left, which is obliquely bent at the
-knee.
-
-We will now consider the third class of statues, gems and
-vase-paintings representing the diskobolos as having thrown the diskos,
-and still following it with his eye, or where he has already been
-declared victor and adorned with the palm. In 1754 there was discovered
-at Herculaneum the bronze statue of a diskobolos from whose hand the
-diskos has just flown. He is still standing, however, with the upper
-portion of his body bent forward, the eyes looking sharply into space,
-the face full of expectation. The position of the right arm indicates
-that the hand is only just freed from the heavy diskos. Both feet are
-placed wide apart, as may be observed in several other instances, at
-the moment of throwing. In the _Galerie de Florence_ is a gem which
-represents a diskobolos who has been declared victor. He holds the
-diskos in his left hand, the palm of victory in his right. At his
-right stands a prize cup, while at his left is a tripod upon which is
-a wreath and a palm. A painting from Herculaneum also represents a
-diskobolos after having thrown the diskos.
-
-If space permitted, many other statues, vase and gem pictures could
-be cited to show the different positions of the skilled diskobolos.
-But enough has been said to show that to hurl the diskos through the
-air at once gracefully and effectively required the greatest skill
-and dexterity, and was an art acquired only through long practice. In
-diskos-throwing, distance, not height, determined the victor. He who
-threw the farthest beyond the mark or σῆμα was awarded the prize.
-
-Diskos-throwing was a good preparation for war, as it developed great
-skill in stone-throwing--a very important feature in the war practices
-of the ancients. This exercise must have developed to a remarkable
-degree the muscles of the upper part of the body, shoulders, arms and
-hands--especially those of the right side of the body. At the same time
-the feet were trained in a firm and secure step, and, although the
-diskos was thrown at no fixed point, the eye was nevertheless used and
-trained. So beneficial was the exercise in certain cases that it was
-often ordered by the ancient physicians. Among the Spartans the diskos
-was especially loved, ostensibly on account of Apollo’s contest with
-Hyakinthos on Spartan soil.
-
-
-
-
-               III. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.
-
-
-The third event of the pentathlon was spear-throwing. In the athletic
-training of an Hellenic youth, spear-throwing came after the hand and
-arm had been strengthened by ball-playing and diskos-throwing.
-
-Spear-throwing, as has been shown, growing out of the very early
-necessity of war-training, was a primitive mode of exercise. The spear
-(δόρυ, λόγχη) used by the Homeric heroes was very large, and as heavy
-as they could handle effectively. None but that warrior himself could
-wield the spear of Achilles. Hector’s spear was 16 feet long; the
-shaft was made of ash. A socket was fitted to the upper end of the
-spear, in which was inserted a bronze spear point. But that used at the
-pentathlon, and denoted by the term ἄκων, was smaller and lighter.
-
-The attitude of the body, the movement of the arms and shoulders,
-and the carriage of the head were very different in spear-throwing
-from those in diskos-hurling. The athlete stood erect, and raised his
-right arm upward and slightly backward; his right foot was generally
-placed backward, while his left was advanced; his eye was fixed on a
-goal straight ahead. He grasped the spear in the middle and held it
-in a horizontal position on a level with his right ear; sometimes he
-moved it backward and forward before throwing, but as often omitted
-such preliminary exercise. Sometimes it was thrown by means of a strap
-attached to it, as is still the custom in many countries.
-
-In the pentathlon, spear-throwing was a test rather of skill than of
-strength; an athlete who could win the victory with the diskos might
-suffer defeat with the spear, although diskos-throwing required more
-strength than spear-throwing. Spear-throwing trained the eye and made
-the arm deft in executing the eye’s direction.
-
-It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs of
-respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and enlarged;
-the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the spear effectively
-the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and have command of his
-entire body; to do so with a weight held aloft, strengthened the lower
-limbs, made their muscles more facile, and the step more sure.
-
-By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the early
-Olympians not only recognized the foregoing advantages, but they also
-honored the characteristic exercise of their ancestors, and subsequent
-Olympians followed their example. For the spear was the traditional
-sign of the freeman; as far back as myth and memory could go, it had
-been carried, even in peace, as an honorable and distinguishing token.
-
-Plato, in his scheme of the ideal state, prescribed spear-throwing as a
-training for war, and directed that it should be practiced by women as
-well as by men.
-
-At Rome, during the time of the emperors, spear-throwing was included
-among the gymnastic exercises of that city. Instruction in this
-art was received from the Mauritanians. But it is said that the
-Emperor Commodus surpassed even the skill of his instructors; in the
-amphitheatre he killed, according to the story, a hundred lions with
-as many spears; at another time he astonished the spectators by the
-dexterity with which he hurled his spear at the Mauritanian ostriches,
-as they ran by the amphitheatre at full speed; with every throw he
-severed a bird’s head from its body.
-
-We have no accounts to show as to how far a Greek athlete could hurl
-a spear, but we know that savages of today can hurl it to a great
-distance. It is said by travellers that a Kaffir who suddenly comes
-upon game will hit an antelope ten or fifteen yards away without
-raising his arm.
-
-The three events that have been described, leaping, diskos-throwing
-and spear-throwing, were probably the essential features of the
-pentathlon; that is to say, an athlete who won in all three events
-was probably crowned victor. If, however, the victories in the three
-events were not secured by the same man, the competition was decided by
-additional contests in running and wrestling. But as at other stages of
-the festival these two exercises were distinct events, a description
-of their technique may be omitted in this place. Among those who
-distinguished themselves in the pentathlon, were included some of the
-most illustrious men of Greece.
-
-The pentathlon was succeeded by horse and chariot races.
-
-Chariot racing, even as far back as the heroic time, had attained a
-high rank in the domain of antagonistics; it was, indeed, the first
-contest in the funeral games of Patroklos. (Il. xxiii. 262-650.)
-In the minute and vivid description of Homer, the nature of the
-contest and the arrangements are very clearly indicated. There was
-no artificially constructed hippodrome. A flat, open plain, with its
-natural irregularities and without buildings of any sort, served as
-the race-course. The point of starting was on the sea-coast, but the
-turning point was in the plain of Troy. The goal, which was the stump
-of a tree, could be seen in the far distance only by its having two
-white stones leaning against it on either side. On account of the great
-distance, the spectators were not able to distinguish between the
-approaching horses. (Il. 450 ff.) Hence rose an altercation between
-Idomeneus and Aias, as to whose chariot was leading in the race.
-Achilles advised both to wait quietly until the horses were nearer and
-the order of the chariots could be recognized by all.
-
-With a very few points of difference, this description of Homer gives
-a good idea of a chariot race at Olympia. The difference consisted,
-first, in running the length of the course several times instead of
-once, in order that a body of spectators might witness the entire
-race; second, in the greater number of chariots, and third, in the
-arrangements, whereby they might start without confusion. In the games
-of Achilles, the chariots were five in number, each with two horses and
-a single driver, who stood upright in the chariot. As we have already
-mentioned, the Homeric hero made use of two horses in the race as
-well as in hostile combat, while the Olympic contestant did not limit
-himself to two horses. In fact, the four-horse chariot-race, which was
-introduced in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, was the first in honor and in
-importance, and always remained the most popular. In this contest, only
-kings, nobles, and the wealthy could take part, on account of the great
-expense involved in rearing fine horses, and in maintaining costly
-chariots. Very often, the victor had his triumphs recorded on the state
-issues of coins.
-
-Races on horseback date from the thirty-third Olympiad. Philip of
-Macedon won in this contest, and celebrated his victory by having an
-enormous horse, ridden by a diminutive jockey, placed on his coinage.
-As this victory took place in the same year in which Potidaea fell
-into his hands and his son Alexander was born, he regarded that year as
-especially auspicious.
-
-While the race of the quadrigæ of horses was introduced as early as the
-twenty-fifth Olympiad, that of the bigæ of horses was not introduced
-until the ninety-third Olympiad. A quadriga consisted of four horses
-harnessed to a chariot; a biga, of two horses. In the seventieth
-Olympiad, bigæ of mules were admitted, but in the eighty-fourth
-Olympiad they were excluded; their exclusion may be ascribed to two
-reasons: first, they presented an unpleasing appearance; second, among
-the Eleians, according to Pausanias, a curse had rested on the animals
-from ancient times.
-
-Prior to the twenty-fifth Olympiad, all athletic contests had taken
-place in the Stadion. As chariot-racing, however, demanded more room,
-a separate race-course, called the Hippodrome, was established. The
-site of the Hippodrome cannot be exactly traced. This is because
-the Alpheios has washed away all certain indications of its limits.
-But from the account of Pausanias (V, 4; VI, 20, 7 foll.) it may be
-approximately located; it lay to the south of the Stadion and extended
-roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east.
-The German explorers who excavated Olympia inferred from the state
-of the ground that the Hippodrome was about 2526 feet in length. The
-Stadion and Hippodrome were closely connected, the rear part of the
-aphesis, or starting point, of the Hippodrome adjoining the end of the
-Stadion. At the farther end of the Hippodrome was the goal outside of
-which the chariots had to turn. To round this goal with advantage, that
-is, to keep as close to it as it was possible to do without upsetting
-his own chariot or colliding with another, required long practice
-and great dexterity on the part of the driver; it was indeed a very
-dangerous feat; at every race a large number of the chariots involved
-were wrecked, and in such accidents the charioteers rarely escaped
-without serious injuries. According to legend, Orestes had met his
-death at a Pythian festival; his chariot colliding with the goal, he
-fell to the ground, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged or
-trampled to death. After every turning of the goal, the chariots were
-greeted with the sound of trumpets in order that men and horses might
-attain new courage and vigor after so dangerous an ordeal.
-
-The signal for the chariots to come out from the rooms allotted to
-them in the aphesis and form in line for the race was given by an eagle
-which, by means of mechanism, rose into the air at the same moment that
-a dolphin fell to the ground. Such a signal was characteristic of the
-Greek; but in the Roman races, the chariots started at the waving of a
-white cloth by a person of distinction.
-
-The equestrian contests at Olympia were succeeded by boxing. Boxing
-for men was introduced at the Olympic festival in the twenty-third
-Olympiad, and for boys in the thirty-seventh Olympiad. But the sport
-was already very old, and its introduction at Olympia was probably a
-recognition of its popularity and antiquity. In fact, as the fist is
-the simplest and most natural weapon of mankind, it is not surprising
-to find that boxing was one of the earliest athletic games among the
-Hellenes. Homer’s detailed description of the contest of the invincible
-Epeios with Euryalos has already been mentioned, and Homer had probably
-heard many similar tales of the prowess of Mycenæan boxers. Polydeukes,
-the bravest boxer among the pre-Homeric heroes, is said to have
-defeated the strong Amykos. The latter was a teacher of the art, and
-allowed no stranger to depart from his country without challenging him
-to a pugilistic contest. Apollo himself, the gracious companion and
-leader of the Pierides, is described as engaging in a boxing contest at
-Olympus with Ares, the powerful god of war; perhaps in this myth there
-is a suggestion of the advantage which the nimble and quick-witted
-boxer sometimes has over a more bulky one. In the mythical founding of
-the Nemean games, Tydeus was victorious in a boxing contest. In the
-passage of Virgil’s Æneid (Book V, 401 ff.), which so closely resembles
-the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, the aged Entellus vanquishes the
-young and boastful Dares. This contest showed a complete system of
-striking and parrying.
-
-It is quite likely that these and many other similar legends augmented
-the natural interest in the sport, and hastened its introduction into
-the greatest of all athletic festivals. But at Olympia the sport was
-marked with variations. Whereas, for instance, the Homeric heroes, when
-boxing, had protected their bodies by means of a girdle around the
-loins (Il. XXIII, 683), the Olympian athletes, being already accustomed
-to nudity in the wrestling and racing contests, dispensed with such
-protection. Again, from the first, Olympian boxers oiled the body,
-contrary to the practice of Homeric athletes.
-
-Probably very few of the tactics of modern pugilists were unknown to
-the Greek athletes. Some of the accessories of a modern ring-fight,
-such as the “preliminary hand-shake,” tossing for corners, etc., were
-of course wanting; particularly noticeable was the absence of ropes and
-stakes; there was no referee to enforce so strict a code of ethics as
-the Marquis of Queensberry rules, fair play being secured by the voice
-of the people. Grasping or hugging the opponent was not permitted; it
-was in the elimination of such tactics that boxing differed from the
-pankration, a combination of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was likewise
-forbidden.
-
-The set-to of Greek boxers probably resembled very closely that of
-modern pugilists. The ancient descriptions of the manner of giving and
-guarding or blocking blows are rather vague; but on antique vases may
-be seen representations of boxers facing one another in well-balanced
-attitudes, their heads thrown back, and their arms well advanced, in
-the manner of the best modern pugilism. In a famous Greek painting of
-boxers, one of the men stands with his left foot and hand advanced, his
-left arm slightly bent, and his right arm held across his lower chest,
-in fact, just as Fitzsimmons or Corbett would stand when expecting a
-blow. In the beginning of the contest, the boxer was sparing of his
-strength and preferred to assume the defensive position, and so wear
-out his opponent. It was, of course, considered a merit for a boxer to
-conquer without receiving wounds.
-
-The principal differences between the technique of Olympian boxing and
-that of modern pugilism must be ascribed to the use at Olympia of that
-cruel boxing weapon known as the cæstus. This consisted of a heavy
-thong of dry, hardened leather, wound about the palm of the hand so as
-to form a formidable ridge of considerable circumference; it was even
-rendered more formidable by being loaded with lead, and studded with
-little metal projections. This nail-studded covering was called σφαῖρα,
-and was unknown to the ancient Greeks. That it was very dangerous is
-shown by the fact that when used in the practice gymnasia, it was
-itself covered, in order that young athletes might become accustomed to
-its use before subjecting themselves to its deadliness. But even more
-brutal than these were the μύρμηκες, called the breakers or crushers
-of limbs. One cannot conceive of a more formidable covering for the
-hand, unless it be the terrible cæstus of the Romans, to which Virgil
-alludes in the memorial games of Anchises (Æn. V, 401): “Tantorum
-ingentia septem Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.” “So
-terrible was the seven-fold bullhide stiffened with patches of lead and
-iron.” An examination of the representations of hands armed with this
-covering makes it evident that the straight blow or counter would not
-only fail to make the weapon effective, but would, if forcible enough,
-crush the fingers of the boxer between the leather and the adversary’s
-body. The cæstus must, therefore, have been used for round blows, or
-for the old English blow called the “chopper”; these were delivered by
-the back of the hand in an outward and downward swing, and, to be given
-without injury to the one who dealt them, required considerable skill.
-
-The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and the wounds
-inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and nose, were very
-severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth were often broken or
-injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the Cyrenean, that his teeth
-were knocked out by his adversary, but that he quietly swallowed them
-in order to conceal from him how much he was injured; his adversary,
-disheartened by the apparently small effect of his powerful blow, lost
-hope and allowed Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially,
-were exposed to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were
-usually so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear”
-became a stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as
-αὐφώτιρες, were invented for gymnasium work, but they were not used
-in public games. Boxers, on account of the bruises and disfigurations
-that usually marked their features, were the subjects of numerous
-epigrammatic jests. Here is a sample from the pen of a comic poet:
-
-“After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses was
-recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by his dog,
-Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four hours, hast been so
-altered, that neither dogs nor any person in the town could possibly
-recognize thee. And if thou lookest at thy face in a mirror, thou
-thyself wilt swear that thou art not Stratophon.”
-
-Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a beard,
-eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed his name
-among the pugilists he lost them all.
-
-The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside from skill
-in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn by boxers at
-Olympia.
-
-Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and modern
-boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the contest, as
-do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their blows with certain
-inarticulate sounds, believing that their force was thereby increased.
-Modern stone-masons frequently do the same.
-
-The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants was
-rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue, wounds or despair to
-declare himself conquered, which he signified by lifting his right hand.
-
-In this connection it is interesting to trace the evolution of boxing
-in Greece. At first, of course, the bare fist was used; but as time
-went on, boxers learned to cover their fists and wrists with strips of
-undressed oxhide, the ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο in the contest
-of Epeios and Euryalos (Il. XXIII, 684). Homer mentions these ἱμάντες
-as if they were very common. The name μειλίχαι was given them by
-later writers, because they dealt a mild blow; they are described by
-Pausanias (VIII, 40, 3) as made of raw oxhide, cut into thin strips
-and braided according to the custom of the ancients. The strips were
-wound round the palm, leaving the fingers uncovered, at least enough so
-that they could be bent to form a clenched fist. As the name indicates,
-the μειλίχαι were not cruel weapons; they served not only to moderate
-the force of the blow, but also to protect the hand from injury. They
-were used at the Nemean games as late as the famous contest between
-Kreugas and Damoxenos. It is likely that with these soft coverings the
-technique of blows conformed more nearly with the modern technique.
-It has been already shown that the straight counter was rendered
-impracticable by the cæstus. But without the cæstus the Greek was very
-skillful with this blow. The Greek also understood the advantage of the
-cross-counter, a blow sometimes thought to be a comparatively recent
-discovery in pugilism. If the Homeric description of the bare-handed
-fight between Odysseus and the impudent ruffian and parasite, Iros,
-be analyzed, the blow will be found plainly involved. Iros, who is of
-gigantic size, has insulted Odysseus. A ring is formed and they begin
-to fight (Od. XVIII, 73-231).
-
-    “On his right shoulder Iros laid his stroke,
-    Odysseus struck him just beneath the ear,
-    His jaw-bone broke, and made the blood appear,
-    When straight he strewed the dust.”
-
-The blow of Odysseus must have been a cross-counter. Iros leads with
-his left at Odysseus’ head, but the blow falls instead on his right
-shoulder. Odysseus avoids the blow just as a trained boxer would avoid
-a similar one today; that is to say, he moves his head to the left, and
-catches the blow on his right shoulder, at the same moment, “rising
-to the stroke.” He then crosses Iros’ arm with his right, strikes him
-beneath the ear, and breaks his jaw, thereby “knocking him out.”
-
-The introduction and use of the cæstus, brought about by the
-blood-thirstiness of the ancient mob, instead of being in the interest
-of further skill was decidedly a backward step. For not only did it
-improperly limit the technique of blows, as has been shown, but it was
-too sure a menace to the very source of human skill, the senses and
-consciousness itself.
-
-Solon praised boxing from an educational point of view. Cato the elder
-must have entertained a high opinion of this art, for, according to
-Plutarch, he himself instructed his son, with whose education he took
-the greatest pains, in the art of boxing.
-
-In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that Greek
-boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic side.
-A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity were
-cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful grace and
-beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented as a boxer.
-Even from the medical point of view, boxing was highly esteemed.
-Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and chronic headache (De Morb. Dint.
-Cur. 1, 2).
-
-This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all parts of
-Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when a youth in a
-boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia and Elis were noted
-for producing skilled pugilists.
-
-Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which were the
-final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one of the most
-popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of Homer. According to
-mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of Hermes, established the πάλη,
-while her brother, Autolykos, is mentioned as the instructor of the
-young Herakles in this art. Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling
-to the earliest times and declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most
-ancient wrestlers. But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere
-desire to fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is
-said to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice
-it according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how Homer,
-in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian Aias and
-Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling matches were among
-the chief events in the famous games at Olympia and elsewhere. They
-were introduced earlier than boxing and were believed to show off the
-strength, activity and grace of the body to more advantage than any
-other contest. No other exercise required such perfect development
-of every muscle in the body, or an equal combination of strength and
-agility.
-
-Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic
-sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern times.
-The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions and movements.
-Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to grasp his adversary in a
-certain place, but by a quick, cat-like movement would attack him in
-another which had been left exposed. Cunning was likewise practiced by
-the Homeric heroes. Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the
-hollow of the knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks,
-the observance of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking,
-kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing
-an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground that it
-involved grasping.
-
-While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and symmetry
-as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their wrestlers were
-noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered advantageous for a
-wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased weight rendered it less
-easy for an opponent to lift him off the ground; second, it was easier
-for him, on the other hand, to overpower his adversary at the opportune
-moment. Nevertheless, a graceful style of wrestling, while less easy
-to attain under this condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes
-grace is the concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage
-over mere bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact
-was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious
-in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere strength, the
-authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis not only his own
-statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says that Kratinos exhibited
-a more graceful style than any other wrestler of his time.
-
-Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing and ground
-wrestling; the former, called the τριαγμός, was most common. The
-contestants stood upright, face to face, and after one had been thrown
-and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was the style practiced
-by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had thrown each other
-to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle. Victory was
-bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced in later
-times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers this style,
-as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms, shoulders, chest
-and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the combatants
-had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until one
-acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged
-especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown
-in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is
-of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so
-regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the
-Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this
-particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially
-advantageous.
-
-Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the Greeks, the
-following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist endeavored to throw
-his opponent either by tripping him, or by grasping his foot with
-his hand. This latter style is differently illustrated on two vases.
-On the first vase the antagonist is represented as grasping with his
-right hand his opponent’s foot, which he has raised to a line with the
-middle of his body, while with the left arm he is further raising the
-thigh, thus forcing his opponent to the ground. On the second vase, the
-contestant has raised his opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the
-left hand, which is placed under the knee; both contestants are moving
-the right arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents
-the pankration, as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A
-similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist, whose
-foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms in order to
-drag him down if he should fall.
-
-Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his opponent’s
-thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully illustrated by
-the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, of which
-a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Winckelmann
-considers these wrestlers to be the sons of Niobe, as they were found
-in 1583 at the same time and place as the Niobe group. According to the
-legend, they were engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s
-arrows.
-
-The technical names of the various locks and holds which have come
-down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling. If
-one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts of the
-different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete list of
-movements, or if the most important parts of the literature bearing
-upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we might form a
-more definite conception of the wrestling match. To the student of
-athletics it may be interesting to mention a few expressions which
-have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature. The word δράσσειν
-which literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied
-to the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully
-illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases,
-gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers
-and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch
-designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the
-wrestlers by the terms ἐμβολαί, παρεμβολαί, συστάσεις, παραθέσεις, from
-which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly clear imagery. The
-following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί, which literally
-mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by Lucian to
-express different styles of wrestling. The terms συναφή and κατοχή
-used by Hesychios when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the
-wrestling match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced
-from his position is described by the term ἀπάγειν, literally to
-lead away or carry off. Ἄγχειν and ἀποπνίγειν describe the grasping
-of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration. This trick
-of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him until he
-acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning act.
-Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his elbow
-under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring the neck
-of the latter between his thighs and then exert such pressure as
-almost to strangle him. This occurred more frequently in the ground
-wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group of boy wrestlers, one of whom,
-while resting on his right knee, is firmly holding by the throat his
-opponent, who is on both knees; to the right stands a prize vase with a
-palm, to the left, an umpire with a rod.
-
-The ἅμμα involved grasping the opponent in such a manner that he
-could be held in a position that would tire him and perhaps exhaust
-his energy. Herakles in his wrestling contest with the mighty giant,
-Antaios, was believed to have used this trick; but Herakles held his
-antagonist in the air. Running toward each other with lowered heads
-for the purpose of butting, after the manner of rams, also belonged to
-the province of wrestling, and was practiced by Lucian himself in the
-Lykeion at Athens.
-
-Plato protests against right-handedness (Laws, 8-794). He demands that
-a trained wrestler, pankratiast and boxer should be able to use both
-hands equally, so that if his opponent should succeed in turning him
-around he could defend himself from the other side. The wrestler would
-sometimes endeavor to place himself behind his adversary by a quick
-movement, then wind his leg around his opponent’s body and throw him.
-If successful in this attempt he would choke him.
-
-Besides these tricks there were others with the fingers. For instance,
-a wrestler would grasp his opponent’s finger-tips and disjoint or break
-them, not letting go until the pain compelled his victim to declare
-himself conquered. This finger contest sometimes preceded the actual
-contest, and was oftentimes the only feature. Sostratos of Sikyon
-was specially famed for this mode of contest; he was twelve times
-victorious in the Nemean and Isthmian, twice in the Pythian and three
-times in the Olympian games. Leontiskos of Messina, in Sicily, also
-practiced wrestling in this manner and gained his victory by breaking
-his opponent’s fingers.
-
-In ground wrestling the athlete even attempted to break his opponent’s
-toes. Another special scheme which belonged to the standing wrestling
-was as follows: the contestant made a circle around himself and
-challenged his opponent to force him from his position. If the latter
-failed to do this, the victory belonged to the former. Especially
-noted in this style of wrestling was Milo of Crotona, the most famous
-wrestler of antiquity. When a mere boy he was victorious in the
-Olympic and Pythian games. Six times his head was crowned with the
-sacred olive of Olympia. Young men of the noblest families engaged in
-these wrestling contests. Plato, when a youth, is said to have been
-victorious in the Pythian and Isthmian games, probably in the wrestling
-match.
-
-
-
-
-     IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE ANCIENT HELLENES.
-
-
-We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of professional
-athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily have
-influenced the more widespread practices whereby the young developed
-their bodies, just as today the system of professional athletics is
-a model for college training and exerts an influence upon the sports
-of even young children. But professional athletics, even in ancient
-Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct from that important phase of
-Hellenic education called γυμναστική.
-
-In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no means
-be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of education.
-But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were held in least
-favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves; being thoroughly
-in earnest to produce a race that was hardy and valiant to the last
-degree, and regarding physical culture as a serious and all-engrossing
-business rather than an exciting amusement, they quickly discerned that
-the specialism of professional athletics was detrimental to this end.
-
-The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby all
-Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever uppermost
-in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither deluded themselves in
-their estimate of these needs, nor did they even dream of a compassion
-that would deter them from establishing and executing regulations
-whereby these needs would be met. In Sparta the unfortunate individual
-who did not conform in promise or attainment to the criterion of a
-Spartan citizen found no pity.
-
-And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the man,
-without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle outward
-show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely fearless,
-who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing pain; it was the
-man whose powers of endurance were very great, who could march long
-distances over a rough country without fatigue, who could then halt
-and await the onset of an enemy with a glad and confident heart, and
-who could engage his enemy and be victorious; it was the man who loved
-combat.
-
-The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
-through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
-was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens should
-marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage. If at the
-present day we exercised the same care to bring sound children into the
-world there would be little need of being “born again.” Spartan infants
-were subjected to the judgment of a body of selected citizens, and if
-approved by the latter became thenceforth the objects of the care and
-direction of the state, but if condemned as not promising health and
-vigor they were killed. According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were
-exposed in the apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (Ταΰγετος) and
-left to die.
-
-Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care of their
-parents, but even during this early period they received a foretaste
-of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very plain and
-limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the little fears of
-childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the dark or when left
-alone.
-
-Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children,
-and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a
-peculiar earnestness. Most of the amusements of modern children were
-also the delight of Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the
-latter are no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (πλαταγή) was
-a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
-Then there were hoops (τροχοί or κρίκοι). The childish game of rolling
-the hoop was called κρικηλασία. The κρίκος corresponded to the Roman
-trochus described by Horace (_Ode_ 3; 24, 57) and Ovid, as well as by
-Propertius, Martialis, and other writers. The κρίκος was a large hoop
-probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its diameter was
-less than the height of a man, reaching probably to his chest. The
-implement used in rolling it is said to have been a crooked-necked iron
-with a wooden handle, called ἐλατήρ (Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as
-with us, the hoop was set round with small metal rings or bells which
-when in motion caused a jingling sound very pleasing to a child’s ears.
-Some regarded these rings as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them
-on the ground that the sound they produced added much to the child’s
-happiness and engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also
-considered this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and
-advised that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating.
-The familiar top (βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος), old as the
-days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
-times--“στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη” (_Il._ xiv,
-413).
-
-The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and made to revolve
-by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil in the following
-lines:
-
-    “Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,
-    Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum
-    Intenti ludo exercent.”
-                               _Æneid_ vii, 378-380.
-
-Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children. Stilts
-(καλόβαθρα) were much used by children and also by adults in certain
-mimic dances. The girls had dolls (κόραι) of wax or clay, and the usual
-paraphernalia connected with this ever popular plaything. Many of
-these, which still survive, show that they were painted and that the
-arms and legs were so fastened with strings as to be easily movable.
-The word κόρη literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek
-girls dedicated their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus.
-If they died unwedded, their dolls were buried with them. The terms
-δάγυνον, δαγύς and πλαγγών were often applied by the Greeks to the wax
-doll.
-
-The swing αἰώρα occupied the same position in Greece as in our
-nurseries. Then there were clappers (πλῆκτρα), toy-carts (ἁμαξίδες),
-hobby-horses (ἱππίδια ξύλινα), toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.
-
-In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned. From
-the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy of
-consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in sport,
-then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
-character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
-be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
-and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental powers
-and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise. The
-Spartan children were superior to the other Greek children in the
-power of expression, although they were not so highly educated. This
-is no doubt due to the fact that at a very early age the Spartan
-children were forced into a free life in the open air and to systematic
-gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also though they did not consider
-gymnastics of so much importance as did the Hellenes, did not neglect
-them. Being a warlike people, they began to develop and strengthen
-the body of the child at an early age. The sports of childhood are as
-important to the boy as work is to the man, and demand as much of his
-strength and intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as
-a real victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games
-are imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause
-the child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
-Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He claimed
-that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work, should
-be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first training
-should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction should
-be followed by that based on theory and science. Experience has often
-corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic life itself furnishes
-the best illustration of it. According to the legend, Achilles, attired
-in the garb of a girl among the daughters of the king, betrayed himself
-to the keen eye of Odysseus, by handling the weapons, placed by the
-latter among the ornaments which he offered for sale. Strepsiades,
-hard pressed by his creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness
-for horses and chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates
-with pride how as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts,
-moulded houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind.
-(Aristophanes, _Nub._ 877.) Cato the Younger also, says Plutarch,
-gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
-youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
-chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
-circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
-heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
-represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
-was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
-young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
-often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
-Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.
-
-The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment was
-detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea was most
-beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of body and soul.
-Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system of the Hellenes,
-were developed many gymnastic games which did not require any special
-apparatus and which were not intended for tests of superior strength,
-but merely to furnish pleasant and suitable physical exercise.
-
-A game called ὀστράκου περιστροφή was often played. The boys arranged
-themselves in two divisions on either side of a line. One of them
-then held up a piece of broken crockery, or an oyster shell, one side
-of which was blackened with tar. One division chose the black side,
-the other the white. A boy then threw the fragment, with the words,
-νύξ, ἡμέρα. The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared
-uppermost after the throw; this division then pursued the other; those
-who were captured were called donkeys and were debarred from further
-participation in the game.
-
-The ἐποστρακισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 119), a more informal game, was played
-by boys on the beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted
-in “skipping” smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the
-water. The boy who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance,
-or, perhaps, made it cut the water the greatest number of times, was
-victor. This pastime, known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor
-with boys.
-
-There were two games for testing bodily strength, the διελκυστίνδα and
-the σκαπέρδα. In the διελκυστίνδα a party of children separated into
-two divisions, each of which faced the other in a row, so as to give
-every member an opponent. Probably a line of some kind lay between the
-two divisions, and the game consisted in each boy’s striving to pull
-his opponent across it by means of a rope. The victory was decided when
-all members of one side had been forced to the other.
-
-The σκαπέρδα was a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made
-in a tree-trunk or rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two
-contestants then took their places on opposite sides of the pillar,
-with their backs to each other and each holding an end of the rope.
-If one of them could succeed in lifting the other from the ground he
-was declared victor, but so difficult was the feat that the phrase
-σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable
-to very difficult tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the
-Attic Dionysia.
-
-“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the name
-χαλκῆ μυῖα, or “brazen fly,” very prettily described by _Pollux_ ix,
-122. ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ
-μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι,
-θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν αὐτόν, ἕως τινὸς
-αὐτῶν λήψεται. One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture
-one of the rest. With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating
-the words χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω, “I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others
-responded θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, “you will hunt, but you will not
-catch,” and at the same time struck him more or less lightly with whips
-or threads of papyrus. When one of them was caught, he was blindfolded
-in place of the other, and the game repeated.
-
-A game called χυτρίνδα (_Pollux_ ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity
-on the part of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
-χύτρα. The others ran round him, pinching or striking him until by a
-quick movement he managed to catch one of them, who was obliged to take
-his place and be the χύτρα in turn. Sometimes the child ran about in a
-circle, carrying on his head a jar which he held with his left hand.
-His companions would strike him while asking him the question, τίς
-τὴν χύτραν; (who has the jar?), to which he answered, ἐγὼ, Μίδας (I,
-Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that child had
-to take his place.
-
-The term χυνδαλισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play,
-which somewhat resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging
-short, pointed poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first
-child holds his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to
-leave it standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to
-throw his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his
-own standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and
-so on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is
-still played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground
-is soft.
-
-A game especially suited to develop attention was the following. The
-players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a cord which he
-tried to place beside another child without being detected in the act.
-If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside whom the cord was found
-had to run round the ring amid the blows of his playfellows; if, on the
-other hand, he had noticed the other when putting the cord there, that
-one would have been obliged to run round the ring himself.
-
-A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles were
-flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm in falling,
-was played under the name of πεντάλιθος. This game was much in favor
-with Hellenic women, as well as with children, and was said to be the
-favorite amusement of the famous beauty, Phryne of Athens.
-
-The game of king (βασιλίνδα) consisted of feats, done by one child at
-the bidding of another, as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be
-king and who soldier was decided by lot.
-
-A favorite pastime with children was the game called ἀρτιασμός or “Odd
-and Even” (_Pollux_ ix, 101), in which they guessed whether the number
-of objects one held concealed in his hand was odd or even. Dice, nuts,
-coins, etc., were used for this purpose. The amount won or lost was
-either the articles themselves or a sum of money staked upon the guess.
-Horace also in the Satires alludes to this game under the name _ludere
-par impar_ (_Satires_ 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
-κολλαβισμός, in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
-him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking him.
-
-Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
-(σχοινοφιλίνδα), a piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The
-modern “hide and seek” was the Greek ἀποδιδρασκίνδα. “Kiss in the ring”
-(κυνητίνδα) is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no
-correct details. “Ride a cock horse” (κάλαμου περιβῆναι) was also an
-amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in Greece and
-in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this sport in the
-following words: _equitare in arundine longa_.
-
-The Greek and Roman children played several games of skill with nuts,
-which resembled very closely our modern game of marbles. Nuts played
-so important a part in childish sports that _nuces relinquere_ became
-a proverbial expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts
-were pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called ὤμιλλα (_Pollux_
-ix, 102-3) or into a hole βόθρος dug in the ground. Those that fell
-outside the circle were forfeited. The name delta was given to a
-certain game with nuts in which a triangle was chalked on the ground,
-and marked across with lines or bars running parallel to the base. The
-player then flipped nuts into the triangle, winning as many nuts as
-he crossed bars, provided, of course, that they did not roll outside
-the triangle, in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most
-skilful play consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the
-triangle.
-
-The ball (σφαῖρα) was not only a favorite toy among children, but it
-also played an important part in the physical exercises of youths and
-adults. No other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks
-and Romans of different periods as the ball games, though regarded
-less as a game than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and
-cultivating grace and symmetry of body.
-
-They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes as well
-as in later times when Greece was at the height of its glory. The
-Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of the emperors,
-also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued favor which
-ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its benefit to the body.
-The earliest mention of ball-playing is found in two passages of the
-Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare _Athen._ i, 15, c. Plutarch,
-_Alex._ c. 73). In the second passage, Homer represents ball-tossing as
-an adjunct to the dance. The game was accompanied by music and Odysseus
-was surprised at the marvelous dexterity of the players.
-
-“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance alone, for
-with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a goodly purple
-ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one, bending backward,
-flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other, leaping upward from the
-earth, easily caught the ball before his feet touched ground again.
-Then after they had tried the ball straight in the air, they danced
-upon the bounteous earth with tossings to and fro. Other young men beat
-time for them, standing round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping
-arose. Then to Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned
-of all, you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is
-proved true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
-ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (_Athenaios_ i, 246), and long
-survived.
-
-The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (_Od._ vi, 100), and her companions
-accompanied their game by singing, and the women of Corcyra at a later
-period are said to have followed this ancient custom. (_Athen._ i. 24
-_b_.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing was also accompanied by music.
-
-The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed the
-right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected pillars
-in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a player. The
-Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did the Athenians, and
-to them is attributed the invention of ball games. Among the kings of
-Greece, Alexander is mentioned as favoring ball-playing.
-
-In one of his plays, Πλυντρίαι, which was received with great favor,
-Sophocles introduced Nausicaä at play with a ball. Only the Milesians,
-who were devoted to agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as
-it did not tend to increase athletic ability and was of no value in
-helping them to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved
-on ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians, as
-ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a foundation
-for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was not considered
-complete without having a special room, called the σφαιριστήριον,
-devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor (σφαιριστικός) who
-had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
-this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
-become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.
-
-The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered it a
-pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the Elder enjoyed
-a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same day that he received
-the refusal of the consulate (_Oratio pro Archia Poeta_ _c._ 6, §6).
-Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried ball-playing along with
-banquets and games of dice. The emperor, Augustus, enjoyed a game of
-ball. Pliny, the younger, relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with
-old age by indulging in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a
-game at ball was the most common exercise practised immediately before
-bathing in the σφαιριστήριον (ball-court) connected with the bath.
-
-The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
-undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during the game,
-except in the σφαιριστήριον and probably not always even there.
-
-There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
-descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others we know
-simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios consider
-the game called οὐρανία to be identical with that practised by the
-Phæacians, as in this, according to Homer’s description, the body
-was bent backward and the ball was thrown high up into the air. The
-players then tried to catch the ball before it touched the ground.
-
-The game called ἐπίσκυρος (_Pollux_ ix, 104) at first peculiar to
-Sparta, was very popular and took its name from the line σκῦρος which
-separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and parallel
-with it were drawn two base lines (γραμμαὶ κατόπιν) beyond which the
-players could not go in catching the ball. The latter was placed
-upon the σκῦρος (whence the name ἐπίσκυρος) and the players started
-simultaneously from their respective base lines. Whoever seized the
-ball first, threw it as far as he could toward the enemies’ base
-line. The object, of course, was to force the line of enemies back,
-by constantly returning the ball further and further over their heads
-until they were driven over their own base lines. In this case a swift
-runner must have had a great advantage over the others, by securing the
-first throw.
-
-A favorite game is described by the term (φαινίνδα). The peculiar
-feature of this game was that the player who held the ball appeared
-to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an entirely
-different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and surprising
-another. This game is said to have demanded the utmost dexterity of a
-flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a skilful player to display
-a fine carriage and much grace, as may be seen in the description of
-Damoxenos by Athenaios (_Athen._ i, 15, 7).
-
-Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις,
-ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς, ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.
-
-ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν
-ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν οὔθ’ ἑώρακα
-τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς, καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
-φιλόσοφος.
-
-The ἁρπαστόν was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with
-the Greeks and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It
-required skill in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating
-distance, as well as great care in catching the ball. The name of
-the game indicates that each player tried to prevent the other from
-catching it. This game is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and
-according to him it was also played by women.
-
-The term ἀπόῤῥαξις was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which
-the ball was thrown to the ground with great force and continually
-struck back with the hand, as it rebounded. The number of times the
-ball was forced to the ground was counted. The victor was called king
-and could order the others about. The loser was called donkey (ὄνος).
-In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
-into the air as long as possible with the open hand.
-
-According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
-to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four divisions
-according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he described
-in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball games, which he
-considered of great importance on account of the benefit which they
-imparted to the mental and physical powers.
-
-In connection with these various ball games, they practised a peculiar
-gymnastic exercise with the κώρυκος, a leathern sack that must have
-resembled the modern punching bag on which pugilists try their fists.
-In form it resembled a ball, but in size and weight far surpassed the
-largest and heaviest ball. The κώρυκος was filled with fig seeds, meal
-or sand, and its size varied according to the age and strength of the
-individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach to about the middle
-of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in increasingly rapid
-motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast and hands. The game is
-alluded to by Plautus (_Rud._ iii, 4, 16). This sport cannot properly
-be styled a ball game, although it resembled one in some respects.
-Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient physicians regarded
-this exercise as very beneficial, because it not only strengthened the
-muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent corpulency.
-
-There are no records in classical literature to show that the Greeks
-and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.
-
-At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
-disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
-under the charge of the παιδονόμος; this official was, in conformance
-with the direction of Lykourgos, one of the best citizens; he was
-expected to discipline the youth in all the exercises that were so
-nicely adapted to develop the Spartan citizen, and to teach him all the
-cunning and courage that would afterwards be required in his service of
-the state.
-
-In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself. When
-children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and nurses
-was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were conducted each
-day by the παιδαγωγός, a special slave whose duty it was not only to
-conduct the children to and from school, but also to supervise their
-deportment.
-
-In the Athenian school, gymnastics (γυμναστική) was not by any means
-the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included three
-distinct courses:
-  (1) γραμματική.
-  (2) μουσική.
-  (3) γυμναστική.
-Under γραμματική were included reading and writing, to which were added
-after the 4th century B. C. elementary geometry, arithmetic and drawing.
-
-When the child was able to read and write with facility, he entered
-on the course called μουσική, which embraced the study of poetry and
-music. Passages from Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon,
-and from many lyric poets, were read and committed to memory. Xenophon
-mentions in his Symposium (_Symp._ iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who
-had committed to memory the whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
-The boys were also taught to chant the poems they had learned to the
-accompaniment of the lyre. Much stress was laid on the moral effects of
-music.
-
-But from no system of Greek education was γυμναστική, the careful
-and systematic development of the young body excluded. Nor did this
-training cease in mature years; when young men left the palæstra, they
-found awaiting them the gymnasium,--an institution that was adapted to
-social as well as athletic purposes.
-
-Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected, ever
-dream of dropping γυμναστική from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of
-Plato there is a detailed discussion of the education of children, and
-the plan is therein advocated of restricting the education of boys to
-gymnastics until their tenth year; the regular study of letters was
-not to begin until after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also
-maintained that gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany
-that of the mind.
-
-Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood was
-not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked athlete with
-firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted that the mass of
-their young men reached during the best age of Greek history a stage
-of physical perfection which has never been attained in any other age
-or country. This is attested by thousands of statues of victorious
-athletes, not only in Olympia but throughout Greece. Although the
-Greeks had no cricket or football they had on the other hand a far
-greater variety of games than we have, and this variety made for the
-symmetrical development of the body. The athletic sports of Greece
-remained great and respected until excessive training and extreme
-specialization brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted
-all his time to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of
-a harmonious development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
-games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
-will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal of a sound
-body for a sound mind.
-
-
-
-
-                          Transcriber’s Notes
-
-
-The following inconsistencies and typos were corrected:
-
-  Changed +accidently+ to +accidentally+ in “he accidentally killed by
-    an unlucky throw”.
-
-  Changed +greeves+ to +greaves+ in “helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves
-    and shield”.
-
-  Changed +greeves+ to +greaves+ in “The greaves, which were made of
-    flexible metal plates”.
-
-  Changed +ox hide+ to +oxhide+ in “layers of tough oxhide”.
-
-  Changed +Mycenæn+ to +Mycenæan+ in “pictured on Mycenæan gems”.
-
-  Changed +subtile+ to +subtle+ in “Only by subtle inferences”.
-
-  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “old Greek traveller Pausanias”.
-
-  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias claims to have seen”.
-
-  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “according to Pausanias died”.
-
-  Changed +Phæcians+ to +Phæacians+ in “the Phæacians, a light-hearted
-    people”.
-
-  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias describes them”.
-
-  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias especially mentions”.
-
-  Changed +Phayllos+ to +Phaÿllos+ in “Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said”.
-
-  Changed +Hippodrom+ to +Hippodrome+ in “a separate race-course,
-    called the Hippodrome”.
-
-  Changed +Mycenean+ to +Mycenæan+ in “the prowess of Mycenæan boxers”.
-
-  Changed +ox-hide+ to +oxhide+ in “strips of undressed oxhide”.
-
-  Changed +ἁγραύλοιο+ to +ἀγραύλοιο+ in “ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς
-    ἀγραύλοιο”.
-
-  Changed +ox-hide+ to +oxhide+ in “made of raw oxhide”.
-
-  Changed +ὠθιομοί+ to +ὠθισμοί+ in “The following Greek words,
-    ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί”.
-
-  Changed +advsied+ to +advised+ in “and advised that it be practised”.
-
-  Changed +ρόμβος+ to +ῥόμβος+ in “βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος”.
-
-  Changed +Plutrach+ to +Plutarch+ in “Cato the Younger also, says
-    Plutarch”.
-
-  Changed +ἔλκειν+ to +ἕλκειν+ in “the phrase σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν”.
-
-  Changed +ταινία+ to +ταινίᾳ+ in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες
-    ἑνὸς παιδός”.
-
-  Changed +ἐνὸς+ to +ἑνὸς+ in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς
-    παιδός”.
-
-  Changed +ἔως+ to +ἕως+ in “ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται”.
-
-  Changed +περιβήναι+ to +περιβῆναι+ in “κάλαμου περιβῆναι”.
-
-  Changed +ὥμιλλα+ to +ὤμιλλα+ in “a circle drawn on the ground called
-    ὤμιλλα”.
-
-  Changed +Nausicaa+ to +Nausicaä+ in “introduced Nausicaä at play with
-    a ball”.
-
-  Changed +recieved+ to +received+ in “he received the refusal of the
-    consulate”.
-
-  Changed +ἐσφαίριζειν+ to +ἐσφαίριζεν+ in “Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν
-    εἷς”.
-
-  Changed +ἀνδῶς+ to +ἀηδῶς+ in “δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς”.
-
-  Changed +κτησίβιος+ to +Κτησίβιος+ in “καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
-    φιλόσοφος”.
-
-  Changed +ὄνοξ+ to +ὄνος+ in “was called donkey (ὄνος)”.
-
-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT
-GREEKS ***
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 64627 ***
+
+                      ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE
+                            ANCIENT GREEKS.
+
+
+                        EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.,
+
+     AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON
+         TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY;
+              INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE
+                  MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
+
+
+   Reprinted from the _American Physical Education Review_, 1898.
+
+
+                           CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,
+            LOMBARD & CAUSTIC, PRINTERS, 26A BRATTLE ST.
+                                 1898.
+
+                             Copyrighted
+                  By EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.
+                             Boston, 1898.
+
+
+
+
+              I. ATHLETIC GAMES AMONG THE HOMERIC HEROES.
+
+                    BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.
+
+
+Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner. This
+is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter and
+the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and arms, but
+small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending over his
+work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity of body, and
+often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects result from the more
+primitive forms of labor, it is not at all strange that the laborers of
+the modern industrial world show bodily peculiarities and variations
+that correspond, in a marked degree, to their respective trades. A
+well-known teacher of gymnastics in a New England college has declared
+himself able to designate the various occupations of laborers in a
+Boston Labor Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner,
+merely by inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may,
+therefore, be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion,
+if performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions
+essential to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete
+respiration, and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only
+rarely, if ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.
+
+Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the design to
+produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is not
+deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical
+development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be such,
+is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts and
+powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing not
+only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in other
+words, of developing what the Greeks called εὐρυθμία.
+
+Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks alone
+made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not so much
+because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy to be
+a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly discerned the
+advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor of a powerful and
+graceful body.
+
+For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally
+turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that these
+poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of the
+Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization
+in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one
+hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once
+learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now
+we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe as
+uncivilized;--this art of literature is, nevertheless, only one phase
+of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today the lives
+of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations, outside the
+sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a people that
+has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be versed in
+simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet civilized;
+and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary records of
+that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception would
+be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the Homeric poems
+as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition of
+this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric athletics
+especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development. Hellenic
+legend strengthens this inference. According to a myth, Apollo enjoyed
+the diskos no less than music. He practiced for amusement with his
+favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is related, he accidentally killed by
+an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged
+Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of
+Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.
+
+It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of a very
+select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours
+and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to them.
+French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years of
+the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for
+the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not
+sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes.
+There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime,
+described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification,
+as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must be
+remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class whose deeds
+they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with which the scenes
+of this high life were adorned, would add to the credit of the poet.
+
+Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to our
+subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The Homeric poems
+give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band of Greek nobles
+who, with their followers, had left their native land, to besiege a
+foreign and hostile city.
+
+Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line that throws
+light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable classes.
+Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the Iliad,
+where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial
+occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement
+from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. _Il._ ii,
+773-775. λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ
+αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’.
+
+The word λαός, here used, is usually considered as denoting the
+people or multitude. The λαός before Troy, however, was undoubtedly
+of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of the Greeks
+were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples. And so the
+“folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with the diskos,
+spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the diskos alone
+was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear, in this case
+at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was used both in
+the chase and in war.
+
+The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports was, to
+a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those qualities
+required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means to an end, but
+they were also an end in themselves. Bodily exercise was not an irksome
+task, but an agreeable pastime. The ancient Hellenes were therefore
+a very happy people, the ends that they sought to attain prescribed
+tasks that were congenial with their national temperament. Accordingly,
+we find, in a well-established condition, a system of athletic sports
+that were not directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport
+was diskos throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a
+cylinder, and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who
+hurled the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless
+the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by the
+skilled diskobolos.
+
+That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well as of
+military training, is shown by the fact that when for any reason
+the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their followers
+resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors with years of
+experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they exercised, because
+to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual fighting will not alone
+explain this temperament. With the Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost
+synonymous with life itself. When they desired to escape from the
+chilling effect of a hero’s death, they instituted games, and thereby
+reasserted life. Perhaps the sufficient cause of this predilection for
+athletic exercise was the climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear,
+serene sky over Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity
+but did not dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled
+by the sea, and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains
+and valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must
+necessarily have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a
+free life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed
+to the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.
+
+In order to understand Homeric athletics--the substantial basis of all
+subsequent athletics--one must become interested in the method and
+details of Greek warfare. For to the Greek the road to distinction lay
+in the acquisition of the qualities required of the successful warrior,
+and it was only natural that pleasure and expediency should combine
+to make a pastime of the feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is
+achieved largely by the use of superior machines and by advantage
+of position. Until the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks,
+depended on the muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual
+warriors. The central and principal feature of early Greek warfare
+was a personal hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in
+preparing for war that each separate soldier should be made as active
+and vigorous as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until
+a late date, may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the
+victory of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra,
+B. C. 371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.
+
+Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of
+physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the
+weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered
+by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man. But, throughout
+all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has existed that could
+not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or wrestling. And it
+is certain that those who have survived the risks of these sports--the
+fittest--had developed bodies far superior in agility, and attained far
+greater command over the muscular system, as a whole, than would have
+been possible from practicing sports that do not involve risk.
+
+Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants quickly into each
+other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot or from the ground,
+they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing spears (δολιχόσκια
+ἔγχεα) _Il._ iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both
+came closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each
+other again.
+
+Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted
+to their swords or to any other available implement of offense.
+Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to
+conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric combat.
+In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the two heroes, after
+using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them at each other
+(_Il._ vii, 264-270).
+
+The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as could be
+handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according to the
+strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons, in the
+hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it was but
+natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing the
+strength requisite for adopting them.
+
+Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet, girdle,
+greaves and shield. The Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap,
+covering the head in front above the eyes, and extending down in the
+back, to the nape of the neck from ear to ear. Some forms show that the
+lower part was prolonged and carried round so as to cover all above
+the shoulders. The corselet consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate
+and a back-plate, which were laced together by cords passed through
+eyelet holes made in the sides, below the bottom of which the body was
+protected by metal girdle. The greaves, which were made of flexible
+metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front part of
+the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield consisted
+of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough oxhide, and reached
+from the neck to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is
+pictured on Mycenæan gems.
+
+For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare,
+the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain that the
+attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient. Nestor is deemed
+happy because his sons were “wise-minded and mighty with the spear.”
+The poet frequently makes sly fun of Telamonian Aias, who, although
+gigantic in size and of immense strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat
+dull of intellect. To train the senses, and above all the eye, to
+make the body alert and immediately responsive to the perceptions,
+was considered quite as requisite as to train the muscles. For, in
+the exigencies of battle, a certain quickness of intellect was often
+more effective than brute strength. Agility was, therefore, prized
+and cultivated above all other qualities. When the ponderous spear of
+Menelaos smote and pierced the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and
+escaped black death.” (_Il._ iii, 392.) To fight successfully from
+the chariot, to dismount and grapple with the adversary, necessitated
+not only muscular strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an
+ability to seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or
+fend instantly the deadly thrust.
+
+While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially notable way
+on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a hero, yet it
+should not be supposed that such contests were at all uncommon. On
+the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and sentences
+that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of competitive
+games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (ποδάρκης, πόδας ὠκὺς) _Il._ ix,
+307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer (πὺξ
+ἀγαθός) _Il._ iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being
+shown at the more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited,
+had there not been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again,
+Homer often speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain
+lines of athletics was well known, and had been often sustained against
+challengers. When Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he
+asks for the two who are best (ὥπερ ἀρίστω), _Il._ xxiii, 659, to come
+forward, as if it were well known who the skilful boxers were. When
+Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor in the foot-race, he is called
+the champion of foot-racers among the youth (ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ
+πάντας ἐνίκα). _Il._ xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to
+the fact that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize.
+Athletic skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice.
+We may conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of
+which Homer wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,--so frequent that
+they were taken as a matter of course,--and that on special occasions,
+such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or
+the anniversary of some god’s benefaction, the games were conducted in
+a more public and ceremonious manner; and that on such occasions prizes
+were offered and intense excitement prevailed.
+
+Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when an old man,
+tells of competing in his youth in the various games held in honor of
+Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion, Nestor was in his prime and
+was victor in the boxing-match, the foot-race, and the spear-throwing
+contest; being surpassed only in the chariot-races. Certain recorded
+myths sustain the scholar in referring the origin of funeral games to a
+time much preceding the age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of
+the funeral games in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato,
+as the most ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral
+contest in honor of Androgeos.
+
+In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable minuteness
+the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend, whom Hector
+slew in battle.
+
+The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of racing
+was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic legend assigns
+the origin of the races far back of Homeric times, in the dark heroic
+age of mythology. While the site of stately Thebes was still covered
+with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen in Poseidon’s grove,
+horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from the race. When Apollo
+thought of building a temple for himself at the sacred spring of the
+nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded him, declaring that the god would be
+disturbed by the incessant noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of
+horses, and that every one would prefer to see the beautifully-built
+chariots and the swift-footed horses, and so fail to appreciate the
+temple with its treasures. Oinomaos is said to have offered to her
+suitors his daughter, Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a
+chariot-race.
+
+To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes, and
+called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos,
+and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of swift horses to
+his war-chariot. The competitors were directed to round a goal in the
+distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising his son, Antilochos: “A
+fathom’s height above the ground standeth a withered stump, whether
+of oak or pine; it decayeth not in the rain, and two white stones, on
+either side thereof, are fixed at the joining of the track, and all
+around it is smooth driving ground. Whether it be a monument of some
+man dead long ago, or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient
+men, this now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is
+easy to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of
+the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round this
+goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning (μῆτις) the
+principal factor of victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of
+charioteer. For whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth
+heedlessly and wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course,
+and he keepeth them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though
+he drive worse horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth
+closely by it, neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses
+by the oxhide reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the
+leader in the race.”
+
+On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the advantage
+that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched horses.
+Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed the best
+horses of those that were gathered before Troy; they were very swift,
+and were classified and paired with regard to speed, color, age, and
+stature; they were “matched to the measure of a levelling-line across
+their backs.” _Il._ ii, 763-765.
+
+Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of
+Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race,
+although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios--the immortal
+steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon--would undoubtedly have won for
+him the victory. Through skill and cunning, Antilochos quickly overtook
+Menelaos, left him behind and won the race, although his horses were
+much inferior to those of the latter.
+
+It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile combat, the
+Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood alone in
+his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil of
+battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver (ἡνίοχος). This was
+beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work of
+art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century B. C.
+
+After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered two
+prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the loser.
+He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of first-class
+reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly claimed the first
+prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting this claim,
+gave voice to the following prediction: “I will utterly bruise mine
+adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let his friends abide
+together here to bear him forth when vanquished by my hands.”
+
+Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists cast
+about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of raw
+oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all their
+limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek, and Euryalos
+collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s ripple a fish leapeth on a
+tangled-covered beach, and then the black wave hideth it, so leapt up
+Euryalos at that blow.”
+
+The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again Achilles
+offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the loser. Only
+Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and Telamonian Aias, the
+representative of bodily size and brute force, essayed to struggle.
+After they had girt themselves they went into the midst of the ring.
+Here they stood locked in each other’s arms, like two gable rafters
+joined by a builder. Their backs were gripped with such force that they
+creaked; the sweat ran down their bodies in streams; blood-colored
+welts appeared on their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with
+the advantage on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary.
+At last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful
+of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias fell
+backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was not bought
+with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After Odysseus had tried
+futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell together in the
+dust. They rose and would have wrestled the third time had not Achilles
+restrained them by declaring the contest a draw.
+
+From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes
+practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished
+from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the antagonists
+struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and struggled again.
+When an antagonist had been thrown three times the contest was decided
+in favor of the other. In the latter variety the contestants continued
+the struggle on the ground, after they had fallen. At a later period
+standing wrestling was practiced at all the great games. Plato, who was
+always alive to the value of these contests, as a preparation for war,
+greatly preferred standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles
+of the upper part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders,
+and neck. Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a
+fine carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the
+resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the
+most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.
+
+In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle
+entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after the
+bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic
+exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor and unimportant
+things, does not mention oil in this connection. He certainly would not
+have passed over in complete silence, the use of oil in these contests
+had he been familiar with the custom.
+
+After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was
+ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors
+were three,--Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos, son of
+Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.
+
+That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes the
+duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the contest
+with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been pronounced,
+on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation. It should
+accordingly be considered as data for an account of the athletics of
+later times.
+
+The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of
+javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete, Achilles
+at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his well-known excellence
+in this feat.
+
+The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell upon
+the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of the poem,
+after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a thought given
+to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race, the descriptions
+are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the poet would dispose
+of them as quickly as possible, and as if he would say: “This is not my
+theme.” Achilles superintends the games with a lofty indifference, and
+even cuts some of them short, as if other things were on his mind.
+
+In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a greater
+inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more in
+harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades the Odyssey;
+the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s imagination, and
+have been replaced by those of festivity and pleasure. A new generation
+is described. Athletics have become less violent and the scenes are
+embellished by the interspersion of music, dancing, and poetry.
+
+The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of things
+among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island on the
+western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed Odysseus,
+the representative of the older generation. The shipwrecked stranger
+does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an escort that may guide him
+homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:
+    “Say from what city, from what regions tossed,
+    And what inhabitants those regions boast?
+    So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned
+    In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;
+    No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;
+    Like man intelligent they plow the tides,
+    Conscious of every coast and every bay
+    That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”
+                                   _Odyssey_, Book viii.
+But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal
+entertainment has been provided.
+
+First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the
+Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes and
+of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare for the
+games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger their skill
+in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued forth from the
+palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian athletes exhibited
+themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling match, at leaping,
+throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these games, except leaping,
+are mentioned also in the Iliad.
+
+Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive body,
+invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no greater glory for
+a man in all his life than what he wins with his own feet and hands,”
+says Laodamas.
+
+At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos he
+decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak still on, he
+sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and thick, heavier by
+not a little than those which the Phæacians were using for themselves.
+This with a twist he sent from his stout hand. The stone hummed as it
+went. Past all the marks it flew, swift speeding from his hands.”
+
+Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and he
+challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to contend
+with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,--it matters not
+to him.
+
+Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round” athlete.
+“Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I understand full
+well handling the polished bow. None except Philoktetes excelled me
+with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans tried the bow. I send the spear
+farther than other men an arrow.”
+
+Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the stern mood of
+the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the king, “no, nor
+wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in our ships excel.
+Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance, changes of clothes,
+warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers the best among you
+make us sport, that so the stranger on returning home may tell his
+friends how we surpass all other men in sailing, running, in the dance
+and song.”[A]
+
+[A] Palmer’s Translation.
+
+The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires (the
+mention of whom shows how important athletics have become), clear the
+ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious lyre,” Demodokos, the
+blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring, and is surrounded by
+youthful men skilled in dancing. “They struck the splendid dance-ground
+with their feet; Odysseus watched their twinkling feet, and was
+astonished.”
+
+No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric aristocracy, but
+activity of the most virile type. And, although Homer’s two epics grew
+into form long after the splendid Achæan civilization of which he wrote
+existed only in legend, yet he artfully excludes any references to
+contemporary facts. Only by subtle inferences can information about
+the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works of
+art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes
+them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is
+therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made
+an admission with regard to his own times,--times, which, in fact
+were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have
+demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric
+epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan
+civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the
+Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility
+practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in
+addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as
+if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is
+recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral
+games in honor of Amphidamos.
+
+
+
+
+               II. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.
+
+
+In historic times the great national festivals were already
+established. They had undoubtedly grown out of local athletic
+festivals of very ancient origin. Of these Panhellenic festivals, that
+celebrated once in every four years at Olympia in Elis was the oldest
+and the greatest. The nationalization of this festival is assigned
+traditionally to the year 776 B. C. This date depends on a list of
+Olympic victors, compiled in the last part of the fifth century by the
+sophist Hippias of Elis, and handed down by Eusebios. Modern historians
+are not unanimous in accepting the early part of this register, and
+the minority have supported their charge of spuriousness by adducing
+unharmonious facts. In itself the date 776 B. C. is not unreasonable.
+And when it is considered how comparatively easy and common travel was
+in Hellas, it is not rash to suppose that the festival, when once it
+had become celebrated as a local affair was resorted to by travellers,
+if not as participants, at least as spectators. Certain it is that the
+Olympic festival was already a Panhellenic institution, when the other
+three festivals were established early in the sixth century, and that
+to the close of Greek history it continued the most glorious.
+
+The Pythian games were celebrated on the Krissean Plain in Phokis in
+honor of Apollo. These games were held for several days in January in
+the third year of each Olympiad. The prize was a wreath of laurel and a
+palm.
+
+The Nemean games were held in the groves of Nemea, near Kleonai in
+Argolis, in the winter and summer alternately of the second and fourth
+years of each Olympiad. The prize was a wreath of parsley.
+
+The Isthmian games, instituted in honor of Poseidon, took place at
+Corinth in the spring and summer alternately of the first and third
+years of each Olympiad. This alternation was arranged to avoid
+interference with the Olympian and Pythian festivals. The victor’s
+prize at the Isthmia was a wreath of pine native to the spot.
+
+Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent
+recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a local
+exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the Isthmus, Pytho,
+and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined. Each of the four great
+festivals had peculiar features of its own. Thus, the Pythian games,
+probably next to the Olympian in importance, were characterized by
+competitions in music and poetry in addition to the athletic contests.
+The Isthmian games were distinguished by the addition of boat-racing
+and swimming contests.
+
+But all were essentially alike. All were designed as glorifications of
+the strong and agile body. All were marked with patriotism. All were
+embellished with the greatest products of Hellenic art. All were held
+in honor of gods. And a fitting tribute and worship they furnished,
+not the mumbled prayers of a sallow-visaged, stunted race, but the
+exultant feats of proud, self-reliant men. All were attended by the
+most studied and artistic pomp. The greatest lyric poets of Hellas,
+Simonides and Pindar, for instance, celebrated the victors. Of Pindar’s
+ἐπινίκια or “Odes of Victory,” we possess fourteen Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι for
+winners in the Olympian games. Twelve Πυθιονῖκαι for the Pythian
+games, seven Νεμεονῖκαι for the Nemean games, and eleven Ἰσθμεονῖκαι
+for the Isthmian games. Even the wise men and famous bards of Greece
+could not resist the desire to be present. It is said that the Spartan
+Chilon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, died while witnessing
+these games, being overcome with joy at his son’s victory. Sages like
+Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Sokrates, Plato, Aristippos, Diogenes and
+Thales came, lured not only by the desire of beholding athletic feats,
+but also eager to engage in debate, or perhaps to explain some new
+theory of the universe. Statesmen like Themistokles and Kimon resorted
+to the games and there met the rulers of distant states. Orators and
+sophists like Gorgias, Lysias and Demosthenes, were present at the
+Olympian games. The first two made great panegyric speeches. The games
+on the Isthmus were attended by the great dramatists Aischylos and
+Ion. Historians like Herodotos carried their scrolls to read before
+assembled Hellas. Artists came to exhibit their works of art, and
+perhaps to obtain new customers. Sculptors showed models of their
+skill, and potters exhibited vases. These games, like the Schwingfest
+and the shooting-matches of Switzerland, served not only as pleasant
+occasions of reunion, but tended to the diffusion of national ideas.
+In the language of John Fiske, “young men of the noblest families and
+from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran,
+undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”
+
+The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor to his
+country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and on reaching
+home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal song written
+by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant fact is that the Greek
+era began with the Olympic games; every period of four years was called
+an Olympiad.
+
+About twenty miles above the mouth of the Alpheios, in a long, narrow
+valley surrounded by well-wooded hills, it is joined by the ancient
+Kladeos, coming from the north. At the angle formed by the junction of
+the two rivers is the area known as Olympia, the scene of the greatest
+athletic festival that the world has ever witnessed.
+
+To the north of this plain was a range of rocky hills, the nearest of
+which was the famous Kronion, conical in shape and about 400 feet in
+height. As its name signifies, this hill was sacred to Kronos, the
+father of Zeus. Another low range bounded the valley on the south.
+The western boundary was the Kladeos. Eastward was the hill of Pisa,
+and further in the distance were visible the snow-crowned summits of
+Erymanthos and Kyllene.
+
+During the long centuries that succeeded the extinction of Greek
+civilization, the precinct of the games, and the equipments, buildings
+and statues that remained, were gradually covered by a stratum of
+alluvium from the Alpheios, mixed with a deposit of clay from Kronion.
+The rest of the world was not interested enough to record the process,
+and when in modern times scholars saw no trace of the original scene,
+it was supposed that the Alpheios by its overflowings had destroyed all
+monuments. Recent excavations, however, have revealed a very precious
+remnant at the bottom of the alluvium. It was indeed not really a
+misfortune that during periods when the products of old civilizations
+were treated with fanaticism on the one hand, and rapacity on the
+other, the Olympian scene was covered with earth rather than left
+exposed to the hand of Middle Age barbarians.
+
+The systematic excavation of Olympia was undertaken in 1875 by the
+German government. The work involved great expense, and the willingness
+of the Germans to undertake and execute the task has brought them much
+praise from the scholars of other countries. The excavations were
+completed on the 20th of March, 1881.
+
+During these six years a space in the form of a square, measuring 1,000
+feet on each side, was stripped of the accumulated deposit of twelve
+centuries; the average depth of this covering was estimated to be over
+sixteen feet.
+
+Archæologically, this excavation involved expert care and much labor.
+Neither the care nor the labor was withheld. The result may best
+be described in the language of an eminent professor of classical
+archæology:--
+
+“The result of these excavations, carried on there at great cost and
+with supreme disinterestedness by the German people, has been to
+enable the traveller at Olympia not only to study the scene of the
+greatest of Greek athletic festivals, but to trace the celebration
+from hour to hour and from point to point. He not only sees the hill
+of Cronion, where the spectators crowded, wades through Olympic dust,
+and feels the sun of Olympia beat on his head, but he can wander on
+the threshold of the temple of Zeus, pass from building to building
+in the sacred enclosure of the Altis, and stand at the starting-point
+of the runners in the Stadium. Taking the guidebook of the old Greek
+traveller Pausanias in our hand, we can follow in his steps, and out of
+broken pillars, truncated pedestals and the foundations of demolished
+buildings, we can conjure forth the beautiful Olympia of old, with its
+glorious temples, its rows of altars, its statues of gods and godlike
+men who conquered in the games, its treasuries full of the noblest
+works of art and the richest spoils of war. And we can people the
+solitude with the combatants and with the spectators, a crowd filled
+with the enthusiasm of the place and with delight in manly contests;
+a crowd over whom emotions swept as rapidly as chariots through the
+hippodrome, and who were ever breaking out into wild cries of delight,
+or loud shouts of scorn and derision. We can see the bestowal of the
+crowns of wild olive, and can hear the heralds recite the names of
+those who have been victorious.”
+
+Here, then, in the summer time was held the great athletic festival in
+honor of Olympian Zeus. At the beginning of authentic history it was
+already a venerable institution. We have already learned that early in
+the sixth century the other three Panhellenic festivals were modeled
+upon it. Many myths very early sprang into existence to explain its
+origin. Pindar, it is well known, in one of his Olympian odes makes
+the Dorian Herakles the founder. Of course, the myths do not agree,
+and if they did would establish nothing directly; indirectly, however,
+they show that at the time of their first promulgation the festival
+had attained so approved a system, so wide a celebrity, and so great a
+prestige as to need accounting for and to be compatible with an exalted
+origin. And as a matter of fact, system, celebrity and prestige do not
+fall to the lot of an institution in the period of a single generation.
+
+The festival was from the first under the charge of the Eleians. But
+so liberal a policy did this nation adopt and pursue that people from
+neighboring states were glad to send competitors. Rapidly the custom of
+resorting to the games spread to more distant states. From an Eleian
+event, the festival became Peloponnesian, and finally Panhellenic.
+The Athenians and Thebans at a very early date achieved splendid
+victories in these games. The Theban Pagondas was crowned victor in the
+four-horse chariot race in the 25th Olympiad, when for the first time
+this was a feature of the festival. Thus one state after another turned
+its attention to the venerable celebration, and if it happened that a
+citizen of one state was crowned victor in a contest, interest in the
+games was sure to be increased in that locality.
+
+Even in the absence of positive evidence it would be contrary to
+reason to suppose that the games were originally established as they
+existed at the time of Pindar. In fact, the different features were
+added successively. According to a fairly reliable tradition, there
+was originally and for twelve following Olympiads only one contest:
+the δρόμος, a foot-race consisting of a single lap of a stadion of two
+hundred yards. About 720 B. C., according to the tradition, was added
+the δίαυλος, a race in which the stadion was traversed twice. Soon
+afterward was added the δόλιχος, or long race, consisting of seven,
+then of twelve and perhaps twenty-four laps. The next contest to be
+introduced was the wrestling-match. In the same year that wrestling
+was introduced, about the 18th Olympiad, the pentathlon made its
+appearance. This feature, though consisting of five contests--leaping,
+spear-throwing, diskos-pitching, running and wrestling--was
+nevertheless a single event, inasmuch as victory in one contest alone
+was not rewarded; an athlete to be crowned victor in the pentathlon
+must win at least three of the contests. Boxing and the chariot race
+are said to have been added in the 23d Olympiad. Thus the games grew
+more elaborate, and the time over which they extended was increased
+from a single day to five or six.
+
+The festival was conducted by judges, called Hellanodikai, elected
+by the people of Elis a year beforehand. The number of these judges
+was about ten; they were expected to give close attention to their
+duties. Thirty days before the festival, candidates for the various
+contests presented themselves before the Hellanodikai for examination.
+In order that the name of a candidate could be considered, he must
+prove himself to be of pure Hellenic stock, and must give evidence of
+having practised in a gymnasium for ten months previously; finally,
+the candidate must practise for thirty days in the great gymnasium of
+Elis, under the supervision of the Hellanodikai. The names of those
+who were able to satisfy the judges were placed on a white board which
+was exposed to view at Olympia. After an athlete had been entered for
+a contest, it was considered the greatest ignominy for him to withdraw
+for any reason; indeed, for so doing he was heavily fined. Theagenes,
+an athlete of wide fame, was unable to enter the pankration because he
+had been disabled in the boxing-match; but inasmuch as he had had his
+name entered for both events, he was fined.
+
+Eleven days before the festival, the Hellanodikai caused to be
+proclaimed by heralds throughout all the cities of Hellas the truce,
+sacred to Olympian Zeus, which was to last a month. It was this truce
+that made the Olympia possible as a Panhellenic institution. During the
+month that followed the proclamations of the heralds, all wars between
+Hellenic states were held in abeyance, and travellers were allowed to
+journey through them unmolested. The awful name of Zeus coupled with
+the decrees of rulers made this truce effective.
+
+During the eleven days pilgrims from all over Hellas were approaching
+Olympia. Some of the scenes may be imagined. In the language of
+Professor Percy Gardner: “From all the shores of the Mediterranean
+and the Euxine seas the Greek colonies sent deputations to represent
+them at the games, to bear offerings to the temple, and to perform
+sacrifices on their behalf. And the Greeks readily took a tinge from
+the land wherein they dwelt. There were dwellers on the northern
+shore of the Black Sea, to whom continual intercourse and frequent
+intermarriage with their Scythian neighbors gave almost the aspect
+of nomads; and colonists from Massilia, who in dress and blood were
+half Gauls. There were people from Cyrene, with the hot blood and dark
+complexions of Africa, and oriental Ionians, with trailing robes and
+effeminate airs. There were rude pirates from Acarnania, and delicate
+sensualists from Cyprus.”
+
+To give a detailed account of the competitions at each of the great
+festivals would involve much unnecessary repetition. That held at
+Olympia, therefore, may be taken as the type and the ideal of the
+others. But even at Olympia, the celebrations of which have been most
+widely written of both by ancient and modern scholars, it is not always
+easy to determine the exact order of the various contests.
+
+There is hardly a doubt that at the Olympic festival as well as at
+the others the foot-races were the initial competitions. Plato says
+that at his time when a contest took place the herald first called on
+the σταδιοδρόμος to do his part. The reason for beginning with the
+foot-race was probably an historical one; as has been said, it was
+originally the sole competition at the Olympic celebration. According
+to the old Eleian priest legends, the Idaian Herakles, one of the
+Cretan Kouretes, came to Elis in the reign of Kronos, in the golden
+age, and arranged a foot-race in which the victor was crowned with wild
+olive. The legends further state that the place thus honored by the
+priest of Olympian Zeus was afterward called Olympia, and that in time
+the celebration was repeated at intervals of four years. Of course the
+foregoing is a tale invented to explain the priority of the foot-race
+as well as the founding of the festival. Another legend recounts that
+at one of these subsequent celebrations Endymion, son of Æthlios,
+offered the kingdom of Klymenos, whom he had conquered, as a prize to
+that one of his sons who should be first in the foot-race. Such are
+some of the myths that helped to sanction and endear an inviolable
+Olympic custom. It is noteworthy in this connection that in the Odyssey
+the Phæacians had opened their games with the foot-race.
+
+The technique of foot-racing, the style of running most advantageous,
+and the training and qualities necessary for it, differ considerably
+with the distance covered. Accordingly very early in the history of the
+Olympic festival races of varying length were one by one introduced,
+and the variety doubtless tended to attract a larger number of
+competitors and to make the occasion more interesting.
+
+For thirteen Olympiads, however, the race called the δρόμος was the
+only feature. In this race the stadion was traversed but once. As the
+course of the stadion was about 200 yards, the δρόμος was what we
+call a sprint, and required that a runner exert himself to the utmost
+from start to finish. This simple race remained a favorite mode of
+competition among the Greeks until a late time--being practised by
+Alexander.
+
+The δίαυλος, or double course of the stadion, was introduced in
+the 14th Olympiad. This race required that the runner, after having
+traversed the 200 yards and reached the goal, should return to the
+point of starting. As he rounded the goal he described an arc, and on
+his way back took the opposite side of the track in order that he might
+not collide with other runners.
+
+Very soon after the introduction of the δίαυλος the ἵππιος δρόμος and
+then the δόλιχος were instituted. The ἵππιος δρόμος, which implies a
+horse-race, was in reality a foot-race, the contestant running the
+distance generally covered in a horse-race--namely, four times the
+length of the stadion, or 800 yards.
+
+The δόλιχος was added to the Olympic games in the 15th Olympiad, and
+was, like our long runs, a test primarily of endurance and lung-power.
+The distance covered varied from seven to twenty-four laps of the
+stadion, or from less than a mile to about three miles. At Olympia,
+however, the distance was twelve stadia. As the δόλιχος was run on the
+same track on which the single and double races took place, it was
+really only a series of double races.
+
+In the 65th Olympiad, the ὁπλίτων δρόμος was introduced. In this race
+the competitors wore helmets and greaves, and carried shields on their
+left arms. Pausanias claims to have seen the statue of Demaratos
+equipped with a round shield, helmet and antique greaves. At a later
+period, however, the helmet and greaves were discarded at Olympia, and
+the race was run with shields alone. The distance covered in this race
+was two stadia--the length of the δίαυλος. Pindar, the poet laureate
+of the Olympians, mentions the race with shields, and with poetic
+privilege ascribes its origin to heroic times. Plato considered the
+exercise very valuable as war training, and prescribed it as a part
+of the athletics of his ideal commonwealth. Plato devised two other
+races involving armor: in one the competitor should be equipped as
+a heavy-armed hoplite, and should cover a distance of sixty stadia
+on a level plain; in the other the competitor should wear the light
+equipments of an archer, and should cover one hundred stadia over hills
+and valleys.
+
+The running contests at the great games were governed by certain
+established rules. No fraud or guile was allowed to be used by the
+contestant on the track for the purpose of impeding his companions.
+They were very particular that all should start at the same time and
+from the same line, so that no one might have the advantage over
+the others. It was also contrary to rule for an athlete voluntarily
+to slacken his speed and allow his fellow-contestants to win. The
+competitors were appointed by lot and arranged in groups. These groups
+raced in heats of four, ranged in the places assigned them by lot. The
+first group was followed by the second, the second by the third, etc.
+When all groups had finished, the victors of each again entered the
+contest and strove for the prize; so that every σταδιοδρόμος had to win
+twice before he was crowned victor.
+
+The physicians of olden times mentioned two other foot-races which
+in their opinion afforded excellent gymnastic exercise. The first of
+these was practised in the sixth division of the stadion and consisted
+of running first forward and then backward. In this race the body was
+not turned once, but the distance that was run forward was continually
+shortened by backward running until the contestant finally stood at the
+starting-point. In the second race the contestant ran on tiptoe with
+outstretched arms which he swung violently to and fro. It was practised
+along a wall so that, should the balance be lost, the runner could hold
+and support himself against it.
+
+Among the less important foot-races were two that had their origin in
+certain local celebrations, namely, the torch race and the race of the
+vintage festival, held at Athens. Similar races took place at Sparta
+during the great national festival of the Κάρνεια held in honor of
+Apollo.
+
+In the preparation for these different kinds of foot-races everything
+was done in the way of training that would tend to make the body as
+light as possible and increase its rapidity, although the different
+cities of Greece varied to some extent as regards the question of diet,
+rubbing and baths.
+
+In practising for the foot-race the contestant, having divested himself
+of every shred of clothing and anointed his body with oil, was made to
+exert himself as much as possible. The exertion was often increased
+by making the run in deep sand instead of on firm ground; the foot
+having a less firm support, the runner was obliged to work harder and
+more quickly. In this way these exercises gave to the body not only
+great power of endurance, but also increased speed, and as a result the
+δολιχοδρόμοι possessed strong and well-developed legs. The shoulders
+and upper part of the body, on the other hand, owing to insufficient
+exercise were small and narrow. On that account Sokrates did not favor
+the races because they did not produce a harmonious development of the
+body. The skilled runner naturally strove to preserve an erect carriage
+while running, and to conform to all established rules regarding the
+contest. In this connection it may be interesting to mention the
+strange ideas entertained among the Greeks regarding the influence of
+the spleen over the powers of the body. This little organ, situated
+behind the stomach on the left side of the abdomen, and exercising
+some function which still remains unknown, would in their opinion if
+diseased prove a great hindrance to a contestant in the race. In order,
+therefore, to prevent such a catastrophe they resorted to extraordinary
+means, namely, the use of certain plants which they believed would
+dissolve or eat away the spleen; or even to surgical operations, such
+as cutting or burning it out. On the other hand, they believed that a
+diseased spleen was greatly benefited by exercise in running. Laomedon
+of Orchomenos is quoted as furnishing an example of this kind.
+
+The attitude of the runners we learn from vases. Those who were
+contending in the short race or dash swung their arms backward and
+forward alternately. This is beautifully shown by a painting on a
+Panathenæan vase in the possession of Koller. It represents four
+athletes running, hardly touching the ground with one foot, while
+the other is raised and moved forward in order to cover the greatest
+possible distance with one step. The hands are wide open; the arms are
+moved about freely and appear to act as the wings of the body, and
+their motion is in harmony with that of the lower limbs. Another vase,
+discovered in the ancient tombs of Volci, also shows a similar method
+of running. The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their arms
+as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long distance
+clenched their fists and held their arms close to their sides, as do
+our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during the games. It
+is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in order to retain
+their courage, while at the same time the admiring spectators cheered
+wildly as some favorite or friend neared the goal. As the Greeks did
+not possess the modern mechanical means of communication, they had
+to rely mostly upon messengers; hence the great necessity for expert
+runners. To this fact is due to a considerable degree the development
+of agonistic and running contests in Greece. It is said that after the
+battle of Platæa all the sacred fires which had been profaned by the
+Persians were extinguished, and that Ἐνχίδας, a Platæan, covered in one
+day the distance of a thousand stadia from Platæa to Delphi and back
+again, and brought his fellow-citizens the pure fire from the altar
+of Apollo. As a result of this terrible strain he sank to the ground
+and died. The Cretans were especially noted in the δόλιχος. Sotades
+and Ergoteles were among the most famous. The Arcadian Dromeos was
+another celebrated runner, having been like the former twelve times
+victorious in the δόλιχος. Ladas, the famous Spartan runner, was also
+victorious in the δόλιχος, but according to Pausanias died at the goal
+on completing a race.
+
+Comparison of the speed of Hellenic athletes with that of modern
+runners is exceedingly difficult, because the Hellenes had no means of
+measuring minutes of time; they did not say of an athlete that he ran
+the δίαυλος in such a time, but that he won (_i. e._, surpassed his
+competitors) in a certain Olympic celebration.
+
+Probably the next event was the pentathlon. This competition was
+introduced into the festival at about the 18th Olympiad. As the
+etymology of the word signifies, the pentathlon consisted of five
+distinct competitions, enumerated in a well-known pentameter ascribed
+to Simonides: leaping (ἅλμα), running (ποδωκείην), diskos-throwing
+(δίσκον), spear-throwing (ἄκοντα), wrestling (πάλην). That the poet
+arranged the events in this order cannot be taken as positive proof
+that this was the real order, as it is hard to see how these words
+could be arranged otherwise in a pentameter. It is probable, however,
+that wrestling was the final contest. There is some uncertainty as to
+what constituted a victory in the pentathlon, but it is evident that
+the purpose of this competition was to develop what we call “all-round
+athletes,” and the assertion that the victor must have won three out of
+the five contests cannot be far from the truth.
+
+In such a combination of exercises it would certainly be good athletic
+policy to make leaping the first contest. It may be questioned whether
+an athlete could leap so well after having engaged in the more violent
+exercises, whereas leaping itself, instead of disqualifying for the
+other exercises, would on the contrary rouse the animal spirits without
+bringing on exhaustion, and thereby put the athletes at once in good
+condition. For the leap requires not only vigor and elasticity, but
+also courage and determination.
+
+The beneficent results of this exercise were recognized at a very early
+period by the Hellenes, although in the heroic world the leap was not
+considered so important as the other modes of contest. In the games
+of Achilles the leap is not mentioned. In the Odyssey, however, the
+Phæacians, a light-hearted people, more fond of amusement than of war,
+are said to be skilled in leaping. It is in historic times, however,
+that leaping, as an important event in the pentathlon of the public
+games, acquires its technique, and receives the careful attention of
+athletes.
+
+What may be called the pure leap, that is the standing leap without
+accessory aids, was not practised at Olympia. The leaper held in his
+hands weights resembling our dumb-bells, and known as ἁλτῆρες. To
+determine the dynamic advantage of these weights is not easy, but
+it is certain that with them the exercise required more skill, and
+accordingly more practice, that it called into play more muscles, and
+that it was more attractive to athletes as a mode of competition.
+
+While little information can be obtained from classic writers
+concerning the ἁλτῆρες, much can be learned from archæological
+specimens. Pausanias describes them as having the form of a semi-oval,
+or inaccurately-rounded ring that could be grasped by the fingers as a
+shield was grasped. This description corresponds with a drawing of the
+ἁλτῆρες on a vase in Hamilton’s second collection. Ἁλτῆρες of another
+shape, however, resembling very closely the modern dumb-bells, are
+seen on many other vases and gems. These had both ends rounded, and
+were narrow in the middle in order that they might be easily held. In
+Hamilton’s first collection are vases giving representations of these
+ἁλτῆρες. In the Museo Borbonico may be seen on a patera a drawing in
+which the ἁλτῆρες have still another form: when the hand has grasped
+the handle of these, beyond the hand, on one side only, a club-shaped
+part protrudes. The ἁλτῆρες were usually made of lead.
+
+In the pentathla, leaping never took place without ἁλτῆρες, which the
+athlete usually held directly in front of him, and then, as he sprang,
+brought behind him, thus helping to propel his body forward.
+
+In addition to the ἁλτῆρες, professional athletes made use of another
+aid--the βατήρ. The latter was a board on which they stood before
+taking the leap, and which may indeed have been provided with a spring.
+
+Pausanias especially mentions the fact that the leaping of the
+pentathli in the Olympic festival was accompanied by airs on the flute.
+This music was probably to open the pentathlon, the most splendid and
+stirring of gymnastic contests, as well as to increase the courage of
+the leapers.
+
+The only leap that belonged to the pentathlon was the standing long
+jump. There is no trace of anything like the hop, step and jump. The
+figures of athletes on vases are represented not as running, but as
+standing and swinging the ἁλτῆρες. Then, too, it would seem that in
+the running jump the weights would be an impediment rather than an
+aid. With the aid of the ἁλτῆρες and the βατήρ enormous distances
+were covered. Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said to have covered more than
+fifty-five feet at a leap. But the record is incredible. Some German
+professors, however, are inclined to credit the record on the ground
+that the ancients had studied the theory of leaping more scientifically
+than have the moderns. For the sake of comparison the modern records
+in jumping may be introduced. On May 28, 1890, J. Darby of England,
+without the aid of weights, made a standing long jump of 12½ feet. At
+Romeo, Mich., October 3, 1879, with 22-pound weights, G. W. Hamilton
+made a standing jump of 14 feet, 5½ inches. A record of 23 feet, 6½
+inches, in the running long jump has been made twice: by C. L. Reber at
+Detroit, July 4, 1891, and by C. B. Frye of England, March 4, 1893. A
+jump of 48 feet, 8 inches, without weights and preceded by a hop and a
+step, was made October 18, 1884, by T. Burrows of Worcester.
+
+In the palæstra and the gymnasium, leaping was practised in many
+different ways, as through a hoop, or over a rope. That the high jump
+also was practised is evident from the fact that the athletes leaped
+not only over pointed poles fixed in the ground, but also over one
+another’s heads, after the manner of modern circus performers. Leaping
+from a higher place to a lower was also practised. Leaping took place
+in dancing and in various other sports. A dance, consisting principally
+of leaping was practised at Sparta, particularly by young women and
+girls. In this the dancers aimed to hit their backs with their heels.
+Aristophanes alludes to this custom in the following dialogue between
+Lysistrata and Lampito:
+
+            LYSISTRATA.
+    Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women.
+    How shines thy beauty, O, my sweetest friend!
+    How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame!
+    Why, thou couldst choke a bull.
+
+            LAMPITO.
+                                  Yes, by the twain;
+    For I do practise the gymnastic art,
+    And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels.
+
+            LYSISTRATA.
+    In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold.
+
+It is probable that in the Olympic pentathlon leaping was followed by
+diskos-hurling,--a contest of great antiquity. An old myth represents
+Apollo as a diskos-thrower.
+
+The diskos was circular in form with perhaps an average diameter of a
+little less than a foot, and was made of various materials at different
+periods and places. The heroic diskos, as has been said, was made of
+stone, while that of a later period was of metal, and even of wood.
+The diskos in common use at the Olympic festival was metallic, and
+resembled a small shield.
+
+In the local gymnasia the size and weight of the diskos varied in
+order that an athlete might select one in accord with his strength.
+But in the men’s pentathlon at the public games a standard diskos was
+required,--uniform in material, form, and weight, in order that the
+strength and skill of the competitors might be impartially tested and
+the victory correspondingly awarded. There is considerable doubt as to
+the dimensions and weight of this standard diskos. It is likely that
+the weight was between four and five pounds. A specimen found at Ægina
+and now preserved among the bronzes at Munich is about eight inches
+in diameter and slightly less than four pounds in weight. But another
+specimen at present in the British Museum weighs twelve pounds.
+
+There is also doubt as to the distance to which a skilful athlete
+could hurl the diskos. An extravagant record of one hundred cubits is
+preserved in the writings of Philostratos. It is probable, however,
+that one hundred feet was an extraordinary throw and was exceeded only
+by the best athletes. While it is unlikely that the throws of renowned
+athletes were carelessly measured at the time, it is probable that
+many subsequent accounts were more or less exaggerated. It is well to
+bear in mind that the statue of Phaÿllos was greatly admired among the
+Greeks because that athlete had thrown the diskos ninety-five feet.
+
+It is interesting in this connection to note that at the International
+Athletic Games, celebrated at Athens in 1896, the victor in the
+diskos-throwing competition made a record of 95.64 feet. The diskos
+used in this competition weighed 4¾ pounds. Although three skilful
+Greek athletes participated in this competition and exhibited a
+technique much superior to that of the foreign competitors, yet the
+victory was won by Mr. Garret, an American, who though never having
+handled the diskos before threw it to the above distance, thereby
+surpassing the best throw of M. Paraskevopoulos, the Greek champion,
+by .64 feet.
+
+To return to the ancient contests, the Homeric heroes practised
+diskos-throwing without completely disrobing,--the upper garment only
+being laid aside. But at Olympia after the 15th Olympiad all clothing
+was dispensed with, and the advantage of entire nudity in this sport
+came to be clearly recognized. Nudity characterized, of course, the
+diskoboloi of the other great athletic festivals. Again, while the
+Homeric heroes did not anoint the body with oil, the athlete of
+historic times did not consider his preparation complete without it.
+
+After roughening his hands and the diskos with earth, in order to grasp
+it more firmly and handle it more deftly, the diskobolos ascended an
+eminence, called the βαλβίς. When about to throw, the body of the
+diskobolos was bent quite a little to the right and forward. At the
+same time the head was bent to the right so far that it was possible
+for him to see the upper left side of his body. The right arm was now
+moved from below, first backward to the height of the shoulders, and
+then with a rapid movement forward it described a semi-circle, giving
+the diskos at once velocity and direction. In throwing the diskos, the
+diskobolos rested first on the right foot and then on the left. At the
+moment of hurling the diskos the left knee was slightly bent, while the
+other was kept backward. As the diskos left his hand he took one or
+more steps forward, like a person throwing a ball in a bowling alley.
+
+Again we are indebted to the archæologist who has brought to the light
+of day not only statues but also vases and gems with their elaborate
+scenes of the diskobolos in various attitudes, for they reveal to us
+many facts about which the ancient historians are silent.
+
+In classifying these works of art three different attitudes may be
+recognized:
+  (1) The diskobolos preparing to throw.
+  (2) The diskobolos in the act of throwing.
+  (3) The diskobolos having hurled the diskos and still following it
+with his eyes, or where he has already been declared victor.
+
+In the Museo Pio Clementino is a statue representing an athlete about
+to hurl the diskos. In his left hand he is testing the weight of
+the diskos, but holding the right ready to receive it and hurl it
+into space. This statue was supposed by Visconti to be a copy of a
+diskobolos by Naukydes, the pupil of Polykleitos. Many other copies are
+also seen on vases and gems. On one of Hamilton’s vases the diskobolos
+holds the diskos in his right hand, supporting its weight in his left.
+
+Of the statues representing the athlete in the act of throwing, we
+will consider only Myron’s Diskobolos, the beau ideal of athletic
+motion, famous even in antiquity. Eight copies in a more or less
+mutilated condition have come down to us. That which was found in the
+Villa Palombara in 1781 on the Esquiline is the best reproduction of
+the original. This statue passed from the palace known as that of the
+_Massimi alle Colonne_ to the _Lancelotti Palace_, Rome, where it still
+remains. The attitude of the diskobolos is very nearly that described
+by Lucian and Quintilian. In the _Philopseudes_--1, 8, Lucian gives
+the following description of Myron’s Diskobolos: “Thou speakest of
+the disk-thrower, who is bending forward for the throw, with his face
+turned away towards the hand that holds the disk, and with one foot
+slightly pointed, as if he would raise himself with the action of
+throwing.”
+
+The statue reveals probably the most approved attitude of a diskobolos
+just before making a throw. The centre of gravity falls upon the right
+foot, which, though the leg is bent in a slight curve, rests firmly on
+the ground; both legs are bent at the knees, but the left more acutely;
+the right fore-leg is perpendicular, while the left is thrust backward
+obliquely; the left foot, forming a noticeable curve, is upright and
+touches the ground only at the tips of the toes; the thighs, close
+together, slant upward, making an angle of over 45° with the ground;
+the upper part of the body is bent forward, and is steadied by the left
+arm whose hand rests against the right knee; the upper half of the body
+is twisted to the right; the right arm is extended backwards and is
+straight; the fingers of the right hand, which is somewhat above the
+level of the right shoulder, firmly grip the edge of the diskos; the
+head is turned so far to the right that the right side of the body is
+plainly visible; the eyes are fastened on the diskos.
+
+It is evident that the diskobolos must have swung the disk in a
+semi-circle, and have hurled it from below forward, and that the whole
+body must have relaxed and readjusted itself as the right arm moved
+forward and imparted the pent-up energy to the disk.
+
+The pose of the large cast in the Boston Athenæum, as well as that
+of the cast in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is not in accordance
+with Lucian’s description. Both represent the head as not turned aside
+but directly forward, with the eyes looking straight ahead. There is,
+however, in the Fourth Greek Room, a cast of a small bronze statuette,
+which is preserved in the Antiquarium at Munich. This is in many
+respects an excellent copy of Myron’s diskobolos. In the catalogue
+of the casts in the Museum, this statuette is pronounced especially
+satisfactory from an æsthetic point of view because the line of
+equilibrium falls perpendicularly through the centre from whatever
+point of view the statuette is seen.
+
+Besides this copy of Myron’s statue, we find on many vases and gems the
+diskobolos in the act of hurling the diskos. For instance, on one of
+Hamilton’s vases we see a diskobolos with a diskos in his right hand,
+while the right arm is bent and held forward, showing that he is on the
+point of moving the arm backward, and then forcibly hurling the diskos
+from below, forward. The left arm is bent over the head, the eyes are
+fixed on the diskos, the right foot is placed forward, so that the
+centre of gravity falls on the left, which is obliquely bent at the
+knee.
+
+We will now consider the third class of statues, gems and
+vase-paintings representing the diskobolos as having thrown the diskos,
+and still following it with his eye, or where he has already been
+declared victor and adorned with the palm. In 1754 there was discovered
+at Herculaneum the bronze statue of a diskobolos from whose hand the
+diskos has just flown. He is still standing, however, with the upper
+portion of his body bent forward, the eyes looking sharply into space,
+the face full of expectation. The position of the right arm indicates
+that the hand is only just freed from the heavy diskos. Both feet are
+placed wide apart, as may be observed in several other instances, at
+the moment of throwing. In the _Galerie de Florence_ is a gem which
+represents a diskobolos who has been declared victor. He holds the
+diskos in his left hand, the palm of victory in his right. At his
+right stands a prize cup, while at his left is a tripod upon which is
+a wreath and a palm. A painting from Herculaneum also represents a
+diskobolos after having thrown the diskos.
+
+If space permitted, many other statues, vase and gem pictures could
+be cited to show the different positions of the skilled diskobolos.
+But enough has been said to show that to hurl the diskos through the
+air at once gracefully and effectively required the greatest skill
+and dexterity, and was an art acquired only through long practice. In
+diskos-throwing, distance, not height, determined the victor. He who
+threw the farthest beyond the mark or σῆμα was awarded the prize.
+
+Diskos-throwing was a good preparation for war, as it developed great
+skill in stone-throwing--a very important feature in the war practices
+of the ancients. This exercise must have developed to a remarkable
+degree the muscles of the upper part of the body, shoulders, arms and
+hands--especially those of the right side of the body. At the same time
+the feet were trained in a firm and secure step, and, although the
+diskos was thrown at no fixed point, the eye was nevertheless used and
+trained. So beneficial was the exercise in certain cases that it was
+often ordered by the ancient physicians. Among the Spartans the diskos
+was especially loved, ostensibly on account of Apollo’s contest with
+Hyakinthos on Spartan soil.
+
+
+
+
+               III. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.
+
+
+The third event of the pentathlon was spear-throwing. In the athletic
+training of an Hellenic youth, spear-throwing came after the hand and
+arm had been strengthened by ball-playing and diskos-throwing.
+
+Spear-throwing, as has been shown, growing out of the very early
+necessity of war-training, was a primitive mode of exercise. The spear
+(δόρυ, λόγχη) used by the Homeric heroes was very large, and as heavy
+as they could handle effectively. None but that warrior himself could
+wield the spear of Achilles. Hector’s spear was 16 feet long; the
+shaft was made of ash. A socket was fitted to the upper end of the
+spear, in which was inserted a bronze spear point. But that used at the
+pentathlon, and denoted by the term ἄκων, was smaller and lighter.
+
+The attitude of the body, the movement of the arms and shoulders,
+and the carriage of the head were very different in spear-throwing
+from those in diskos-hurling. The athlete stood erect, and raised his
+right arm upward and slightly backward; his right foot was generally
+placed backward, while his left was advanced; his eye was fixed on a
+goal straight ahead. He grasped the spear in the middle and held it
+in a horizontal position on a level with his right ear; sometimes he
+moved it backward and forward before throwing, but as often omitted
+such preliminary exercise. Sometimes it was thrown by means of a strap
+attached to it, as is still the custom in many countries.
+
+In the pentathlon, spear-throwing was a test rather of skill than of
+strength; an athlete who could win the victory with the diskos might
+suffer defeat with the spear, although diskos-throwing required more
+strength than spear-throwing. Spear-throwing trained the eye and made
+the arm deft in executing the eye’s direction.
+
+It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs of
+respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and enlarged;
+the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the spear effectively
+the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and have command of his
+entire body; to do so with a weight held aloft, strengthened the lower
+limbs, made their muscles more facile, and the step more sure.
+
+By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the early
+Olympians not only recognized the foregoing advantages, but they also
+honored the characteristic exercise of their ancestors, and subsequent
+Olympians followed their example. For the spear was the traditional
+sign of the freeman; as far back as myth and memory could go, it had
+been carried, even in peace, as an honorable and distinguishing token.
+
+Plato, in his scheme of the ideal state, prescribed spear-throwing as a
+training for war, and directed that it should be practiced by women as
+well as by men.
+
+At Rome, during the time of the emperors, spear-throwing was included
+among the gymnastic exercises of that city. Instruction in this
+art was received from the Mauritanians. But it is said that the
+Emperor Commodus surpassed even the skill of his instructors; in the
+amphitheatre he killed, according to the story, a hundred lions with
+as many spears; at another time he astonished the spectators by the
+dexterity with which he hurled his spear at the Mauritanian ostriches,
+as they ran by the amphitheatre at full speed; with every throw he
+severed a bird’s head from its body.
+
+We have no accounts to show as to how far a Greek athlete could hurl
+a spear, but we know that savages of today can hurl it to a great
+distance. It is said by travellers that a Kaffir who suddenly comes
+upon game will hit an antelope ten or fifteen yards away without
+raising his arm.
+
+The three events that have been described, leaping, diskos-throwing
+and spear-throwing, were probably the essential features of the
+pentathlon; that is to say, an athlete who won in all three events
+was probably crowned victor. If, however, the victories in the three
+events were not secured by the same man, the competition was decided by
+additional contests in running and wrestling. But as at other stages of
+the festival these two exercises were distinct events, a description
+of their technique may be omitted in this place. Among those who
+distinguished themselves in the pentathlon, were included some of the
+most illustrious men of Greece.
+
+The pentathlon was succeeded by horse and chariot races.
+
+Chariot racing, even as far back as the heroic time, had attained a
+high rank in the domain of antagonistics; it was, indeed, the first
+contest in the funeral games of Patroklos. (Il. xxiii. 262-650.)
+In the minute and vivid description of Homer, the nature of the
+contest and the arrangements are very clearly indicated. There was
+no artificially constructed hippodrome. A flat, open plain, with its
+natural irregularities and without buildings of any sort, served as
+the race-course. The point of starting was on the sea-coast, but the
+turning point was in the plain of Troy. The goal, which was the stump
+of a tree, could be seen in the far distance only by its having two
+white stones leaning against it on either side. On account of the great
+distance, the spectators were not able to distinguish between the
+approaching horses. (Il. 450 ff.) Hence rose an altercation between
+Idomeneus and Aias, as to whose chariot was leading in the race.
+Achilles advised both to wait quietly until the horses were nearer and
+the order of the chariots could be recognized by all.
+
+With a very few points of difference, this description of Homer gives
+a good idea of a chariot race at Olympia. The difference consisted,
+first, in running the length of the course several times instead of
+once, in order that a body of spectators might witness the entire
+race; second, in the greater number of chariots, and third, in the
+arrangements, whereby they might start without confusion. In the games
+of Achilles, the chariots were five in number, each with two horses and
+a single driver, who stood upright in the chariot. As we have already
+mentioned, the Homeric hero made use of two horses in the race as
+well as in hostile combat, while the Olympic contestant did not limit
+himself to two horses. In fact, the four-horse chariot-race, which was
+introduced in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, was the first in honor and in
+importance, and always remained the most popular. In this contest, only
+kings, nobles, and the wealthy could take part, on account of the great
+expense involved in rearing fine horses, and in maintaining costly
+chariots. Very often, the victor had his triumphs recorded on the state
+issues of coins.
+
+Races on horseback date from the thirty-third Olympiad. Philip of
+Macedon won in this contest, and celebrated his victory by having an
+enormous horse, ridden by a diminutive jockey, placed on his coinage.
+As this victory took place in the same year in which Potidaea fell
+into his hands and his son Alexander was born, he regarded that year as
+especially auspicious.
+
+While the race of the quadrigæ of horses was introduced as early as the
+twenty-fifth Olympiad, that of the bigæ of horses was not introduced
+until the ninety-third Olympiad. A quadriga consisted of four horses
+harnessed to a chariot; a biga, of two horses. In the seventieth
+Olympiad, bigæ of mules were admitted, but in the eighty-fourth
+Olympiad they were excluded; their exclusion may be ascribed to two
+reasons: first, they presented an unpleasing appearance; second, among
+the Eleians, according to Pausanias, a curse had rested on the animals
+from ancient times.
+
+Prior to the twenty-fifth Olympiad, all athletic contests had taken
+place in the Stadion. As chariot-racing, however, demanded more room,
+a separate race-course, called the Hippodrome, was established. The
+site of the Hippodrome cannot be exactly traced. This is because
+the Alpheios has washed away all certain indications of its limits.
+But from the account of Pausanias (V, 4; VI, 20, 7 foll.) it may be
+approximately located; it lay to the south of the Stadion and extended
+roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east.
+The German explorers who excavated Olympia inferred from the state
+of the ground that the Hippodrome was about 2526 feet in length. The
+Stadion and Hippodrome were closely connected, the rear part of the
+aphesis, or starting point, of the Hippodrome adjoining the end of the
+Stadion. At the farther end of the Hippodrome was the goal outside of
+which the chariots had to turn. To round this goal with advantage, that
+is, to keep as close to it as it was possible to do without upsetting
+his own chariot or colliding with another, required long practice
+and great dexterity on the part of the driver; it was indeed a very
+dangerous feat; at every race a large number of the chariots involved
+were wrecked, and in such accidents the charioteers rarely escaped
+without serious injuries. According to legend, Orestes had met his
+death at a Pythian festival; his chariot colliding with the goal, he
+fell to the ground, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged or
+trampled to death. After every turning of the goal, the chariots were
+greeted with the sound of trumpets in order that men and horses might
+attain new courage and vigor after so dangerous an ordeal.
+
+The signal for the chariots to come out from the rooms allotted to
+them in the aphesis and form in line for the race was given by an eagle
+which, by means of mechanism, rose into the air at the same moment that
+a dolphin fell to the ground. Such a signal was characteristic of the
+Greek; but in the Roman races, the chariots started at the waving of a
+white cloth by a person of distinction.
+
+The equestrian contests at Olympia were succeeded by boxing. Boxing
+for men was introduced at the Olympic festival in the twenty-third
+Olympiad, and for boys in the thirty-seventh Olympiad. But the sport
+was already very old, and its introduction at Olympia was probably a
+recognition of its popularity and antiquity. In fact, as the fist is
+the simplest and most natural weapon of mankind, it is not surprising
+to find that boxing was one of the earliest athletic games among the
+Hellenes. Homer’s detailed description of the contest of the invincible
+Epeios with Euryalos has already been mentioned, and Homer had probably
+heard many similar tales of the prowess of Mycenæan boxers. Polydeukes,
+the bravest boxer among the pre-Homeric heroes, is said to have
+defeated the strong Amykos. The latter was a teacher of the art, and
+allowed no stranger to depart from his country without challenging him
+to a pugilistic contest. Apollo himself, the gracious companion and
+leader of the Pierides, is described as engaging in a boxing contest at
+Olympus with Ares, the powerful god of war; perhaps in this myth there
+is a suggestion of the advantage which the nimble and quick-witted
+boxer sometimes has over a more bulky one. In the mythical founding of
+the Nemean games, Tydeus was victorious in a boxing contest. In the
+passage of Virgil’s Æneid (Book V, 401 ff.), which so closely resembles
+the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, the aged Entellus vanquishes the
+young and boastful Dares. This contest showed a complete system of
+striking and parrying.
+
+It is quite likely that these and many other similar legends augmented
+the natural interest in the sport, and hastened its introduction into
+the greatest of all athletic festivals. But at Olympia the sport was
+marked with variations. Whereas, for instance, the Homeric heroes, when
+boxing, had protected their bodies by means of a girdle around the
+loins (Il. XXIII, 683), the Olympian athletes, being already accustomed
+to nudity in the wrestling and racing contests, dispensed with such
+protection. Again, from the first, Olympian boxers oiled the body,
+contrary to the practice of Homeric athletes.
+
+Probably very few of the tactics of modern pugilists were unknown to
+the Greek athletes. Some of the accessories of a modern ring-fight,
+such as the “preliminary hand-shake,” tossing for corners, etc., were
+of course wanting; particularly noticeable was the absence of ropes and
+stakes; there was no referee to enforce so strict a code of ethics as
+the Marquis of Queensberry rules, fair play being secured by the voice
+of the people. Grasping or hugging the opponent was not permitted; it
+was in the elimination of such tactics that boxing differed from the
+pankration, a combination of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was likewise
+forbidden.
+
+The set-to of Greek boxers probably resembled very closely that of
+modern pugilists. The ancient descriptions of the manner of giving and
+guarding or blocking blows are rather vague; but on antique vases may
+be seen representations of boxers facing one another in well-balanced
+attitudes, their heads thrown back, and their arms well advanced, in
+the manner of the best modern pugilism. In a famous Greek painting of
+boxers, one of the men stands with his left foot and hand advanced, his
+left arm slightly bent, and his right arm held across his lower chest,
+in fact, just as Fitzsimmons or Corbett would stand when expecting a
+blow. In the beginning of the contest, the boxer was sparing of his
+strength and preferred to assume the defensive position, and so wear
+out his opponent. It was, of course, considered a merit for a boxer to
+conquer without receiving wounds.
+
+The principal differences between the technique of Olympian boxing and
+that of modern pugilism must be ascribed to the use at Olympia of that
+cruel boxing weapon known as the cæstus. This consisted of a heavy
+thong of dry, hardened leather, wound about the palm of the hand so as
+to form a formidable ridge of considerable circumference; it was even
+rendered more formidable by being loaded with lead, and studded with
+little metal projections. This nail-studded covering was called σφαῖρα,
+and was unknown to the ancient Greeks. That it was very dangerous is
+shown by the fact that when used in the practice gymnasia, it was
+itself covered, in order that young athletes might become accustomed to
+its use before subjecting themselves to its deadliness. But even more
+brutal than these were the μύρμηκες, called the breakers or crushers
+of limbs. One cannot conceive of a more formidable covering for the
+hand, unless it be the terrible cæstus of the Romans, to which Virgil
+alludes in the memorial games of Anchises (Æn. V, 401): “Tantorum
+ingentia septem Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.” “So
+terrible was the seven-fold bullhide stiffened with patches of lead and
+iron.” An examination of the representations of hands armed with this
+covering makes it evident that the straight blow or counter would not
+only fail to make the weapon effective, but would, if forcible enough,
+crush the fingers of the boxer between the leather and the adversary’s
+body. The cæstus must, therefore, have been used for round blows, or
+for the old English blow called the “chopper”; these were delivered by
+the back of the hand in an outward and downward swing, and, to be given
+without injury to the one who dealt them, required considerable skill.
+
+The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and the wounds
+inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and nose, were very
+severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth were often broken or
+injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the Cyrenean, that his teeth
+were knocked out by his adversary, but that he quietly swallowed them
+in order to conceal from him how much he was injured; his adversary,
+disheartened by the apparently small effect of his powerful blow, lost
+hope and allowed Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially,
+were exposed to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were
+usually so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear”
+became a stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as
+αὐφώτιρες, were invented for gymnasium work, but they were not used
+in public games. Boxers, on account of the bruises and disfigurations
+that usually marked their features, were the subjects of numerous
+epigrammatic jests. Here is a sample from the pen of a comic poet:
+
+“After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses was
+recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by his dog,
+Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four hours, hast been so
+altered, that neither dogs nor any person in the town could possibly
+recognize thee. And if thou lookest at thy face in a mirror, thou
+thyself wilt swear that thou art not Stratophon.”
+
+Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a beard,
+eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed his name
+among the pugilists he lost them all.
+
+The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside from skill
+in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn by boxers at
+Olympia.
+
+Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and modern
+boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the contest, as
+do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their blows with certain
+inarticulate sounds, believing that their force was thereby increased.
+Modern stone-masons frequently do the same.
+
+The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants was
+rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue, wounds or despair to
+declare himself conquered, which he signified by lifting his right hand.
+
+In this connection it is interesting to trace the evolution of boxing
+in Greece. At first, of course, the bare fist was used; but as time
+went on, boxers learned to cover their fists and wrists with strips of
+undressed oxhide, the ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο in the contest
+of Epeios and Euryalos (Il. XXIII, 684). Homer mentions these ἱμάντες
+as if they were very common. The name μειλίχαι was given them by
+later writers, because they dealt a mild blow; they are described by
+Pausanias (VIII, 40, 3) as made of raw oxhide, cut into thin strips
+and braided according to the custom of the ancients. The strips were
+wound round the palm, leaving the fingers uncovered, at least enough so
+that they could be bent to form a clenched fist. As the name indicates,
+the μειλίχαι were not cruel weapons; they served not only to moderate
+the force of the blow, but also to protect the hand from injury. They
+were used at the Nemean games as late as the famous contest between
+Kreugas and Damoxenos. It is likely that with these soft coverings the
+technique of blows conformed more nearly with the modern technique.
+It has been already shown that the straight counter was rendered
+impracticable by the cæstus. But without the cæstus the Greek was very
+skillful with this blow. The Greek also understood the advantage of the
+cross-counter, a blow sometimes thought to be a comparatively recent
+discovery in pugilism. If the Homeric description of the bare-handed
+fight between Odysseus and the impudent ruffian and parasite, Iros,
+be analyzed, the blow will be found plainly involved. Iros, who is of
+gigantic size, has insulted Odysseus. A ring is formed and they begin
+to fight (Od. XVIII, 73-231).
+
+    “On his right shoulder Iros laid his stroke,
+    Odysseus struck him just beneath the ear,
+    His jaw-bone broke, and made the blood appear,
+    When straight he strewed the dust.”
+
+The blow of Odysseus must have been a cross-counter. Iros leads with
+his left at Odysseus’ head, but the blow falls instead on his right
+shoulder. Odysseus avoids the blow just as a trained boxer would avoid
+a similar one today; that is to say, he moves his head to the left, and
+catches the blow on his right shoulder, at the same moment, “rising
+to the stroke.” He then crosses Iros’ arm with his right, strikes him
+beneath the ear, and breaks his jaw, thereby “knocking him out.”
+
+The introduction and use of the cæstus, brought about by the
+blood-thirstiness of the ancient mob, instead of being in the interest
+of further skill was decidedly a backward step. For not only did it
+improperly limit the technique of blows, as has been shown, but it was
+too sure a menace to the very source of human skill, the senses and
+consciousness itself.
+
+Solon praised boxing from an educational point of view. Cato the elder
+must have entertained a high opinion of this art, for, according to
+Plutarch, he himself instructed his son, with whose education he took
+the greatest pains, in the art of boxing.
+
+In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that Greek
+boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic side.
+A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity were
+cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful grace and
+beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented as a boxer.
+Even from the medical point of view, boxing was highly esteemed.
+Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and chronic headache (De Morb. Dint.
+Cur. 1, 2).
+
+This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all parts of
+Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when a youth in a
+boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia and Elis were noted
+for producing skilled pugilists.
+
+Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which were the
+final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one of the most
+popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of Homer. According to
+mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of Hermes, established the πάλη,
+while her brother, Autolykos, is mentioned as the instructor of the
+young Herakles in this art. Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling
+to the earliest times and declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most
+ancient wrestlers. But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere
+desire to fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is
+said to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice
+it according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how Homer,
+in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian Aias and
+Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling matches were among
+the chief events in the famous games at Olympia and elsewhere. They
+were introduced earlier than boxing and were believed to show off the
+strength, activity and grace of the body to more advantage than any
+other contest. No other exercise required such perfect development
+of every muscle in the body, or an equal combination of strength and
+agility.
+
+Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic
+sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern times.
+The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions and movements.
+Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to grasp his adversary in a
+certain place, but by a quick, cat-like movement would attack him in
+another which had been left exposed. Cunning was likewise practiced by
+the Homeric heroes. Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the
+hollow of the knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks,
+the observance of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking,
+kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing
+an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground that it
+involved grasping.
+
+While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and symmetry
+as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their wrestlers were
+noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered advantageous for a
+wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased weight rendered it less
+easy for an opponent to lift him off the ground; second, it was easier
+for him, on the other hand, to overpower his adversary at the opportune
+moment. Nevertheless, a graceful style of wrestling, while less easy
+to attain under this condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes
+grace is the concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage
+over mere bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact
+was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious
+in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere strength, the
+authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis not only his own
+statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says that Kratinos exhibited
+a more graceful style than any other wrestler of his time.
+
+Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing and ground
+wrestling; the former, called the τριαγμός, was most common. The
+contestants stood upright, face to face, and after one had been thrown
+and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was the style practiced
+by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had thrown each other
+to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle. Victory was
+bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced in later
+times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers this style,
+as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms, shoulders, chest
+and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the combatants
+had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until one
+acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged
+especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown
+in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is
+of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so
+regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the
+Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this
+particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially
+advantageous.
+
+Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the Greeks, the
+following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist endeavored to throw
+his opponent either by tripping him, or by grasping his foot with
+his hand. This latter style is differently illustrated on two vases.
+On the first vase the antagonist is represented as grasping with his
+right hand his opponent’s foot, which he has raised to a line with the
+middle of his body, while with the left arm he is further raising the
+thigh, thus forcing his opponent to the ground. On the second vase, the
+contestant has raised his opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the
+left hand, which is placed under the knee; both contestants are moving
+the right arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents
+the pankration, as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A
+similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist, whose
+foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms in order to
+drag him down if he should fall.
+
+Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his opponent’s
+thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully illustrated by
+the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, of which
+a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Winckelmann
+considers these wrestlers to be the sons of Niobe, as they were found
+in 1583 at the same time and place as the Niobe group. According to the
+legend, they were engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s
+arrows.
+
+The technical names of the various locks and holds which have come
+down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling. If
+one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts of the
+different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete list of
+movements, or if the most important parts of the literature bearing
+upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we might form a
+more definite conception of the wrestling match. To the student of
+athletics it may be interesting to mention a few expressions which
+have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature. The word δράσσειν
+which literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied
+to the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully
+illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases,
+gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers
+and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch
+designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the
+wrestlers by the terms ἐμβολαί, παρεμβολαί, συστάσεις, παραθέσεις, from
+which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly clear imagery. The
+following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί, which literally
+mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by Lucian to
+express different styles of wrestling. The terms συναφή and κατοχή
+used by Hesychios when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the
+wrestling match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced
+from his position is described by the term ἀπάγειν, literally to
+lead away or carry off. Ἄγχειν and ἀποπνίγειν describe the grasping
+of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration. This trick
+of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him until he
+acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning act.
+Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his elbow
+under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring the neck
+of the latter between his thighs and then exert such pressure as
+almost to strangle him. This occurred more frequently in the ground
+wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group of boy wrestlers, one of whom,
+while resting on his right knee, is firmly holding by the throat his
+opponent, who is on both knees; to the right stands a prize vase with a
+palm, to the left, an umpire with a rod.
+
+The ἅμμα involved grasping the opponent in such a manner that he
+could be held in a position that would tire him and perhaps exhaust
+his energy. Herakles in his wrestling contest with the mighty giant,
+Antaios, was believed to have used this trick; but Herakles held his
+antagonist in the air. Running toward each other with lowered heads
+for the purpose of butting, after the manner of rams, also belonged to
+the province of wrestling, and was practiced by Lucian himself in the
+Lykeion at Athens.
+
+Plato protests against right-handedness (Laws, 8-794). He demands that
+a trained wrestler, pankratiast and boxer should be able to use both
+hands equally, so that if his opponent should succeed in turning him
+around he could defend himself from the other side. The wrestler would
+sometimes endeavor to place himself behind his adversary by a quick
+movement, then wind his leg around his opponent’s body and throw him.
+If successful in this attempt he would choke him.
+
+Besides these tricks there were others with the fingers. For instance,
+a wrestler would grasp his opponent’s finger-tips and disjoint or break
+them, not letting go until the pain compelled his victim to declare
+himself conquered. This finger contest sometimes preceded the actual
+contest, and was oftentimes the only feature. Sostratos of Sikyon
+was specially famed for this mode of contest; he was twelve times
+victorious in the Nemean and Isthmian, twice in the Pythian and three
+times in the Olympian games. Leontiskos of Messina, in Sicily, also
+practiced wrestling in this manner and gained his victory by breaking
+his opponent’s fingers.
+
+In ground wrestling the athlete even attempted to break his opponent’s
+toes. Another special scheme which belonged to the standing wrestling
+was as follows: the contestant made a circle around himself and
+challenged his opponent to force him from his position. If the latter
+failed to do this, the victory belonged to the former. Especially
+noted in this style of wrestling was Milo of Crotona, the most famous
+wrestler of antiquity. When a mere boy he was victorious in the
+Olympic and Pythian games. Six times his head was crowned with the
+sacred olive of Olympia. Young men of the noblest families engaged in
+these wrestling contests. Plato, when a youth, is said to have been
+victorious in the Pythian and Isthmian games, probably in the wrestling
+match.
+
+
+
+
+     IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE ANCIENT HELLENES.
+
+
+We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of professional
+athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily have
+influenced the more widespread practices whereby the young developed
+their bodies, just as today the system of professional athletics is
+a model for college training and exerts an influence upon the sports
+of even young children. But professional athletics, even in ancient
+Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct from that important phase of
+Hellenic education called γυμναστική.
+
+In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no means
+be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of education.
+But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were held in least
+favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves; being thoroughly
+in earnest to produce a race that was hardy and valiant to the last
+degree, and regarding physical culture as a serious and all-engrossing
+business rather than an exciting amusement, they quickly discerned that
+the specialism of professional athletics was detrimental to this end.
+
+The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby all
+Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever uppermost
+in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither deluded themselves in
+their estimate of these needs, nor did they even dream of a compassion
+that would deter them from establishing and executing regulations
+whereby these needs would be met. In Sparta the unfortunate individual
+who did not conform in promise or attainment to the criterion of a
+Spartan citizen found no pity.
+
+And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the man,
+without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle outward
+show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely fearless,
+who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing pain; it was the
+man whose powers of endurance were very great, who could march long
+distances over a rough country without fatigue, who could then halt
+and await the onset of an enemy with a glad and confident heart, and
+who could engage his enemy and be victorious; it was the man who loved
+combat.
+
+The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
+through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
+was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens should
+marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage. If at the
+present day we exercised the same care to bring sound children into the
+world there would be little need of being “born again.” Spartan infants
+were subjected to the judgment of a body of selected citizens, and if
+approved by the latter became thenceforth the objects of the care and
+direction of the state, but if condemned as not promising health and
+vigor they were killed. According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were
+exposed in the apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (Ταΰγετος) and
+left to die.
+
+Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care of their
+parents, but even during this early period they received a foretaste
+of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very plain and
+limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the little fears of
+childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the dark or when left
+alone.
+
+Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children,
+and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a
+peculiar earnestness. Most of the amusements of modern children were
+also the delight of Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the
+latter are no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (πλαταγή) was
+a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
+Then there were hoops (τροχοί or κρίκοι). The childish game of rolling
+the hoop was called κρικηλασία. The κρίκος corresponded to the Roman
+trochus described by Horace (_Ode_ 3; 24, 57) and Ovid, as well as by
+Propertius, Martialis, and other writers. The κρίκος was a large hoop
+probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its diameter was
+less than the height of a man, reaching probably to his chest. The
+implement used in rolling it is said to have been a crooked-necked iron
+with a wooden handle, called ἐλατήρ (Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as
+with us, the hoop was set round with small metal rings or bells which
+when in motion caused a jingling sound very pleasing to a child’s ears.
+Some regarded these rings as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them
+on the ground that the sound they produced added much to the child’s
+happiness and engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also
+considered this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and
+advised that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating.
+The familiar top (βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος), old as the
+days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
+times--“στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη” (_Il._ xiv,
+413).
+
+The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and made to revolve
+by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil in the following
+lines:
+
+    “Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,
+    Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum
+    Intenti ludo exercent.”
+                               _Æneid_ vii, 378-380.
+
+Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children. Stilts
+(καλόβαθρα) were much used by children and also by adults in certain
+mimic dances. The girls had dolls (κόραι) of wax or clay, and the usual
+paraphernalia connected with this ever popular plaything. Many of
+these, which still survive, show that they were painted and that the
+arms and legs were so fastened with strings as to be easily movable.
+The word κόρη literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek
+girls dedicated their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus.
+If they died unwedded, their dolls were buried with them. The terms
+δάγυνον, δαγύς and πλαγγών were often applied by the Greeks to the wax
+doll.
+
+The swing αἰώρα occupied the same position in Greece as in our
+nurseries. Then there were clappers (πλῆκτρα), toy-carts (ἁμαξίδες),
+hobby-horses (ἱππίδια ξύλινα), toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.
+
+In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned. From
+the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy of
+consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in sport,
+then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
+character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
+be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
+and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental powers
+and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise. The
+Spartan children were superior to the other Greek children in the
+power of expression, although they were not so highly educated. This
+is no doubt due to the fact that at a very early age the Spartan
+children were forced into a free life in the open air and to systematic
+gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also though they did not consider
+gymnastics of so much importance as did the Hellenes, did not neglect
+them. Being a warlike people, they began to develop and strengthen
+the body of the child at an early age. The sports of childhood are as
+important to the boy as work is to the man, and demand as much of his
+strength and intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as
+a real victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games
+are imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause
+the child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
+Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He claimed
+that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work, should
+be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first training
+should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction should
+be followed by that based on theory and science. Experience has often
+corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic life itself furnishes
+the best illustration of it. According to the legend, Achilles, attired
+in the garb of a girl among the daughters of the king, betrayed himself
+to the keen eye of Odysseus, by handling the weapons, placed by the
+latter among the ornaments which he offered for sale. Strepsiades,
+hard pressed by his creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness
+for horses and chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates
+with pride how as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts,
+moulded houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind.
+(Aristophanes, _Nub._ 877.) Cato the Younger also, says Plutarch,
+gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
+youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
+chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
+circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
+heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
+represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
+was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
+young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
+often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
+Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.
+
+The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment was
+detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea was most
+beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of body and soul.
+Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system of the Hellenes,
+were developed many gymnastic games which did not require any special
+apparatus and which were not intended for tests of superior strength,
+but merely to furnish pleasant and suitable physical exercise.
+
+A game called ὀστράκου περιστροφή was often played. The boys arranged
+themselves in two divisions on either side of a line. One of them
+then held up a piece of broken crockery, or an oyster shell, one side
+of which was blackened with tar. One division chose the black side,
+the other the white. A boy then threw the fragment, with the words,
+νύξ, ἡμέρα. The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared
+uppermost after the throw; this division then pursued the other; those
+who were captured were called donkeys and were debarred from further
+participation in the game.
+
+The ἐποστρακισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 119), a more informal game, was played
+by boys on the beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted
+in “skipping” smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the
+water. The boy who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance,
+or, perhaps, made it cut the water the greatest number of times, was
+victor. This pastime, known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor
+with boys.
+
+There were two games for testing bodily strength, the διελκυστίνδα and
+the σκαπέρδα. In the διελκυστίνδα a party of children separated into
+two divisions, each of which faced the other in a row, so as to give
+every member an opponent. Probably a line of some kind lay between the
+two divisions, and the game consisted in each boy’s striving to pull
+his opponent across it by means of a rope. The victory was decided when
+all members of one side had been forced to the other.
+
+The σκαπέρδα was a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made
+in a tree-trunk or rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two
+contestants then took their places on opposite sides of the pillar,
+with their backs to each other and each holding an end of the rope.
+If one of them could succeed in lifting the other from the ground he
+was declared victor, but so difficult was the feat that the phrase
+σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable
+to very difficult tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the
+Attic Dionysia.
+
+“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the name
+χαλκῆ μυῖα, or “brazen fly,” very prettily described by _Pollux_ ix,
+122. ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ
+μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι,
+θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν αὐτόν, ἕως τινὸς
+αὐτῶν λήψεται. One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture
+one of the rest. With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating
+the words χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω, “I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others
+responded θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, “you will hunt, but you will not
+catch,” and at the same time struck him more or less lightly with whips
+or threads of papyrus. When one of them was caught, he was blindfolded
+in place of the other, and the game repeated.
+
+A game called χυτρίνδα (_Pollux_ ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity
+on the part of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
+χύτρα. The others ran round him, pinching or striking him until by a
+quick movement he managed to catch one of them, who was obliged to take
+his place and be the χύτρα in turn. Sometimes the child ran about in a
+circle, carrying on his head a jar which he held with his left hand.
+His companions would strike him while asking him the question, τίς
+τὴν χύτραν; (who has the jar?), to which he answered, ἐγὼ, Μίδας (I,
+Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that child had
+to take his place.
+
+The term χυνδαλισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play,
+which somewhat resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging
+short, pointed poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first
+child holds his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to
+leave it standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to
+throw his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his
+own standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and
+so on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is
+still played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground
+is soft.
+
+A game especially suited to develop attention was the following. The
+players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a cord which he
+tried to place beside another child without being detected in the act.
+If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside whom the cord was found
+had to run round the ring amid the blows of his playfellows; if, on the
+other hand, he had noticed the other when putting the cord there, that
+one would have been obliged to run round the ring himself.
+
+A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles were
+flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm in falling,
+was played under the name of πεντάλιθος. This game was much in favor
+with Hellenic women, as well as with children, and was said to be the
+favorite amusement of the famous beauty, Phryne of Athens.
+
+The game of king (βασιλίνδα) consisted of feats, done by one child at
+the bidding of another, as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be
+king and who soldier was decided by lot.
+
+A favorite pastime with children was the game called ἀρτιασμός or “Odd
+and Even” (_Pollux_ ix, 101), in which they guessed whether the number
+of objects one held concealed in his hand was odd or even. Dice, nuts,
+coins, etc., were used for this purpose. The amount won or lost was
+either the articles themselves or a sum of money staked upon the guess.
+Horace also in the Satires alludes to this game under the name _ludere
+par impar_ (_Satires_ 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
+κολλαβισμός, in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
+him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking him.
+
+Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
+(σχοινοφιλίνδα), a piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The
+modern “hide and seek” was the Greek ἀποδιδρασκίνδα. “Kiss in the ring”
+(κυνητίνδα) is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no
+correct details. “Ride a cock horse” (κάλαμου περιβῆναι) was also an
+amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in Greece and
+in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this sport in the
+following words: _equitare in arundine longa_.
+
+The Greek and Roman children played several games of skill with nuts,
+which resembled very closely our modern game of marbles. Nuts played
+so important a part in childish sports that _nuces relinquere_ became
+a proverbial expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts
+were pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called ὤμιλλα (_Pollux_
+ix, 102-3) or into a hole βόθρος dug in the ground. Those that fell
+outside the circle were forfeited. The name delta was given to a
+certain game with nuts in which a triangle was chalked on the ground,
+and marked across with lines or bars running parallel to the base. The
+player then flipped nuts into the triangle, winning as many nuts as
+he crossed bars, provided, of course, that they did not roll outside
+the triangle, in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most
+skilful play consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the
+triangle.
+
+The ball (σφαῖρα) was not only a favorite toy among children, but it
+also played an important part in the physical exercises of youths and
+adults. No other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks
+and Romans of different periods as the ball games, though regarded
+less as a game than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and
+cultivating grace and symmetry of body.
+
+They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes as well
+as in later times when Greece was at the height of its glory. The
+Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of the emperors,
+also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued favor which
+ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its benefit to the body.
+The earliest mention of ball-playing is found in two passages of the
+Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare _Athen._ i, 15, c. Plutarch,
+_Alex._ c. 73). In the second passage, Homer represents ball-tossing as
+an adjunct to the dance. The game was accompanied by music and Odysseus
+was surprised at the marvelous dexterity of the players.
+
+“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance alone, for
+with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a goodly purple
+ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one, bending backward,
+flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other, leaping upward from the
+earth, easily caught the ball before his feet touched ground again.
+Then after they had tried the ball straight in the air, they danced
+upon the bounteous earth with tossings to and fro. Other young men beat
+time for them, standing round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping
+arose. Then to Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned
+of all, you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is
+proved true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
+ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (_Athenaios_ i, 246), and long
+survived.
+
+The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (_Od._ vi, 100), and her companions
+accompanied their game by singing, and the women of Corcyra at a later
+period are said to have followed this ancient custom. (_Athen._ i. 24
+_b_.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing was also accompanied by music.
+
+The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed the
+right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected pillars
+in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a player. The
+Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did the Athenians, and
+to them is attributed the invention of ball games. Among the kings of
+Greece, Alexander is mentioned as favoring ball-playing.
+
+In one of his plays, Πλυντρίαι, which was received with great favor,
+Sophocles introduced Nausicaä at play with a ball. Only the Milesians,
+who were devoted to agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as
+it did not tend to increase athletic ability and was of no value in
+helping them to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved
+on ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians, as
+ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a foundation
+for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was not considered
+complete without having a special room, called the σφαιριστήριον,
+devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor (σφαιριστικός) who
+had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
+this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
+become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.
+
+The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered it a
+pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the Elder enjoyed
+a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same day that he received
+the refusal of the consulate (_Oratio pro Archia Poeta_ _c._ 6, §6).
+Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried ball-playing along with
+banquets and games of dice. The emperor, Augustus, enjoyed a game of
+ball. Pliny, the younger, relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with
+old age by indulging in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a
+game at ball was the most common exercise practised immediately before
+bathing in the σφαιριστήριον (ball-court) connected with the bath.
+
+The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
+undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during the game,
+except in the σφαιριστήριον and probably not always even there.
+
+There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
+descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others we know
+simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios consider
+the game called οὐρανία to be identical with that practised by the
+Phæacians, as in this, according to Homer’s description, the body
+was bent backward and the ball was thrown high up into the air. The
+players then tried to catch the ball before it touched the ground.
+
+The game called ἐπίσκυρος (_Pollux_ ix, 104) at first peculiar to
+Sparta, was very popular and took its name from the line σκῦρος which
+separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and parallel
+with it were drawn two base lines (γραμμαὶ κατόπιν) beyond which the
+players could not go in catching the ball. The latter was placed
+upon the σκῦρος (whence the name ἐπίσκυρος) and the players started
+simultaneously from their respective base lines. Whoever seized the
+ball first, threw it as far as he could toward the enemies’ base
+line. The object, of course, was to force the line of enemies back,
+by constantly returning the ball further and further over their heads
+until they were driven over their own base lines. In this case a swift
+runner must have had a great advantage over the others, by securing the
+first throw.
+
+A favorite game is described by the term (φαινίνδα). The peculiar
+feature of this game was that the player who held the ball appeared
+to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an entirely
+different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and surprising
+another. This game is said to have demanded the utmost dexterity of a
+flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a skilful player to display
+a fine carriage and much grace, as may be seen in the description of
+Damoxenos by Athenaios (_Athen._ i, 15, 7).
+
+Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις,
+ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς, ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.
+
+ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν
+ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν οὔθ’ ἑώρακα
+τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς, καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
+φιλόσοφος.
+
+The ἁρπαστόν was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with
+the Greeks and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It
+required skill in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating
+distance, as well as great care in catching the ball. The name of
+the game indicates that each player tried to prevent the other from
+catching it. This game is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and
+according to him it was also played by women.
+
+The term ἀπόῤῥαξις was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which
+the ball was thrown to the ground with great force and continually
+struck back with the hand, as it rebounded. The number of times the
+ball was forced to the ground was counted. The victor was called king
+and could order the others about. The loser was called donkey (ὄνος).
+In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
+into the air as long as possible with the open hand.
+
+According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
+to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four divisions
+according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he described
+in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball games, which he
+considered of great importance on account of the benefit which they
+imparted to the mental and physical powers.
+
+In connection with these various ball games, they practised a peculiar
+gymnastic exercise with the κώρυκος, a leathern sack that must have
+resembled the modern punching bag on which pugilists try their fists.
+In form it resembled a ball, but in size and weight far surpassed the
+largest and heaviest ball. The κώρυκος was filled with fig seeds, meal
+or sand, and its size varied according to the age and strength of the
+individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach to about the middle
+of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in increasingly rapid
+motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast and hands. The game is
+alluded to by Plautus (_Rud._ iii, 4, 16). This sport cannot properly
+be styled a ball game, although it resembled one in some respects.
+Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient physicians regarded
+this exercise as very beneficial, because it not only strengthened the
+muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent corpulency.
+
+There are no records in classical literature to show that the Greeks
+and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.
+
+At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
+disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
+under the charge of the παιδονόμος; this official was, in conformance
+with the direction of Lykourgos, one of the best citizens; he was
+expected to discipline the youth in all the exercises that were so
+nicely adapted to develop the Spartan citizen, and to teach him all the
+cunning and courage that would afterwards be required in his service of
+the state.
+
+In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself. When
+children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and nurses
+was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were conducted each
+day by the παιδαγωγός, a special slave whose duty it was not only to
+conduct the children to and from school, but also to supervise their
+deportment.
+
+In the Athenian school, gymnastics (γυμναστική) was not by any means
+the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included three
+distinct courses:
+  (1) γραμματική.
+  (2) μουσική.
+  (3) γυμναστική.
+Under γραμματική were included reading and writing, to which were added
+after the 4th century B. C. elementary geometry, arithmetic and drawing.
+
+When the child was able to read and write with facility, he entered
+on the course called μουσική, which embraced the study of poetry and
+music. Passages from Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon,
+and from many lyric poets, were read and committed to memory. Xenophon
+mentions in his Symposium (_Symp._ iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who
+had committed to memory the whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
+The boys were also taught to chant the poems they had learned to the
+accompaniment of the lyre. Much stress was laid on the moral effects of
+music.
+
+But from no system of Greek education was γυμναστική, the careful
+and systematic development of the young body excluded. Nor did this
+training cease in mature years; when young men left the palæstra, they
+found awaiting them the gymnasium,--an institution that was adapted to
+social as well as athletic purposes.
+
+Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected, ever
+dream of dropping γυμναστική from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of
+Plato there is a detailed discussion of the education of children, and
+the plan is therein advocated of restricting the education of boys to
+gymnastics until their tenth year; the regular study of letters was
+not to begin until after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also
+maintained that gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany
+that of the mind.
+
+Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood was
+not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked athlete with
+firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted that the mass of
+their young men reached during the best age of Greek history a stage
+of physical perfection which has never been attained in any other age
+or country. This is attested by thousands of statues of victorious
+athletes, not only in Olympia but throughout Greece. Although the
+Greeks had no cricket or football they had on the other hand a far
+greater variety of games than we have, and this variety made for the
+symmetrical development of the body. The athletic sports of Greece
+remained great and respected until excessive training and extreme
+specialization brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted
+all his time to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of
+a harmonious development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
+games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
+will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal of a sound
+body for a sound mind.
+
+
+
+
+                          Transcriber’s Notes
+
+
+The following inconsistencies and typos were corrected:
+
+  Changed +accidently+ to +accidentally+ in “he accidentally killed by
+    an unlucky throw”.
+
+  Changed +greeves+ to +greaves+ in “helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves
+    and shield”.
+
+  Changed +greeves+ to +greaves+ in “The greaves, which were made of
+    flexible metal plates”.
+
+  Changed +ox hide+ to +oxhide+ in “layers of tough oxhide”.
+
+  Changed +Mycenæn+ to +Mycenæan+ in “pictured on Mycenæan gems”.
+
+  Changed +subtile+ to +subtle+ in “Only by subtle inferences”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “old Greek traveller Pausanias”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias claims to have seen”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “according to Pausanias died”.
+
+  Changed +Phæcians+ to +Phæacians+ in “the Phæacians, a light-hearted
+    people”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias describes them”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias especially mentions”.
+
+  Changed +Phayllos+ to +Phaÿllos+ in “Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said”.
+
+  Changed +Hippodrom+ to +Hippodrome+ in “a separate race-course,
+    called the Hippodrome”.
+
+  Changed +Mycenean+ to +Mycenæan+ in “the prowess of Mycenæan boxers”.
+
+  Changed +ox-hide+ to +oxhide+ in “strips of undressed oxhide”.
+
+  Changed +ἁγραύλοιο+ to +ἀγραύλοιο+ in “ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς
+    ἀγραύλοιο”.
+
+  Changed +ox-hide+ to +oxhide+ in “made of raw oxhide”.
+
+  Changed +ὠθιομοί+ to +ὠθισμοί+ in “The following Greek words,
+    ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί”.
+
+  Changed +advsied+ to +advised+ in “and advised that it be practised”.
+
+  Changed +ρόμβος+ to +ῥόμβος+ in “βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος”.
+
+  Changed +Plutrach+ to +Plutarch+ in “Cato the Younger also, says
+    Plutarch”.
+
+  Changed +ἔλκειν+ to +ἕλκειν+ in “the phrase σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν”.
+
+  Changed +ταινία+ to +ταινίᾳ+ in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες
+    ἑνὸς παιδός”.
+
+  Changed +ἐνὸς+ to +ἑνὸς+ in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς
+    παιδός”.
+
+  Changed +ἔως+ to +ἕως+ in “ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται”.
+
+  Changed +περιβήναι+ to +περιβῆναι+ in “κάλαμου περιβῆναι”.
+
+  Changed +ὥμιλλα+ to +ὤμιλλα+ in “a circle drawn on the ground called
+    ὤμιλλα”.
+
+  Changed +Nausicaa+ to +Nausicaä+ in “introduced Nausicaä at play with
+    a ball”.
+
+  Changed +recieved+ to +received+ in “he received the refusal of the
+    consulate”.
+
+  Changed +ἐσφαίριζειν+ to +ἐσφαίριζεν+ in “Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν
+    εἷς”.
+
+  Changed +ἀνδῶς+ to +ἀηδῶς+ in “δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς”.
+
+  Changed +κτησίβιος+ to +Κτησίβιος+ in “καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
+    φιλόσοφος”.
+
+  Changed +ὄνοξ+ to +ὄνος+ in “was called donkey (ὄνος)”.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 64627 ***
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-
-<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks, by Edward Marwick Plummer</div>
-
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-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
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-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
-at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this eBook.
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward Marwick Plummer</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64627]</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
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-
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS ***</div>
-
-<h1>ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS.</h1>
-
-<p class="xlarge p4 centre">EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.,</p>
-
-<p class="p2 centre">AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON
-TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY;
-INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE
-MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, <span class="smcap">Etc</span>.</p>
-
-
-<p class="smaller p4 centre">Reprinted from the <i>American Physical Education Review</i>, 1898.</p>
-
-
-<p class="p4 centre">CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,<br />
-<span class="smcap">Lombard &amp; Caustic, Printers, 26a Brattle St.</span><br />
-1898.</p>
-
-<p class="p6 centre">Copyrighted<br />
-By <span class="smcap">Edward M. Plummer</span>, M.D.<br />
-Boston, 1898.</p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<h2 class="p4 p0a nobreak">I. ATHLETIC GAMES AMONG THE HOMERIC HEROES.</h2>
-
-<p class="p1a small centre">BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner.
-This is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter
-and the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and
-arms, but small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending
-over his work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity
-of body, and often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects
-result from the more primitive forms of labor, it is not at all
-strange that the laborers of the modern industrial world show
-bodily peculiarities and variations that correspond, in a marked
-degree, to their respective trades. A well-known teacher of gymnastics
-in a New England college has declared himself able to
-designate the various occupations of laborers in a Boston Labor
-Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner, merely by
-inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may, therefore,
-be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion, if
-performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions essential
-to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete respiration,
-and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only rarely, if
-ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the
-design to produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is
-not deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical
-development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be
-such, is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts
-and powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing
-not only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in
-other words, of developing what the Greeks called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="eurythmia">εὐρυθμία</span>.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks
-alone made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not
-so much because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy
-to be a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[Pg 6]</span>
-discerned the advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor
-of a powerful and graceful body.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally
-turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that
-these poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of
-the Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization
-in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one
-hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once
-learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now
-we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe
-as uncivilized;&mdash;this art of literature is, nevertheless, only
-one phase of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today
-the lives of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations,
-outside the sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a
-people that has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be
-versed in simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet
-civilized; and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary
-records of that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception
-would be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the
-Homeric poems as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition
-of this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric
-athletics especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development.
-Hellenic legend strengthens this inference. According to
-a myth, Apollo enjoyed the diskos no less than music. He practiced
-for amusement with his favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is
-related, he <a name="TN004_1" id="TN004_1"></a>accidentally killed by
-an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged
-Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of
-Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of
-a very select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours
-and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to
-them. French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years
-of the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for
-the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not
-sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes.
-There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime,
-described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification,
-as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must
-be remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class
-whose deeds they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[Pg 7]</span>
-which the scenes of this high life were adorned, would add to the
-credit of the poet.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to
-our subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The
-Homeric poems give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band
-of Greek nobles who, with their followers, had left their native
-land, to besiege a foreign and hostile city.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line
-that throws light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable
-classes. Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the
-Iliad, where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial
-occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement
-from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. <i>Il.</i> ii,
-773-775. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laoi de para, rhêgmini thalassês diskoisin terponto kai aiganeêsin hientes, toxoisin th’">λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’</span>.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laos">λαός</span>, here
-used, is usually considered as denoting the people or multitude. The
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laos">λαός</span> before Troy, however, was
-undoubtedly of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of
-the Greeks were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples.
-And so the “folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with
-the diskos, spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the
-diskos alone was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear,
-in this case at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was
-used both in the chase and in war.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports
-was, to a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those
-qualities required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means
-to an end, but they were also an end in themselves. Bodily
-exercise was not an irksome task, but an agreeable pastime. The
-ancient Hellenes were therefore a very happy people, the ends
-that they sought to attain prescribed tasks that were congenial
-with their national temperament. Accordingly, we find, in a well-established
-condition, a system of athletic sports that were not
-directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport was diskos
-throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a cylinder,
-and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who hurled
-the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless
-the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by
-the skilled diskobolos.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well
-as of military training, is shown by the fact that when for any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[Pg 8]</span>
-reason the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their
-followers resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors
-with years of experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they
-exercised, because to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual
-fighting will not alone explain this temperament. With the
-Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost synonymous with life itself.
-When they desired to escape from the chilling effect of a hero’s
-death, they instituted games, and thereby reasserted life. Perhaps
-the sufficient cause of this predilection for athletic exercise was the
-climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear, serene sky over
-Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity but did not
-dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled by the sea,
-and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains and
-valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must necessarily
-have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a free
-life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed to
-the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In order to understand Homeric athletics&mdash;the
-substantial basis of all subsequent athletics&mdash;one must become
-interested in the method and details of Greek warfare. For to the
-Greek the road to distinction lay in the acquisition of the qualities
-required of the successful warrior, and it was only natural that
-pleasure and expediency should combine to make a pastime of the
-feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is achieved largely by
-the use of superior machines and by advantage of position. Until
-the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks, depended on the
-muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual warriors. The
-central and principal feature of early Greek warfare was a personal
-hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in preparing for
-war that each separate soldier should be made as active and vigorous
-as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until a late date,
-may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the victory
-of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra, <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span>
-371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of
-physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the
-weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered
-by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man.
-But, throughout all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has
-existed that could not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or
-wrestling. And it is certain that those who have survived the risks of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[Pg 9]</span>
-these sports&mdash;the fittest&mdash;had developed bodies far superior in
-agility, and attained far greater command over the muscular system,
-as a whole, than would have been possible from practicing sports
-that do not involve risk.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants
-quickly into each other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot
-or from the ground, they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing
-spears (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichoskia enchea">δολιχόσκια ἔγχεα</span>)
-<i>Il.</i> iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both came
-closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each other
-again.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted
-to their swords or to any other available implement of offense.
-Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to
-conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric
-combat. In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the
-two heroes, after using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them
-at each other (<i>Il.</i> vii, 264-270).</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as
-could be handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according
-to the strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons,
-in the hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it
-was but natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing
-the strength requisite for adopting them.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet,
-girdle, <a name="TN007_2" id="TN007_2"></a>greaves and shield. The
-Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap, covering the head in front
-above the eyes, and extending down in the back, to the nape of the neck
-from ear to ear. Some forms show that the lower part was prolonged and
-carried round so as to cover all above the shoulders. The corselet
-consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate and a back-plate, which were
-laced together by cords passed through eyelet holes made in the sides,
-below the bottom of which the body was protected by metal girdle.
-The <a name="TN007_3" id="TN007_3"></a>greaves, which were made of
-flexible metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front
-part of the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield
-consisted of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough
-<a name="TN007_4" id="TN007_4"></a>oxhide, and reached from the neck
-to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is pictured on
-<a name="TN007_1" id="TN007_1"></a>Mycenæan gems.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare,
-the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain
-that the attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient.
-Nestor is deemed happy because his sons were “wise-minded and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span>
-mighty with the spear.” The poet frequently makes sly fun of
-Telamonian Aias, who, although gigantic in size and of immense
-strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat dull of intellect. To train the
-senses, and above all the eye, to make the body alert and immediately
-responsive to the perceptions, was considered quite as requisite
-as to train the muscles. For, in the exigencies of battle, a certain
-quickness of intellect was often more effective than brute strength.
-Agility was, therefore, prized and cultivated above all other qualities.
-When the ponderous spear of Menelaos smote and pierced
-the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and escaped black death.”
-(<i>Il.</i> iii, 392.) To fight successfully from the chariot, to dismount
-and grapple with the adversary, necessitated not only muscular
-strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an ability to
-seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or fend
-instantly the deadly thrust.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially
-notable way on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a
-hero, yet it should not be supposed that such contests were at all
-uncommon. On the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and
-sentences that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of
-competitive games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podarkês">ποδάρκης</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podas ôkys">πόδας ὠκὺς</span>) <i>Il.</i>
-ix, 307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="pyx agathos">πὺξ ἀγαθός</span>) <i>Il.</i>
-iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being shown at the
-more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited, had there not
-been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again, Homer often
-speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain lines of athletics
-was well known, and had been often sustained against challengers. When
-Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he asks for the two
-who are best (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hôper aristô">ὥπερ ἀρίστω</span>),
-<i>Il.</i> xxiii, 659, to come forward, as if it were well known who
-the skilful boxers were. When Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor
-in the foot-race, he is called the champion of foot-racers among the youth
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ho gar aute neous posi pantas enika">ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ πάντας ἐνίκα</span>).
-<i>Il.</i> xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to the fact
-that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize. Athletic
-skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice. We may
-conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of which Homer
-wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,&mdash;so frequent that they
-were taken as a matter of course,&mdash;and that on special occasions,
-such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or
-the anniversary of some god’s benefaction,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[Pg 11]</span>
-the games were conducted in a more public and ceremonious manner;
-and that on such occasions prizes were offered and intense
-excitement prevailed.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when
-an old man, tells of competing in his youth in the various games
-held in honor of Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion,
-Nestor was in his prime and was victor in the boxing-match, the
-foot-race, and the spear-throwing contest; being surpassed only
-in the chariot-races. Certain recorded myths sustain the scholar in
-referring the origin of funeral games to a time much preceding the
-age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of the funeral games
-in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato, as the most
-ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral contest
-in honor of Androgeos.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable
-minuteness the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend,
-whom Hector slew in battle.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of
-racing was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic
-legend assigns the origin of the races far back of Homeric times,
-in the dark heroic age of mythology. While the site of stately
-Thebes was still covered with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen
-in Poseidon’s grove, horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from
-the race. When Apollo thought of building a temple for himself
-at the sacred spring of the nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded
-him, declaring that the god would be disturbed by the incessant
-noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of horses, and that every one
-would prefer to see the beautifully-built chariots and the swift-footed
-horses, and so fail to appreciate the temple with its treasures.
-Oinomaos is said to have offered to her suitors his daughter,
-Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a chariot-race.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes,
-and called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos,
-Antilochos, and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of
-swift horses to his war-chariot. The competitors were directed
-to round a goal in the distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising
-his son, Antilochos: “A fathom’s height above the ground
-standeth a withered stump, whether of oak or pine; it decayeth
-not in the rain, and two white stones, on either side thereof, are
-fixed at the joining of the track, and all around it is smooth driving
-ground. Whether it be a monument of some man dead long ago,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[Pg 12]</span>
-or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient men, this
-now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is easy
-to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of
-the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round
-this goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mêtis">μῆτις</span>) the principal factor of
-victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of charioteer. For
-whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth heedlessly and
-wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course, and he keepeth
-them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though he drive worse
-horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth closely by it,
-neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses by the oxhide
-reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the leader in the
-race.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the
-advantage that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched
-horses. Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed
-the best horses of those that were gathered before Troy;
-they were very swift, and were classified and paired with regard to
-speed, color, age, and stature; they were “matched to the measure
-of a levelling-line across their backs.” <i>Il.</i> ii, 763-765.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of
-Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race,
-although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios&mdash;the
-immortal steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon&mdash;would undoubtedly
-have won for him the victory. Through skill and cunning,
-Antilochos quickly overtook Menelaos, left him behind and won
-the race, although his horses were much inferior to those of the
-latter.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile
-combat, the Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood
-alone in his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil
-of battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hêniochos">ἡνίοχος</span>). This was
-beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work
-of art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century
-<span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered
-two prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the
-loser. He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of
-first-class reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly
-claimed the first prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting
-this claim, gave voice to the following prediction: “I will
-utterly bruise mine adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span>
-his friends abide together here to bear him forth when vanquished
-by my hands.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists
-cast about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of
-raw oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all
-their limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek,
-and Euryalos collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s
-ripple a fish leapeth on a tangled-covered beach, and then the
-black wave hideth it, so leapt up Euryalos at that blow.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again
-Achilles offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the
-loser. Only Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and
-Telamonian Aias, the representative of bodily size and brute force,
-essayed to struggle. After they had girt themselves they went
-into the midst of the ring. Here they stood locked in each other’s
-arms, like two gable rafters joined by a builder. Their backs
-were gripped with such force that they creaked; the sweat ran
-down their bodies in streams; blood-colored welts appeared on
-their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with the advantage
-on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary. At
-last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful
-of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias
-fell backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was
-not bought with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After
-Odysseus had tried futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell
-together in the dust. They rose and would have wrestled the
-third time had not Achilles restrained them by declaring the contest
-a draw.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes
-practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished
-from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the
-antagonists struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and
-struggled again. When an antagonist had been thrown three
-times the contest was decided in favor of the other. In the latter
-variety the contestants continued the struggle on the ground, after
-they had fallen. At a later period standing wrestling was practiced
-at all the great games. Plato, who was always alive to the
-value of these contests, as a preparation for war, greatly preferred
-standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles of the upper
-part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders, and neck.
-Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a fine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[Pg 14]</span>
-carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the
-resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the
-most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle
-entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after
-the bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic
-exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor
-and unimportant things, does not mention oil in this connection.
-He certainly would not have passed over in complete silence, the
-use of oil in these contests had he been familiar with the custom.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was
-ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors
-were three,&mdash;Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos,
-son of Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes
-the duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the
-contest with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been
-pronounced, on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation.
-It should accordingly be considered as data for an account of the
-athletics of later times.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of
-javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete,
-Achilles at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his
-well-known excellence in this feat.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell
-upon the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of
-the poem, after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a
-thought given to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race,
-the descriptions are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the
-poet would dispose of them as quickly as possible, and as if he
-would say: “This is not my theme.” Achilles superintends the
-games with a lofty indifference, and even cuts some of them short,
-as if other things were on his mind.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a
-greater inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more
-in harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades
-the Odyssey; the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s
-imagination, and have been replaced by those of festivity and
-pleasure. A new generation is described. Athletics have become
-less violent and the scenes are embellished by the interspersion of
-music, dancing, and poetry.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[Pg 15]</span></p>
-
-<p class="p0a tp">The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of
-things among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island
-on the western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed
-Odysseus, the representative of the older generation. The
-shipwrecked stranger does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an
-escort that may guide him homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">“Say from what city, from what regions tossed,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And what inhabitants those regions boast?</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Like man intelligent they plow the tides,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Conscious of every coast and every bay</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”</div>
-    <div class="verse indent25"><i>Odyssey</i>, Book viii.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="p0">But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal
-entertainment has been provided.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the
-Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes
-and of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare
-for the games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger
-their skill in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued
-forth from the palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian
-athletes exhibited themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling
-match, at leaping, throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these
-games, except leaping, are mentioned also in the Iliad.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive
-body, invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no
-greater glory for a man in all his life than what he wins with his
-own feet and hands,” says Laodamas.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos
-he decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak
-still on, he sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and
-thick, heavier by not a little than those which the Phæacians were
-using for themselves. This with a twist he sent from his stout
-hand. The stone hummed as it went. Past all the marks it flew,
-swift speeding from his hands.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and
-he challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to
-contend with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,&mdash;it
-matters not to him.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[Pg 16]</span>”
-athlete. “Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I
-understand full well handling the polished bow. None except
-Philoktetes excelled me with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans
-tried the bow. I send the spear farther than other men an arrow.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the
-stern mood of the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the
-king, “no, nor wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in
-our ships excel. Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance,
-changes of clothes, warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers
-the best among you make us sport, that so the stranger on returning
-home may tell his friends how we surpass all other men in sailing,
-running, in the dance and song.”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1"
-class="fnanchor">[*]</a></p>
-
-<p class="tp">The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires
-(the mention of whom shows how important athletics have become),
-clear the ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious
-lyre,” Demodokos, the blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring,
-and is surrounded by youthful men skilled in dancing. “They
-struck the splendid dance-ground with their feet; Odysseus
-watched their twinkling feet, and was astonished.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric
-aristocracy, but activity of the most virile type. And, although
-Homer’s two epics grew into form long after the splendid Achæan
-civilization of which he wrote existed only in legend, yet he
-artfully excludes any references to contemporary facts. Only by
-<a name="TN014_1" id="TN014_1"></a>subtle inferences can information
-about the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works
-of art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes
-them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is
-therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made an
-admission with regard to his own times,&mdash;times, which, in fact
-were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have
-demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric
-epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan
-civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the
-Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility
-practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in
-addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as
-if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is
-recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral
-games in honor of Amphidamos.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p class="p4a"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[*]</a> Palmer’s Translation.</p>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[Pg 17]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak">II. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.</h2>
-
-<p class="tp">In historic times the great national festivals were already established.
-They had undoubtedly grown out of local athletic festivals of very
-ancient origin. Of these Panhellenic festivals, that celebrated once in
-every four years at Olympia in Elis was the oldest and the greatest.
-The nationalization of this festival is assigned traditionally to the
-year 776 <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> This date depends
-on a list of Olympic victors, compiled in the last part of the fifth
-century by the sophist Hippias of Elis, and handed down by Eusebios.
-Modern historians are not unanimous in accepting the early part of this
-register, and the minority have supported their charge of spuriousness
-by adducing unharmonious facts. In itself the date 776 <span
-class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> is not unreasonable. And when it
-is considered how comparatively easy and common travel was in Hellas,
-it is not rash to suppose that the festival, when once it had become
-celebrated as a local affair was resorted to by travellers, if not as
-participants, at least as spectators. Certain it is that the Olympic
-festival was already a Panhellenic institution, when the other three
-festivals were established early in the sixth century, and that to the
-close of Greek history it continued the most glorious.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Pythian games were celebrated on the Krissean Plain in
-Phokis in honor of Apollo. These games were held for several
-days in January in the third year of each Olympiad. The prize
-was a wreath of laurel and a palm.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Nemean games were held in the groves of Nemea, near
-Kleonai in Argolis, in the winter and summer alternately of the
-second and fourth years of each Olympiad. The prize was a
-wreath of parsley.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Isthmian games, instituted in honor of Poseidon, took place at
-Corinth in the spring and summer alternately of the first and third
-years of each Olympiad. This alternation was arranged to avoid interference
-with the Olympian and Pythian festivals. The victor’s
-prize at the Isthmia was a wreath of pine native to the spot.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent
-recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a
-local exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the
-Isthmus, Pytho, and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined.
-Each of the four great festivals had peculiar features of its own.
-Thus, the Pythian games, probably next to the Olympian in importance,
-were characterized by competitions in music and poetry in
-addition to the athletic contests. The Isthmian games were distinguished
-by the addition of boat-racing and swimming contests.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">But all were essentially alike. All were designed as
-glorifications of the strong and agile body. All were marked with
-patriotism. All were embellished with the greatest products of Hellenic
-art. All were held in honor of gods. And a fitting tribute and worship
-they furnished, not the mumbled prayers of a sallow-visaged, stunted
-race, but the exultant feats of proud, self-reliant men. All were
-attended by the most studied and artistic pomp. The greatest lyric
-poets of Hellas, Simonides and Pindar, for instance, celebrated the
-victors. Of Pindar’s <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="epinikia">ἐπινίκια</span>
-or “Odes of Victory,” we possess fourteen <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Olympionikai">Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι</span>
-for winners in the Olympian games. Twelve <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Pythionikai">Πυθιονῖκαι</span>
-for the Pythian games, seven <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Nemeonikai">Νεμεονῖκαι</span>
-for the Nemean games, and eleven <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Isthmeonikai">Ἰσθμεονῖκαι</span>
-for the Isthmian games. Even the wise men and famous bards of Greece
-could not resist the desire to be present. It is said that the Spartan
-Chilon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, died while witnessing
-these games, being overcome with joy at his son’s victory. Sages like
-Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Sokrates, Plato, Aristippos, Diogenes and
-Thales came, lured not only by the desire of beholding athletic feats,
-but also eager to engage in debate, or perhaps to explain some new
-theory of the universe. Statesmen like Themistokles and Kimon resorted
-to the games and there met the rulers of distant states. Orators and
-sophists like Gorgias, Lysias and Demosthenes, were present at the
-Olympian games. The first two made great panegyric speeches. The games
-on the Isthmus were attended by the great dramatists Aischylos and
-Ion. Historians like Herodotos carried their scrolls to read before
-assembled Hellas. Artists came to exhibit their works of art, and
-perhaps to obtain new customers. Sculptors showed models of their
-skill, and potters exhibited vases. These games, like the Schwingfest
-and the shooting-matches of Switzerland, served not only as pleasant
-occasions of reunion, but tended to the diffusion of national ideas. In
-the language of John Fiske, “young men<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[Pg 19]</span> of the noblest families and
-from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran,
-undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor
-to his country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and
-on reaching home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal
-song written by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant
-fact is that the Greek era began with the Olympic games; every
-period of four years was called an Olympiad.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">About twenty miles above the mouth of the Alpheios, in a long,
-narrow valley surrounded by well-wooded hills, it is joined by
-the ancient Kladeos, coming from the north. At the angle
-formed by the junction of the two rivers is the area known as Olympia,
-the scene of the greatest athletic festival that the world has
-ever witnessed.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">To the north of this plain was a range of rocky hills, the nearest
-of which was the famous Kronion, conical in shape and about 400
-feet in height. As its name signifies, this hill was sacred to Kronos,
-the father of Zeus. Another low range bounded the valley on the
-south. The western boundary was the Kladeos. Eastward was
-the hill of Pisa, and further in the distance were visible the snow-crowned
-summits of Erymanthos and Kyllene.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">During the long centuries that succeeded the extinction of Greek
-civilization, the precinct of the games, and the equipments, buildings
-and statues that remained, were gradually covered by a stratum
-of alluvium from the Alpheios, mixed with a deposit of clay from
-Kronion. The rest of the world was not interested enough to record
-the process, and when in modern times scholars saw no trace
-of the original scene, it was supposed that the Alpheios by its overflowings
-had destroyed all monuments. Recent excavations, however,
-have revealed a very precious remnant at the bottom of the
-alluvium. It was indeed not really a misfortune that during periods
-when the products of old civilizations were treated with fanaticism
-on the one hand, and rapacity on the other, the Olympian scene
-was covered with earth rather than left exposed to the hand of
-Middle Age barbarians.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The systematic excavation of Olympia was undertaken in 1875
-by the German government. The work involved great expense,
-and the willingness of the Germans to undertake and execute the
-task has brought them much praise from the scholars of other
-countries. The excavations were completed on the 20th of March,
-1881.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[Pg 20]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">During these six years a space in the form of a square, measuring
-1,000 feet on each side, was stripped of the accumulated deposit
-of twelve centuries; the average depth of this covering was
-estimated to be over sixteen feet.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Archæologically, this excavation involved expert care and much
-labor. Neither the care nor the labor was withheld. The result
-may best be described in the language of an eminent professor of
-classical archæology:&mdash;</p>
-
-<p class="tp">“The result of these excavations, carried on there at great cost
-and with supreme disinterestedness by the German people, has been
-to enable the traveller at Olympia not only to study the scene of the
-greatest of Greek athletic festivals, but to trace the celebration
-from hour to hour and from point to point. He not only sees the
-hill of Cronion, where the spectators crowded, wades through Olympic
-dust, and feels the sun of Olympia beat on his head, but he can
-wander on the threshold of the temple of Zeus, pass from building
-to building in the sacred enclosure of the Altis, and stand at the
-starting-point of the runners in the Stadium. Taking the guidebook
-of the old Greek traveller <a name="TN018_1" id="TN018_1"></a>Pausanias
-in our hand, we can follow in his steps, and out of broken pillars,
-truncated pedestals and the foundations of demolished buildings, we
-can conjure forth the beautiful Olympia of old, with its glorious
-temples, its rows of altars, its statues of gods and godlike men who
-conquered in the games, its treasuries full of the noblest works of art
-and the richest spoils of war. And we can people the solitude with the
-combatants and with the spectators, a crowd filled with the enthusiasm
-of the place and with delight in manly contests; a crowd over whom
-emotions swept as rapidly as chariots through the hippodrome, and who
-were ever breaking out into wild cries of delight, or loud shouts of
-scorn and derision. We can see the bestowal of the crowns of wild
-olive, and can hear the heralds recite the names of those who have been
-victorious.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Here, then, in the summer time was held the great athletic festival
-in honor of Olympian Zeus. At the beginning of authentic
-history it was already a venerable institution. We have already
-learned that early in the sixth century the other three Panhellenic
-festivals were modeled upon it. Many myths very early sprang
-into existence to explain its origin. Pindar, it is well known, in
-one of his Olympian odes makes the Dorian Herakles the founder.
-Of course, the myths do not agree, and if they did would establish
-nothing directly; indirectly, however, they show that at the time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[Pg 21]</span>
-of their first promulgation the festival had attained so approved a
-system, so wide a celebrity, and so great a prestige as to need accounting
-for and to be compatible with an exalted origin. And as
-a matter of fact, system, celebrity and prestige do not fall to the lot
-of an institution in the period of a single generation.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The festival was from the first under the charge of the Eleians.
-But so liberal a policy did this nation adopt and pursue that people
-from neighboring states were glad to send competitors. Rapidly
-the custom of resorting to the games spread to more distant states.
-From an Eleian event, the festival became Peloponnesian, and
-finally Panhellenic. The Athenians and Thebans at a very early
-date achieved splendid victories in these games. The Theban
-Pagondas was crowned victor in the four-horse chariot race in the
-25th Olympiad, when for the first time this was a feature of the
-festival. Thus one state after another turned its attention to the
-venerable celebration, and if it happened that a citizen of one state
-was crowned victor in a contest, interest in the games was sure to
-be increased in that locality.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Even in the absence of positive evidence it would
-be contrary to reason to suppose that the games were originally
-established as they existed at the time of Pindar. In fact,
-the different features were added successively. According to a
-fairly reliable tradition, there was originally and for twelve
-following Olympiads only one contest: the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span>,
-a foot-race consisting of a single lap of a stadion of two hundred
-yards. About 720 <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span>, according
-to the tradition, was added the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>,
-a race in which the stadion was traversed twice. Soon afterward was added
-the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>, or long race,
-consisting of seven, then of twelve and perhaps twenty-four laps.
-The next contest to be introduced was the wrestling-match. In the
-same year that wrestling was introduced, about the 18th Olympiad, the
-pentathlon made its appearance. This feature, though consisting of five
-contests&mdash;leaping, spear-throwing, diskos-pitching, running and
-wrestling&mdash;was nevertheless a single event, inasmuch as victory in
-one contest alone was not rewarded; an athlete to be crowned victor in
-the pentathlon must win at least three of the contests. Boxing and the
-chariot race are said to have been added in the 23d Olympiad. Thus the
-games grew more elaborate, and the time over which they extended was
-increased from a single day to five or six.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The festival was conducted by judges, called Hellanodikai, elected
-by the people of Elis a year beforehand. The number of these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[Pg 22]</span>
-judges was about ten; they were expected to give close attention to
-their duties. Thirty days before the festival, candidates for the
-various contests presented themselves before the Hellanodikai for
-examination. In order that the name of a candidate could be considered,
-he must prove himself to be of pure Hellenic stock, and
-must give evidence of having practised in a gymnasium for ten
-months previously; finally, the candidate must practise for thirty
-days in the great gymnasium of Elis, under the supervision of the
-Hellanodikai. The names of those who were able to satisfy the
-judges were placed on a white board which was exposed to view at
-Olympia. After an athlete had been entered for a contest, it was
-considered the greatest ignominy for him to withdraw for any reason;
-indeed, for so doing he was heavily fined. Theagenes, an
-athlete of wide fame, was unable to enter the pankration because he
-had been disabled in the boxing-match; but inasmuch as he had
-had his name entered for both events, he was fined.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Eleven days before the festival, the Hellanodikai caused to be
-proclaimed by heralds throughout all the cities of Hellas the truce,
-sacred to Olympian Zeus, which was to last a month. It was this
-truce that made the Olympia possible as a Panhellenic institution.
-During the month that followed the proclamations of the heralds,
-all wars between Hellenic states were held in abeyance, and travellers
-were allowed to journey through them unmolested. The
-awful name of Zeus coupled with the decrees of rulers made this
-truce effective.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">During the eleven days pilgrims from all over Hellas were approaching
-Olympia. Some of the scenes may be imagined. In the
-language of Professor Percy Gardner: “From all the shores of the
-Mediterranean and the Euxine seas the Greek colonies sent deputations
-to represent them at the games, to bear offerings to the temple,
-and to perform sacrifices on their behalf. And the Greeks
-readily took a tinge from the land wherein they dwelt. There were
-dwellers on the northern shore of the Black Sea, to whom continual
-intercourse and frequent intermarriage with their Scythian neighbors
-gave almost the aspect of nomads; and colonists from Massilia,
-who in dress and blood were half Gauls. There were people from
-Cyrene, with the hot blood and dark complexions of Africa, and
-oriental Ionians, with trailing robes and effeminate airs. There
-were rude pirates from Acarnania, and delicate sensualists from
-Cyprus.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">To give a detailed account of the competitions at each of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[Pg 23]</span>
-great festivals would involve much unnecessary repetition. That
-held at Olympia, therefore, may be taken as the type and the ideal
-of the others. But even at Olympia, the celebrations of which
-have been most widely written of both by ancient and modern
-scholars, it is not always easy to determine the exact order of the
-various contests.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">There is hardly a doubt that at the Olympic festival as
-well as at the others the foot-races were the initial competitions.
-Plato says that at his time when a contest took place the herald first
-called on the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="stadiodromos">σταδιοδρόμος</span>
-to do his part. The reason for beginning with the foot-race was
-probably an historical one; as has been said, it was originally the
-sole competition at the Olympic celebration. According to the old
-Eleian priest legends, the Idaian Herakles, one of the Cretan Kouretes,
-came to Elis in the reign of Kronos, in the golden age, and arranged a
-foot-race in which the victor was crowned with wild olive. The legends
-further state that the place thus honored by the priest of Olympian
-Zeus was afterward called Olympia, and that in time the celebration
-was repeated at intervals of four years. Of course the foregoing is a
-tale invented to explain the priority of the foot-race as well as the
-founding of the festival. Another legend recounts that at one of these
-subsequent celebrations Endymion, son of Æthlios, offered the kingdom
-of Klymenos, whom he had conquered, as a prize to that one of his sons
-who should be first in the foot-race. Such are some of the myths that
-helped to sanction and endear an inviolable Olympic custom. It is
-noteworthy in this connection that in the Odyssey the Phæacians had
-opened their games with the foot-race.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The technique of foot-racing, the style of running most advantageous,
-and the training and qualities necessary for it, differ considerably
-with the distance covered. Accordingly very early in the
-history of the Olympic festival races of varying length were one by
-one introduced, and the variety doubtless tended to attract a larger
-number of competitors and to make the occasion more interesting.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">For thirteen Olympiads, however, the race called
-the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span> was the only
-feature. In this race the stadion was traversed but once. As the
-course of the stadion was about 200 yards, the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span>
-was what we call a sprint, and required that a runner exert himself to
-the utmost from start to finish. This simple race remained a favorite
-mode of competition among the Greeks until a late time&mdash;being
-practised by Alexander.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>, or
-double course of the stadion, was introduced in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[Pg 24]</span>
-the 14th Olympiad. This race required that the runner, after having
-traversed the 200 yards and reached the goal, should return to
-the point of starting. As he rounded the goal he described an arc,
-and on his way back took the opposite side of the track in order
-that he might not collide with other runners.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Very soon after the introduction of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>
-the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippios dromos">ἵππιος δρόμος</span> and
-then the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span> were instituted.
-The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippios dromos">ἵππιος δρόμος</span>, which
-implies a horse-race, was in reality a foot-race, the contestant running the
-distance generally covered in a horse-race&mdash;namely, four times the
-length of the stadion, or 800 yards.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>
-was added to the Olympic games in the 15th Olympiad, and was,
-like our long runs, a test primarily of endurance and lung-power.
-The distance covered varied from seven to twenty-four laps of the
-stadion, or from less than a mile to about three miles. At Olympia,
-however, the distance was twelve stadia. As the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>
-was run on the same track on which the single and double races took
-place, it was really only a series of double races.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the 65th Olympiad, the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hoplitôn dromos">ὁπλίτων δρόμος</span>
-was introduced. In this race the competitors wore helmets and greaves,
-and carried shields on their left arms. <a name="TN022_1" id="TN022_1"></a>Pausanias
-claims to have seen the statue of Demaratos equipped with a round
-shield, helmet and antique greaves. At a later period, however,
-the helmet and greaves were discarded at Olympia, and the race was
-run with shields alone. The distance covered in this race was two
-stadia&mdash;the length of the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>. Pindar,
-the poet laureate of the Olympians, mentions the race with shields,
-and with poetic privilege ascribes its origin to heroic times. Plato
-considered the exercise very valuable as war training, and prescribed
-it as a part of the athletics of his ideal commonwealth. Plato devised
-two other races involving armor: in one the competitor should be
-equipped as a heavy-armed hoplite, and should cover a distance of sixty
-stadia on a level plain; in the other the competitor should wear the
-light equipments of an archer, and should cover one hundred stadia over
-hills and valleys.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The running contests at the great games were governed by certain
-established rules. No fraud or guile was allowed to be used
-by the contestant on the track for the purpose of impeding his companions.
-They were very particular that all should start at the
-same time and from the same line, so that no one might have the
-advantage over the others. It was also contrary to rule for an athlete
-voluntarily to slacken his speed and allow his fellow-contestants
-to win. The competitors were appointed by lot and arranged in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[Pg 25]</span>
-groups. These groups raced in heats of four, ranged in the places
-assigned them by lot. The first group was followed by the second, the
-second by the third, etc. When all groups had finished, the victors of
-each again entered the contest and strove for the prize; so that every
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="stadiodromos">σταδιοδρόμος</span> had to win
-twice before he was crowned victor.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The physicians of olden times mentioned two other foot-races
-which in their opinion afforded excellent gymnastic exercise. The
-first of these was practised in the sixth division of the stadion and
-consisted of running first forward and then backward. In this race
-the body was not turned once, but the distance that was run forward
-was continually shortened by backward running until the
-contestant finally stood at the starting-point. In the second race
-the contestant ran on tiptoe with outstretched arms which he swung
-violently to and fro. It was practised along a wall so that, should
-the balance be lost, the runner could hold and support himself
-against it.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Among the less important foot-races were two that had
-their origin in certain local celebrations, namely, the torch race
-and the race of the vintage festival, held at Athens. Similar races
-took place at Sparta during the great national festival of the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Karneia">Κάρνεια</span> held in honor of Apollo.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the preparation for these different kinds of foot-races everything
-was done in the way of training that would tend to make the
-body as light as possible and increase its rapidity, although the different
-cities of Greece varied to some extent as regards the question
-of diet, rubbing and baths.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In practising for the foot-race the contestant,
-having divested himself of every shred of clothing and anointed
-his body with oil, was made to exert himself as much as possible.
-The exertion was often increased by making the run in deep sand
-instead of on firm ground; the foot having a less firm support, the
-runner was obliged to work harder and more quickly. In this way
-these exercises gave to the body not only great power of endurance,
-but also increased speed, and as a result the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichodromoi">δολιχοδρόμοι</span>
-possessed strong and well-developed legs. The shoulders and upper part
-of the body, on the other hand, owing to insufficient exercise were
-small and narrow. On that account Sokrates did not favor the races
-because they did not produce a harmonious development of the body.
-The skilled runner naturally strove to preserve an erect carriage
-while running, and to conform to all established rules regarding the
-contest.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[Pg 26]</span> In
-this connection it may be interesting to mention the strange ideas
-entertained among the Greeks regarding the influence of the spleen over
-the powers of the body. This little organ, situated behind the stomach
-on the left side of the abdomen, and exercising some function which
-still remains unknown, would in their opinion if diseased prove a great
-hindrance to a contestant in the race. In order, therefore, to prevent
-such a catastrophe they resorted to extraordinary means, namely, the
-use of certain plants which they believed would dissolve or eat away
-the spleen; or even to surgical operations, such as cutting or burning
-it out. On the other hand, they believed that a diseased spleen was
-greatly benefited by exercise in running. Laomedon of Orchomenos is
-quoted as furnishing an example of this kind.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The attitude of the runners we learn from vases. Those
-who were contending in the short race or dash swung their arms backward
-and forward alternately. This is beautifully shown by a painting on
-a Panathenæan vase in the possession of Koller. It represents four
-athletes running, hardly touching the ground with one foot, while
-the other is raised and moved forward in order to cover the greatest
-possible distance with one step. The hands are wide open; the arms
-are moved about freely and appear to act as the wings of the body,
-and their motion is in harmony with that of the lower limbs. Another
-vase, discovered in the ancient tombs of Volci, also shows a similar
-method of running. The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their
-arms as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long
-distance clenched their fists and held their arms close to their
-sides, as do our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during
-the games. It is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in
-order to retain their courage, while at the same time the admiring
-spectators cheered wildly as some favorite or friend neared the
-goal. As the Greeks did not possess the modern mechanical means
-of communication, they had to rely mostly upon messengers; hence
-the great necessity for expert runners. To this fact is due to a
-considerable degree the development of agonistic and running contests
-in Greece. It is said that after the battle of Platæa all the sacred
-fires which had been profaned by the Persians were extinguished, and
-that <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Enchidas">Ἐνχίδας</span>, a Platæan,
-covered in one day the distance of a thousand stadia from Platæa
-to Delphi and back again, and brought his fellow-citizens the pure
-fire from the altar of Apollo. As a result of this terrible strain
-he sank to the ground and died. The Cretans were especially noted in
-the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[Pg 27]</span> <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>.
-Sotades and Ergoteles were among the most famous. The Arcadian Dromeos
-was another celebrated runner, having been like the former twelve times
-victorious in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>.
-Ladas, the famous Spartan runner, was also victorious in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>,
-but according to <a name="TN025_1" id="TN025_1"></a>Pausanias died
-at the goal on completing a race.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Comparison of the speed of Hellenic athletes with that of
-modern runners is exceedingly difficult, because the Hellenes had no
-means of measuring minutes of time; they did not say of an athlete that
-he ran the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span> in such a
-time, but that he won (<i>i. e.</i>, surpassed his competitors) in a certain
-Olympic celebration.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Probably the next event was the pentathlon. This
-competition was introduced into the festival at about the
-18th Olympiad. As the etymology of the word signifies, the
-pentathlon consisted of five distinct competitions, enumerated
-in a well-known pentameter ascribed to Simonides: leaping
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="halma">ἅλμα</span>), running
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podôkeiên">ποδωκείην</span>),
-diskos-throwing (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diskon">δίσκον</span>),
-spear-throwing (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="akonta">ἄκοντα</span>),
-wrestling (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="palên">πάλην</span>). That the
-poet arranged the events in this order cannot be taken as positive
-proof that this was the real order, as it is hard to see how these
-words could be arranged otherwise in a pentameter. It is probable,
-however, that wrestling was the final contest. There is some
-uncertainty as to what constituted a victory in the pentathlon, but it
-is evident that the purpose of this competition was to develop what we
-call “all-round athletes,” and the assertion that the victor must have
-won three out of the five contests cannot be far from the truth.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In such a combination of exercises it would certainly be good
-athletic policy to make leaping the first contest. It may be questioned
-whether an athlete could leap so well after having engaged
-in the more violent exercises, whereas leaping itself, instead of disqualifying
-for the other exercises, would on the contrary rouse the
-animal spirits without bringing on exhaustion, and thereby put the
-athletes at once in good condition. For the leap requires not only
-vigor and elasticity, but also courage and determination.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The beneficent results of this exercise were recognized at a very
-early period by the Hellenes, although in the heroic world the leap
-was not considered so important as the other modes of contest. In
-the games of Achilles the leap is not mentioned. In the Odyssey,
-however, the <a name="TN025_2" id="TN025_2"></a>Phæacians, a
-light-hearted people, more fond of amusement than of war, are said to
-be skilled in leaping. It is in historic times, however, that leaping,
-as an important event in the pentathlon of the public games, acquires
-its technique, and receives the careful attention of athletes.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[Pg 28]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">What may be called the pure leap, that is the standing
-leap without accessory aids, was not practised at Olympia. The leaper
-held in his hands weights resembling our dumb-bells, and known as
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>. To determine the dynamic
-advantage of these weights is not easy, but it is certain that with
-them the exercise required more skill, and accordingly more practice,
-that it called into play more muscles, and that it was more attractive
-to athletes as a mode of competition.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">While little information can be obtained
-from classic writers concerning the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>,
-much can be learned from archæological specimens.
-<a name="TN026_1" id="TN026_1"></a>Pausanias describes them as
-having the form of a semi-oval, or inaccurately-rounded ring that
-could be grasped by the fingers as a shield was grasped. This
-description corresponds with a drawing of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
-on a vase in Hamilton’s second collection. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Haltêres">Ἁλτῆρες</span>
-of another shape, however, resembling very closely the modern
-dumb-bells, are seen on many other vases and gems. These had
-both ends rounded, and were narrow in the middle in order that
-they might be easily held. In Hamilton’s first collection
-are vases giving representations of these <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>.
-In the Museo Borbonico may be seen on a patera a drawing in which the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span> have still another
-form: when the hand has grasped the handle of these, beyond the hand,
-on one side only, a club-shaped part protrudes. The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
-were usually made of lead.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the pentathla, leaping never took place without <span
-lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>, which the athlete usually
-held directly in front of him, and then, as he sprang, brought behind
-him, thus helping to propel his body forward.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In addition to the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>,
-professional athletes made use of another aid&mdash;the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="batêr">βατήρ</span>.
-The latter was a board on which they stood before taking the leap, and
-which may indeed have been provided with a spring.</p>
-
-<p class="tp"><a name="TN026_2" id="TN026_2"></a>Pausanias especially
-mentions the fact that the leaping of the pentathli in the Olympic
-festival was accompanied by airs on the flute. This music was probably
-to open the pentathlon, the most splendid and stirring of gymnastic
-contests, as well as to increase the courage of the leapers.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The only leap that belonged to the pentathlon was the
-standing long jump. There is no trace of anything like the hop,
-step and jump. The figures of athletes on vases are represented
-not as running, but as standing and swinging the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>.
-Then, too, it would seem that in the running jump the weights would be an
-impediment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[Pg 29]</span> rather than an aid.
-With the aid of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
-and the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="batêr">βατήρ</span> enormous distances
-were covered. Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said to have covered more than
-fifty-five feet at a leap. But the record is incredible. Some German
-professors, however, are inclined to credit the record on the ground
-that the ancients had studied the theory of leaping more scientifically
-than have the moderns. For the sake of comparison the modern records
-in jumping may be introduced. On May 28, 1890, J. Darby of England,
-without the aid of weights, made a standing long jump of 12½ feet. At
-Romeo, Mich., October 3, 1879, with 22-pound weights, G. W. Hamilton
-made a standing jump of 14 feet, 5½ inches. A record of 23 feet, 6½
-inches, in the running long jump has been made twice: by C. L. Reber at
-Detroit, July 4, 1891, and by C. B. Frye of England, March 4, 1893. A
-jump of 48 feet, 8 inches, without weights and preceded by a hop and a
-step, was made October 18, 1884, by T. Burrows of Worcester.</p>
-
-<p class="p0a tp">In the palæstra and the gymnasium, leaping was practised in
-many different ways, as through a hoop, or over a rope. That the
-high jump also was practised is evident from the fact that the athletes
-leaped not only over pointed poles fixed in the ground, but
-also over one another’s heads, after the manner of modern circus
-performers. Leaping from a higher place to a lower was also practised.
-Leaping took place in dancing and in various other sports.
-A dance, consisting principally of leaping was practised at Sparta,
-particularly by young women and girls. In this the dancers aimed
-to hit their backs with their heels. Aristophanes alludes to this
-custom in the following dialogue between Lysistrata and Lampito:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">How shines thy beauty, O, my sweetest friend!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame!</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Why, thou couldst choke a bull.</div>
-  </div>
-
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lampito</span>.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent25">Yes, by the twain;</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">For I do practise the gymnastic art,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels.</div>
-  </div>
-
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="tp">It is probable that in the Olympic pentathlon leaping was followed
-by diskos-hurling,&mdash;a contest of great antiquity. An old
-myth represents Apollo as a diskos-thrower.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[Pg 30]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">The diskos was circular in form with perhaps an average diameter
-of a little less than a foot, and was made of various materials
-at different periods and places. The heroic diskos, as has been
-said, was made of stone, while that of a later period was of metal,
-and even of wood. The diskos in common use at the Olympic
-festival was metallic, and resembled a small shield.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the local gymnasia the size and weight of the diskos varied
-in order that an athlete might select one in accord with his strength.
-But in the men’s pentathlon at the public games a standard diskos
-was required,&mdash;uniform in material, form, and weight, in order that
-the strength and skill of the competitors might be impartially tested
-and the victory correspondingly awarded. There is considerable
-doubt as to the dimensions and weight of this standard diskos. It
-is likely that the weight was between four and five pounds. A
-specimen found at Ægina and now preserved among the bronzes
-at Munich is about eight inches in diameter and slightly less than
-four pounds in weight. But another specimen at present in the
-British Museum weighs twelve pounds.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">There is also doubt as to the distance to which a skilful athlete
-could hurl the diskos. An extravagant record of one hundred
-cubits is preserved in the writings of Philostratos. It is probable,
-however, that one hundred feet was an extraordinary throw and
-was exceeded only by the best athletes. While it is unlikely that
-the throws of renowned athletes were carelessly measured at the
-time, it is probable that many subsequent accounts were more or
-less exaggerated. It is well to bear in mind that the statue of
-<a name="TN028_1" id="TN028_1"></a>Phaÿllos was greatly admired
-among the Greeks because that athlete had thrown the diskos ninety-five
-feet.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">It is interesting in this connection to note that at the International
-Athletic Games, celebrated at Athens in 1896, the victor
-in the diskos-throwing competition made a record of 95.64 feet.
-The diskos used in this competition weighed 4¾ pounds. Although
-three skilful Greek athletes participated in this competition
-and exhibited a technique much superior to that of the foreign
-competitors, yet the victory was won by Mr. Garret, an American,
-who though never having handled the diskos before threw it to the
-above distance, thereby surpassing the best throw of M. Paraskevopoulos,
-the Greek champion, by .64 feet.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">To return to the ancient contests, the Homeric heroes practised
-diskos-throwing without completely disrobing,&mdash;the upper garment
-only being laid aside. But at Olympia after the 15th Olympiad<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[Pg 31]</span>
-all clothing was dispensed with, and the advantage of entire nudity
-in this sport came to be clearly recognized. Nudity characterized,
-of course, the diskoboloi of the other great athletic festivals.
-Again, while the Homeric heroes did not anoint the body with oil,
-the athlete of historic times did not consider his preparation complete
-without it.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">After roughening his hands and the diskos with earth, in order
-to grasp it more firmly and handle it more deftly, the diskobolos
-ascended an eminence, called the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="balbis">βαλβίς</span>.
-When about to throw, the body of the diskobolos was bent quite a little
-to the right and forward. At the same time the head was bent to the
-right so far that it was possible for him to see the upper left side
-of his body. The right arm was now moved from below, first backward to
-the height of the shoulders, and then with a rapid movement forward
-it described a semi-circle, giving the diskos at once velocity and
-direction. In throwing the diskos, the diskobolos rested first on the
-right foot and then on the left. At the moment of hurling the diskos
-the left knee was slightly bent, while the other was kept backward.
-As the diskos left his hand he took one or more steps forward, like a
-person throwing a ball in a bowling alley.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Again we are indebted to the archæologist who has brought to
-the light of day not only statues but also vases and gems with
-their elaborate scenes of the diskobolos in various attitudes, for
-they reveal to us many facts about which the ancient historians are
-silent.</p>
-
-<p class="p0a tp">In classifying these works of art three different attitudes may be
-recognized:</p>
-
-<p class="p0 p0a tp">(1) The diskobolos preparing to throw.</p>
-
-<p class="p0 p0a tp">(2) The diskobolos in the act of throwing.</p>
-
-<p class="p0 tp">(3) The diskobolos having hurled the diskos and still following
-it with his eyes, or where he has already been declared victor.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the Museo Pio Clementino is a statue representing an athlete
-about to hurl the diskos. In his left hand he is testing the weight
-of the diskos, but holding the right ready to receive it and hurl it
-into space. This statue was supposed by Visconti to be a copy of
-a diskobolos by Naukydes, the pupil of Polykleitos. Many other
-copies are also seen on vases and gems. On one of Hamilton’s
-vases the diskobolos holds the diskos in his right hand, supporting
-its weight in his left.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Of the statues representing the athlete in the act of throwing,
-we will consider only Myron’s Diskobolos, the beau ideal of athletic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span>
-motion, famous even in antiquity. Eight copies in a more or
-less mutilated condition have come down to us. That which was
-found in the Villa Palombara in 1781 on the Esquiline is the
-best reproduction of the original. This statue passed from the
-palace known as that of the <i>Massimi alle Colonne</i> to the <i>Lancelotti
-Palace</i>, Rome, where it still remains. The attitude of the diskobolos
-is very nearly that described by Lucian and Quintilian. In
-the <i>Philopseudes</i>&mdash;1, 8, Lucian gives the following description of
-Myron’s Diskobolos: “Thou speakest of the disk-thrower, who is
-bending forward for the throw, with his face turned away towards
-the hand that holds the disk, and with one foot slightly pointed, as
-if he would raise himself with the action of throwing.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The statue reveals probably the most approved attitude of a
-diskobolos just before making a throw. The centre of gravity falls
-upon the right foot, which, though the leg is bent in a slight curve,
-rests firmly on the ground; both legs are bent at the knees, but
-the left more acutely; the right fore-leg is perpendicular, while the
-left is thrust backward obliquely; the left foot, forming a noticeable
-curve, is upright and touches the ground only at the tips of
-the toes; the thighs, close together, slant upward, making an angle
-of over 45° with the ground; the upper part of the body is bent
-forward, and is steadied by the left arm whose hand rests against
-the right knee; the upper half of the body is twisted to the right;
-the right arm is extended backwards and is straight; the fingers
-of the right hand, which is somewhat above the level of the right
-shoulder, firmly grip the edge of the diskos; the head is turned so
-far to the right that the right side of the body is plainly visible;
-the eyes are fastened on the diskos.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">It is evident that the diskobolos must have swung the disk in a
-semi-circle, and have hurled it from below forward, and that the
-whole body must have relaxed and readjusted itself as the right
-arm moved forward and imparted the pent-up energy to the disk.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The pose of the large cast in the Boston Athenæum, as well as
-that of the cast in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is not in accordance
-with Lucian’s description. Both represent the head as
-not turned aside but directly forward, with the eyes looking straight
-ahead. There is, however, in the Fourth Greek Room, a cast of a
-small bronze statuette, which is preserved in the Antiquarium at
-Munich. This is in many respects an excellent copy of Myron’s
-diskobolos. In the catalogue of the casts in the Museum, this
-statuette is pronounced especially satisfactory from an æsthetic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[Pg 33]</span>
-point of view because the line of equilibrium falls perpendicularly
-through the centre from whatever point of view the statuette is
-seen.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Besides this copy of Myron’s statue, we find on many vases and
-gems the diskobolos in the act of hurling the diskos. For instance,
-on one of Hamilton’s vases we see a diskobolos with a diskos in
-his right hand, while the right arm is bent and held forward, showing
-that he is on the point of moving the arm backward, and then
-forcibly hurling the diskos from below, forward. The left arm is
-bent over the head, the eyes are fixed on the diskos, the right foot
-is placed forward, so that the centre of gravity falls on the left,
-which is obliquely bent at the knee.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">We will now consider the third class of statues, gems and vase-paintings
-representing the diskobolos as having thrown the diskos,
-and still following it with his eye, or where he has already been
-declared victor and adorned with the palm. In 1754 there was
-discovered at Herculaneum the bronze statue of a diskobolos from
-whose hand the diskos has just flown. He is still standing, however,
-with the upper portion of his body bent forward, the eyes
-looking sharply into space, the face full of expectation. The position
-of the right arm indicates that the hand is only just freed from
-the heavy diskos. Both feet are placed wide apart, as may be observed
-in several other instances, at the moment of throwing. In
-the <i>Galerie de Florence</i> is a gem which represents a diskobolos who
-has been declared victor. He holds the diskos in his left hand, the
-palm of victory in his right. At his right stands a prize cup, while
-at his left is a tripod upon which is a wreath and a palm. A painting
-from Herculaneum also represents a diskobolos after having
-thrown the diskos.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">If space permitted, many other statues, vase and gem pictures
-could be cited to show the different positions of the skilled diskobolos.
-But enough has been said to show that to hurl the diskos
-through the air at once gracefully and effectively required the
-greatest skill and dexterity, and was an art acquired only through
-long practice. In diskos-throwing, distance, not height, determined
-the victor. He who threw the farthest beyond the mark or σῆμα
-was awarded the prize.</p>
-
-<p class="p4a tp">Diskos-throwing was a good preparation for war, as it developed
-great skill in stone-throwing&mdash;a very important feature in the war
-practices of the ancients. This exercise must have developed to a
-remarkable degree the muscles of the upper part of the body,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span>
-shoulders, arms and hands&mdash;especially those of the right side of
-the body. At the same time the feet were trained in a firm and
-secure step, and, although the diskos was thrown at no fixed point,
-the eye was nevertheless used and trained. So beneficial was the
-exercise in certain cases that it was often ordered by the ancient
-physicians. Among the Spartans the diskos was especially loved,
-ostensibly on account of Apollo’s contest with Hyakinthos on Spartan
-soil.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[Pg 35]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak">III. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.</h2>
-
-<p class="tp">The third event of the pentathlon was spear-throwing. In the
-athletic training of an Hellenic youth, spear-throwing came after
-the hand and arm had been strengthened by ball-playing and
-diskos-throwing.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Spear-throwing, as has been shown, growing out of the very
-early necessity of war-training, was a primitive mode of exercise.
-The spear (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dory">δόρυ</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="lonchê">λόγχη</span>) used by the Homeric
-heroes was very large, and as heavy as they could handle effectively.
-None but that warrior himself could wield the spear of Achilles.
-Hector’s spear was 16 feet long; the shaft was made of ash. A socket
-was fitted to the upper end of the spear, in which was inserted a
-bronze spear point. But that used at the pentathlon, and denoted by the
-term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="akôn">ἄκων</span>, was smaller and lighter.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The attitude of the body, the movement of the arms and shoulders,
-and the carriage of the head were very different in spear-throwing
-from those in diskos-hurling. The athlete stood erect,
-and raised his right arm upward and slightly backward; his right
-foot was generally placed backward, while his left was advanced;
-his eye was fixed on a goal straight ahead. He grasped the spear
-in the middle and held it in a horizontal position on a level with
-his right ear; sometimes he moved it backward and forward before
-throwing, but as often omitted such preliminary exercise.
-Sometimes it was thrown by means of a strap attached to it, as is
-still the custom in many countries.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In the pentathlon, spear-throwing was a test rather of skill than
-of strength; an athlete who could win the victory with the diskos
-might suffer defeat with the spear, although diskos-throwing required
-more strength than spear-throwing. Spear-throwing
-trained the eye and made the arm deft in executing the eye’s
-direction.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[Pg 36]</span>
-of respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and
-enlarged; the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the
-spear effectively the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and
-have command of his entire body; to do so with a weight held
-aloft, strengthened the lower limbs, made their muscles more
-facile, and the step more sure.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the
-early Olympians not only recognized the foregoing advantages,
-but they also honored the characteristic exercise of their ancestors,
-and subsequent Olympians followed their example. For the
-spear was the traditional sign of the freeman; as far back as myth
-and memory could go, it had been carried, even in peace, as an
-honorable and distinguishing token.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Plato, in his scheme of the ideal state, prescribed spear-throwing
-as a training for war, and directed that it should be
-practiced by women as well as by men.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">At Rome, during the time of the emperors, spear-throwing was
-included among the gymnastic exercises of that city. Instruction
-in this art was received from the Mauritanians. But it is said
-that the Emperor Commodus surpassed even the skill of his instructors;
-in the amphitheatre he killed, according to the story, a
-hundred lions with as many spears; at another time he astonished
-the spectators by the dexterity with which he hurled his spear at
-the Mauritanian ostriches, as they ran by the amphitheatre at full
-speed; with every throw he severed a bird’s head from its body.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">We have no accounts to show as to how far a Greek athlete
-could hurl a spear, but we know that savages of today can hurl it
-to a great distance. It is said by travellers that a Kaffir who suddenly
-comes upon game will hit an antelope ten or fifteen yards
-away without raising his arm.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The three events that have been described, leaping, diskos-throwing
-and spear-throwing, were probably the essential features
-of the pentathlon; that is to say, an athlete who won in all three
-events was probably crowned victor. If, however, the victories
-in the three events were not secured by the same man, the competition
-was decided by additional contests in running and wrestling.
-But as at other stages of the festival these two exercises were
-distinct events, a description of their technique may be omitted
-in this place. Among those who distinguished themselves in the
-pentathlon, were included some of the most illustrious men of
-Greece.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">The pentathlon was succeeded by horse and chariot races.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Chariot racing, even as far back as the heroic time, had attained
-a high rank in the domain of antagonistics; it was, indeed, the
-first contest in the funeral games of Patroklos. (Il. xxiii.
-262-650.) In the minute and vivid description of Homer, the
-nature of the contest and the arrangements are very clearly indicated.
-There was no artificially constructed hippodrome. A
-flat, open plain, with its natural irregularities and without buildings
-of any sort, served as the race-course. The point of starting
-was on the sea-coast, but the turning point was in the plain of
-Troy. The goal, which was the stump of a tree, could be seen in
-the far distance only by its having two white stones leaning
-against it on either side. On account of the great distance, the
-spectators were not able to distinguish between the approaching
-horses. (Il. 450 ff.) Hence rose an altercation between Idomeneus
-and Aias, as to whose chariot was leading in the race.
-Achilles advised both to wait quietly until the horses were nearer
-and the order of the chariots could be recognized by all.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">With a very few points of difference, this description of Homer
-gives a good idea of a chariot race at Olympia. The difference
-consisted, first, in running the length of the course several times
-instead of once, in order that a body of spectators might witness
-the entire race; second, in the greater number of chariots, and
-third, in the arrangements, whereby they might start without
-confusion. In the games of Achilles, the chariots were five in
-number, each with two horses and a single driver, who stood
-upright in the chariot. As we have already mentioned, the
-Homeric hero made use of two horses in the race as well as in
-hostile combat, while the Olympic contestant did not limit himself
-to two horses. In fact, the four-horse chariot-race, which
-was introduced in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, was the first in
-honor and in importance, and always remained the most popular.
-In this contest, only kings, nobles, and the wealthy could take
-part, on account of the great expense involved in rearing fine
-horses, and in maintaining costly chariots. Very often, the victor
-had his triumphs recorded on the state issues of coins.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Races on horseback date from the thirty-third Olympiad.
-Philip of Macedon won in this contest, and celebrated his victory
-by having an enormous horse, ridden by a diminutive jockey,
-placed on his coinage. As this victory took place in the same<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[Pg 38]</span>
-year in which Potidaea fell into his hands and his son Alexander
-was born, he regarded that year as especially auspicious.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">While the race of the quadrigæ of horses was introduced as
-early as the twenty-fifth Olympiad, that of the bigæ of horses was
-not introduced until the ninety-third Olympiad. A quadriga
-consisted of four horses harnessed to a chariot; a biga, of two
-horses. In the seventieth Olympiad, bigæ of mules were admitted,
-but in the eighty-fourth Olympiad they were excluded; their
-exclusion may be ascribed to two reasons: first, they presented an
-unpleasing appearance; second, among the Eleians, according to
-Pausanias, a curse had rested on the animals from ancient times.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Prior to the twenty-fifth Olympiad, all athletic contests had
-taken place in the Stadion. As chariot-racing, however, demanded
-more room, a separate race-course, called the
-<a name="TN036_1" id="TN036_1"></a>Hippodrome, was established.
-The site of the Hippodrome cannot be exactly traced. This is because
-the Alpheios has washed away all certain indications of its limits.
-But from the account of Pausanias (V, 4; VI, 20, 7 foll.) it may be
-approximately located; it lay to the south of the Stadion and extended
-roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east.
-The German explorers who excavated Olympia inferred from the state
-of the ground that the Hippodrome was about 2526 feet in length. The
-Stadion and Hippodrome were closely connected, the rear part of the
-aphesis, or starting point, of the Hippodrome adjoining the end of the
-Stadion. At the farther end of the Hippodrome was the goal outside of
-which the chariots had to turn. To round this goal with advantage, that
-is, to keep as close to it as it was possible to do without upsetting
-his own chariot or colliding with another, required long practice
-and great dexterity on the part of the driver; it was indeed a very
-dangerous feat; at every race a large number of the chariots involved
-were wrecked, and in such accidents the charioteers rarely escaped
-without serious injuries. According to legend, Orestes had met his
-death at a Pythian festival; his chariot colliding with the goal, he
-fell to the ground, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged or
-trampled to death. After every turning of the goal, the chariots were
-greeted with the sound of trumpets in order that men and horses might
-attain new courage and vigor after so dangerous an ordeal.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The signal for the chariots to come out from the rooms allotted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[Pg 39]</span>
-to them in the aphesis and form in line for the race was given by
-an eagle which, by means of mechanism, rose into the air at the
-same moment that a dolphin fell to the ground. Such a signal
-was characteristic of the Greek; but in the Roman races, the
-chariots started at the waving of a white cloth by a person of
-distinction.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The equestrian contests at Olympia were succeeded by boxing.
-Boxing for men was introduced at the Olympic festival in the
-twenty-third Olympiad, and for boys in the thirty-seventh Olympiad.
-But the sport was already very old, and its introduction at
-Olympia was probably a recognition of its popularity and antiquity.
-In fact, as the fist is the simplest and most natural
-weapon of mankind, it is not surprising to find that boxing was
-one of the earliest athletic games among the Hellenes. Homer’s
-detailed description of the contest of the invincible Epeios with
-Euryalos has already been mentioned, and Homer had probably
-heard many similar tales of the prowess of <a name="TN037_1" id="TN037_1"></a>Mycenæan boxers.
-Polydeukes, the bravest boxer among the pre-Homeric heroes, is
-said to have defeated the strong Amykos. The latter was a
-teacher of the art, and allowed no stranger to depart from his
-country without challenging him to a pugilistic contest. Apollo
-himself, the gracious companion and leader of the Pierides, is
-described as engaging in a boxing contest at Olympus with Ares,
-the powerful god of war; perhaps in this myth there is a suggestion
-of the advantage which the nimble and quick-witted boxer
-sometimes has over a more bulky one. In the mythical founding
-of the Nemean games, Tydeus was victorious in a boxing contest.
-In the passage of Virgil’s Æneid (Book V, 401 ff.), which so
-closely resembles the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, the aged
-Entellus vanquishes the young and boastful Dares. This contest
-showed a complete system of striking and parrying.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">It is quite likely that these and many other similar legends
-augmented the natural interest in the sport, and hastened its
-introduction into the greatest of all athletic festivals. But at
-Olympia the sport was marked with variations. Whereas, for
-instance, the Homeric heroes, when boxing, had protected their
-bodies by means of a girdle around the loins (Il. XXIII, 683),
-the Olympian athletes, being already accustomed to nudity in the
-wrestling and racing contests, dispensed with such protection.
-Again, from the first, Olympian boxers oiled the body, contrary
-to the practice of Homeric athletes.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[Pg 40]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">Probably very few of the tactics of modern pugilists were unknown
-to the Greek athletes. Some of the accessories of a
-modern ring-fight, such as the “preliminary hand-shake,” tossing
-for corners, etc., were of course wanting; particularly noticeable
-was the absence of ropes and stakes; there was no referee to
-enforce so strict a code of ethics as the Marquis of Queensberry
-rules, fair play being secured by the voice of the people. Grasping
-or hugging the opponent was not permitted; it was in the
-elimination of such tactics that boxing differed from the pankration,
-a combination of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was likewise
-forbidden.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The set-to of Greek boxers probably resembled very closely
-that of modern pugilists. The ancient descriptions of the manner
-of giving and guarding or blocking blows are rather vague; but
-on antique vases may be seen representations of boxers facing
-one another in well-balanced attitudes, their heads thrown back,
-and their arms well advanced, in the manner of the best modern
-pugilism. In a famous Greek painting of boxers, one of the men
-stands with his left foot and hand advanced, his left arm slightly
-bent, and his right arm held across his lower chest, in fact, just as
-Fitzsimmons or Corbett would stand when expecting a blow. In
-the beginning of the contest, the boxer was sparing of his strength
-and preferred to assume the defensive position, and so wear out
-his opponent. It was, of course, considered a merit for a boxer to
-conquer without receiving wounds.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The principal differences between the technique of Olympian
-boxing and that of modern pugilism must be ascribed to the use
-at Olympia of that cruel boxing weapon known as the cæstus.
-This consisted of a heavy thong of dry, hardened leather, wound
-about the palm of the hand so as to form a formidable ridge of
-considerable circumference; it was even rendered more formidable
-by being loaded with lead, and studded with little metal
-projections. This nail-studded covering was called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphaira">σφαῖρα</span>,
-and was unknown to the ancient Greeks. That it was very dangerous is
-shown by the fact that when used in the practice gymnasia, it was
-itself covered, in order that young athletes might become accustomed
-to its use before subjecting themselves to its deadliness. But even
-more brutal than these were the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="myrmêkes">μύρμηκες</span>,
-called the breakers or crushers of limbs. One cannot conceive of a
-more formidable covering for the hand, unless it be the terrible<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[Pg 41]</span>
-cæstus of the Romans, to which Virgil alludes in the memorial games
-of Anchises (Æn. V, 401): “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Tantorum ingentia septem
-Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.</span>” “So terrible was
-the seven-fold bullhide stiffened with patches of lead and iron.” An
-examination of the representations of hands armed with this covering
-makes it evident that the straight blow or counter would not only fail
-to make the weapon effective, but would, if forcible enough, crush the
-fingers of the boxer between the leather and the adversary’s body. The
-cæstus must, therefore, have been used for round blows, or for the old
-English blow called the “chopper”; these were delivered by the back of
-the hand in an outward and downward swing, and, to be given without
-injury to the one who dealt them, required considerable skill.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and
-the wounds inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and
-nose, were very severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth
-were often broken or injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the
-Cyrenean, that his teeth were knocked out by his adversary, but
-that he quietly swallowed them in order to conceal from him how
-much he was injured; his adversary, disheartened by the apparently
-small effect of his powerful blow, lost hope and allowed
-Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially, were exposed
-to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were usually
-so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear” became a
-stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="auphôtires">αὐφώτιρες</span>, were invented
-for gymnasium work, but they were not used in public games. Boxers, on
-account of the bruises and disfigurations that usually marked their
-features, were the subjects of numerous epigrammatic jests. Here is a
-sample from the pen of a comic poet:</p>
-
-<p class="tp">“After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses
-was recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by
-his dog, Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four
-hours, hast been so altered, that neither dogs nor any person in
-the town could possibly recognize thee. And if thou lookest at
-thy face in a mirror, thou thyself wilt swear that thou art not
-Stratophon.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a
-beard, eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed
-his name among the pugilists he lost them all.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside
-from skill in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn
-by boxers at Olympia.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and
-modern boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the
-contest, as do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their
-blows with certain inarticulate sounds, believing that their force
-was thereby increased. Modern stone-masons frequently do the
-same.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants
-was rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue,
-wounds or despair to declare himself conquered, which he signified
-by lifting his right hand.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In this connection it is interesting to trace the evolution of
-boxing in Greece. At first, of course, the bare fist was used; but
-as time went on, boxers learned to cover their fists and wrists with
-strips of undressed <a name="TN040_1" id="TN040_1"></a>oxhide, the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="himantas eutmêtous boos agrauloio">ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς <a name="TN040_3" id="TN040_3"></a>ἀγραύλοιο</span>
-in the contest of Epeios and Euryalos (Il. XXIII, 684).
-Homer mentions these <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="himantes">ἱμάντες</span>
-as if they were very common. The name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="meilichai">μειλίχαι</span>
-was given them by later writers, because they dealt a mild blow; they
-are described by Pausanias (VIII, 40, 3) as made of raw
-<a name="TN040_2" id="TN040_2"></a>oxhide, cut into thin strips and
-braided according to the custom of the ancients. The strips were wound
-round the palm, leaving the fingers uncovered, at least enough so that
-they could be bent to form a clenched fist. As the name indicates,
-the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="meilichai">μειλίχαι</span> were not cruel
-weapons; they served not only to moderate the force of the blow, but
-also to protect the hand from injury. They were used at the Nemean
-games as late as the famous contest between Kreugas and Damoxenos.
-It is likely that with these soft coverings the technique of blows
-conformed more nearly with the modern technique. It has been already
-shown that the straight counter was rendered impracticable by the
-cæstus. But without the cæstus the Greek was very skillful with this
-blow. The Greek also understood the advantage of the cross-counter,
-a blow sometimes thought to be a comparatively recent discovery in
-pugilism. If the Homeric description of the bare-handed fight between
-Odysseus and the impudent ruffian and parasite, Iros, be analyzed, the
-blow will be found plainly involved. Iros, who is of gigantic size, has
-insulted Odysseus. A ring is formed and they begin to fight (Od. XVIII,
-73-231).</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[Pg 43]</span></p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">“On his right shoulder Iros laid his stroke,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">Odysseus struck him just beneath the ear,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">His jaw-bone broke, and made the blood appear,</div>
-    <div class="verse indent0">When straight he strewed the dust.”</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="tp">The blow of Odysseus must have been a cross-counter. Iros
-leads with his left at Odysseus’ head, but the blow falls instead on
-his right shoulder. Odysseus avoids the blow just as a trained
-boxer would avoid a similar one today; that is to say, he moves
-his head to the left, and catches the blow on his right shoulder,
-at the same moment, “rising to the stroke.” He then crosses
-Iros’ arm with his right, strikes him beneath the ear, and breaks
-his jaw, thereby “knocking him out.”</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The introduction and use of the cæstus, brought about by the
-blood-thirstiness of the ancient mob, instead of being in the interest
-of further skill was decidedly a backward step. For not only
-did it improperly limit the technique of blows, as has been shown,
-but it was too sure a menace to the very source of human skill,
-the senses and consciousness itself.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Solon praised boxing from an educational point of view. Cato
-the elder must have entertained a high opinion of this art, for,
-according to Plutarch, he himself instructed his son, with whose
-education he took the greatest pains, in the art of boxing.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that
-Greek boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic
-side. A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity
-were cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful
-grace and beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented
-as a boxer. Even from the medical point of view, boxing
-was highly esteemed. Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and
-chronic headache (De Morb. Dint. Cur. 1, 2).</p>
-
-<p class="tp">This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all
-parts of Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when
-a youth in a boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia
-and Elis were noted for producing skilled pugilists.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which
-were the final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one
-of the most popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of
-Homer. According to mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of
-Hermes, established the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="palê">πάλη</span>,
-while her brother, Autolykos,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[Pg 44]</span>
-is mentioned as the instructor of the young Herakles in this art.
-Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling to the earliest times and
-declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most ancient wrestlers.
-But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere desire to
-fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is said
-to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice it
-according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how
-Homer, in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian
-Aias and Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling
-matches were among the chief events in the famous games at
-Olympia and elsewhere. They were introduced earlier than
-boxing and were believed to show off the strength, activity and
-grace of the body to more advantage than any other contest. No
-other exercise required such perfect development of every muscle
-in the body, or an equal combination of strength and agility.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic
-sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern
-times. The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions
-and movements. Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to
-grasp his adversary in a certain place, but by a quick, cat-like
-movement would attack him in another which had been left exposed.
-Cunning was likewise practiced by the Homeric heroes.
-Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the hollow of the
-knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks, the observance
-of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking,
-kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing
-an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground
-that it involved grasping.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and
-symmetry as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their
-wrestlers were noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered
-advantageous for a wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased
-weight rendered it less easy for an opponent to lift him off the
-ground; second, it was easier for him, on the other hand, to overpower
-his adversary at the opportune moment. Nevertheless, a
-graceful style of wrestling, while less easy to attain under this
-condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes grace is the
-concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage over mere
-bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact
-was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[Pg 45]</span>
-in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere
-strength, the authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis
-not only his own statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says
-that Kratinos exhibited a more graceful style than any other
-wrestler of his time.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing
-and ground wrestling; the former, called the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="triagmos">τριαγμός</span>,
-was most common. The contestants stood upright, face to face, and after
-one had been thrown and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was
-the style practiced by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had
-thrown each other to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle.
-Victory was bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced
-in later times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers
-this style, as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms,
-shoulders, chest and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the
-combatants had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until
-one acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged
-especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown
-in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is
-of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so
-regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the
-Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this
-particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially
-advantageous.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the
-Greeks, the following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist
-endeavored to throw his opponent either by tripping him, or by
-grasping his foot with his hand. This latter style is differently
-illustrated on two vases. On the first vase the antagonist is represented
-as grasping with his right hand his opponent’s foot, which
-he has raised to a line with the middle of his body, while with the
-left arm he is further raising the thigh, thus forcing his opponent
-to the ground. On the second vase, the contestant has raised his
-opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the left hand, which is
-placed under the knee; both contestants are moving the right
-arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents the pankration,
-as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A
-similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist,
-whose foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms
-in order to drag him down if he should fall.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[Pg 46]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his
-opponent’s thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully
-illustrated by the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery,
-Florence, of which a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum
-of Fine Arts. Winckelmann considers these wrestlers to be the
-sons of Niobe, as they were found in 1583 at the same time and
-place as the Niobe group. According to the legend, they were
-engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s arrows.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The technical names of the various locks and holds which have
-come down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling.
-If one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts
-of the different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete
-list of movements, or if the most important parts of the literature
-bearing upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we
-might form a more definite conception of the wrestling match.
-To the student of athletics it may be interesting to mention a few
-expressions which have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature.
-The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="drassein">δράσσειν</span> which
-literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied to
-the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully
-illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases,
-gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers
-and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch
-designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the
-wrestlers by the terms <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="embolai">ἐμβολαί</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="parembolai">παρεμβολαί</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="systaseis">συστάσεις</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paratheseis">παραθέσεις</span>,
-from which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly
-clear imagery. The following Greek words,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ôthismoi"><a name="TN044_1" id="TN044_1"></a>ὠθισμοί</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="periplokai">περιπλοκαί</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="lygismoi">λυγισμοί</span>, which literally
-mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by
-Lucian to express different styles of wrestling. The terms
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="synaphê">συναφή</span> and
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="katochê">κατοχή</span> used by Hesychios
-when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the wrestling
-match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced
-from his position is described by the term
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apagein">ἀπάγειν</span>, literally to lead
-away or carry off. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Anchein">Ἄγχειν</span>
-and <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apopnigein">ἀποπνίγειν</span> describe
-the grasping of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration.
-This trick of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him
-until he acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning
-act. Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his
-elbow under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring
-the neck of the latter between his thighs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[Pg 47]</span>
-and then exert such pressure as almost to strangle him. This occurred
-more frequently in the ground wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group
-of boy wrestlers, one of whom, while resting on his right knee, is
-firmly holding by the throat his opponent, who is on both knees; to the
-right stands a prize vase with a palm, to the left, an umpire with a
-rod.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hamma">ἅμμα</span> involved grasping
-the opponent in such a manner that he could be held in a position
-that would tire him and perhaps exhaust his energy. Herakles in his
-wrestling contest with the mighty giant, Antaios, was believed to have
-used this trick; but Herakles held his antagonist in the air. Running
-toward each other with lowered heads for the purpose of butting, after
-the manner of rams, also belonged to the province of wrestling, and was
-practiced by Lucian himself in the Lykeion at Athens.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Plato protests against right-handedness (Laws, 8-794). He
-demands that a trained wrestler, pankratiast and boxer should be
-able to use both hands equally, so that if his opponent should succeed
-in turning him around he could defend himself from the
-other side. The wrestler would sometimes endeavor to place
-himself behind his adversary by a quick movement, then wind his
-leg around his opponent’s body and throw him. If successful in
-this attempt he would choke him.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Besides these tricks there were others with the fingers. For
-instance, a wrestler would grasp his opponent’s finger-tips and disjoint
-or break them, not letting go until the pain compelled his victim
-to declare himself conquered. This finger contest sometimes
-preceded the actual contest, and was oftentimes the only feature.
-Sostratos of Sikyon was specially famed for this mode of contest;
-he was twelve times victorious in the Nemean and Isthmian, twice
-in the Pythian and three times in the Olympian games. Leontiskos
-of Messina, in Sicily, also practiced wrestling in this manner
-and gained his victory by breaking his opponent’s fingers.</p>
-
-<p class="p4a tp">In ground wrestling the athlete even attempted to break his
-opponent’s toes. Another special scheme which belonged to the
-standing wrestling was as follows: the contestant made a circle
-around himself and challenged his opponent to force him from
-his position. If the latter failed to do this, the victory belonged
-to the former. Especially noted in this style of wrestling was Milo
-of Crotona, the most famous wrestler of antiquity. When a mere
-boy he was victorious in the Olympic and Pythian games. Six<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[Pg 48]</span>
-times his head was crowned with the sacred olive of Olympia.
-Young men of the noblest families engaged in these wrestling
-contests. Plato, when a youth, is said to have been victorious in
-the Pythian and Isthmian games, probably in the wrestling
-match.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[Pg 49]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak">IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE
-ANCIENT HELLENES.</h2>
-
-<p class="tp">We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of
-professional athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily
-have influenced the more widespread practices whereby the
-young developed their bodies, just as today the system of professional
-athletics is a model for college training and exerts an influence
-upon the sports of even young children. But professional
-athletics, even in ancient Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct
-from that important phase of Hellenic education called
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no
-means be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of
-education. But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were
-held in least favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves;
-being thoroughly in earnest to produce a race that was hardy
-and valiant to the last degree, and regarding physical culture as a
-serious and all-engrossing business rather than an exciting amusement,
-they quickly discerned that the specialism of professional
-athletics was detrimental to this end.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby
-all Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever
-uppermost in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither
-deluded themselves in their estimate of these needs, nor did they
-even dream of a compassion that would deter them from establishing
-and executing regulations whereby these needs would be met.
-In Sparta the unfortunate individual who did not conform in
-promise or attainment to the criterion of a Spartan citizen found no
-pity.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the
-man, without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle
-outward show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely
-fearless, who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing
-pain; it was the man whose powers of endurance were very great,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[Pg 50]</span>
-who could march long distances over a rough country without
-fatigue, who could then halt and await the onset of an enemy with
-a glad and confident heart, and who could engage his enemy and
-be victorious; it was the man who loved combat.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
-through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
-was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens
-should marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage.
-If at the present day we exercised the same care to bring sound
-children into the world there would be little need of being “born
-again.” Spartan infants were subjected to the judgment of a
-body of selected citizens, and if approved by the latter became
-thenceforth the objects of the care and direction of the state, but
-if condemned as not promising health and vigor they were killed.
-According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were exposed in the
-apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Taugetos">Ταΰγετος</span>)
-and left to die.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care
-of their parents, but even during this early period they received a
-foretaste of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very
-plain and limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the
-little fears of childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the
-dark or when left alone.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Many interesting little sports were in vogue
-among Hellenic children, and it may well be believed that in
-Sparta they were practised with a peculiar earnestness. Most
-of the amusements of modern children were also the delight of
-Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the latter are
-no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="platagê">πλαταγή</span>)
-was a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
-Then there were hoops (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="trochoi">τροχοί</span>
-or <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikoi">κρίκοι</span>). The
-childish game of rolling the hoop was called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikêlasia">κρικηλασία</span>.
-The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikos">κρίκος</span> corresponded to the Roman
-<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">trochus</span> described by Horace (<i>Ode</i> 3; 24,
-57) and Ovid, as well as by Propertius, Martialis, and other
-writers. The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikos">κρίκος</span> was a
-large hoop probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its
-diameter was less than the height of a man, reaching probably to
-his chest. The implement used in rolling it is said to have been a
-crooked-necked iron with a wooden handle, called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="elatêr">ἐλατήρ</span>
-(Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as with us, the hoop was set round with
-small metal rings or bells which when in motion caused a jingling
-sound very pleasing to a child’s ears. Some regarded these rings<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[Pg 51]</span>
-as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them on the ground that
-the sound they produced added much to the child’s happiness and
-engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also considered
-this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and <a name="TN049_1" id="TN049_1"></a>advised
-that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating. The
-familiar top (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bembêx">βέμβηξ</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bembix">βέμβιξ</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="rhombos"><a name="TN049_2" id="TN049_2"></a>ῥόμβος</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="strobilos">στρόβιλος</span>), old as the
-days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
-times&mdash;“<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="strombon d’ hôs esseue balôn, peri d’ edrame pantê">στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη</span>”
-(<i>Il.</i> xiv, 413).</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and
-made to revolve by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil
-in the following lines:</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
-  <div class="stanza">
-    <div class="verse indent0">“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,</span></div>
-    <div class="verse indent0"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum</span></div>
-    <div class="verse indent0"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Intenti ludo exercent.</span>”</div>
-    <div class="verse indent25"><i>Æneid</i> vii, 378-380.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="tp">Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children.
-Stilts (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kalobathra">καλόβαθρα</span>) were much
-used by children and also by adults in certain mimic dances. The girls
-had dolls (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="korai">κόραι</span>) of wax or
-clay, and the usual paraphernalia connected with this ever popular
-plaything. Many of these, which still survive, show that they
-were painted and that the arms and legs were so fastened with
-strings as to be easily movable. The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="korê">κόρη</span>
-literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek girls dedicated
-their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus. If they died unwedded,
-their dolls were buried with them. The terms <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dagynon">δάγυνον</span>,
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dagys">δαγύς</span> and <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="plangôn">πλαγγών</span>
-were often applied by the Greeks to the wax doll.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The swing <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="aiôra">αἰώρα</span> occupied
-the same position in Greece as in our nurseries. Then there were clappers
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="plêktra">πλῆκτρα</span>), toy-carts
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hamaxides">ἁμαξίδες</span>), hobby-horses
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippidia xylina">ἱππίδια ξύλινα</span>),
-toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned.
-From the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy
-of consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in
-sport, then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
-character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
-be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
-and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental
-powers and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise.
-The Spartan children were superior to the other Greek
-children in the power of expression, although they were not so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[Pg 52]</span>
-highly educated. This is no doubt due to the fact that at a very
-early age the Spartan children were forced into a free life in the
-open air and to systematic gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also
-though they did not consider gymnastics of so much importance as
-did the Hellenes, did not neglect them. Being a warlike people,
-they began to develop and strengthen the body of the child at an
-early age. The sports of childhood are as important to the boy as
-work is to the man, and demand as much of his strength and
-intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as a real
-victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games are
-imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause the
-child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
-Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He
-claimed that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work,
-should be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first
-training should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction
-should be followed by that based on theory and science.
-Experience has often corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic
-life itself furnishes the best illustration of it. According to
-the legend, Achilles, attired in the garb of a girl among the
-daughters of the king, betrayed himself to the keen eye of Odysseus,
-by handling the weapons, placed by the latter among the ornaments
-which he offered for sale. Strepsiades, hard pressed by his
-creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness for horses and
-chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates with pride how
-as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts, moulded
-houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind. (Aristophanes,
-<i>Nub.</i> 877.) Cato the Younger also, says <a name="TN050_1" id="TN050_1"></a>Plutarch,
-gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
-youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
-chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
-circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
-heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
-represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
-was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
-young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
-often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
-Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment
-was detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[Pg 53]</span>
-was most beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of
-body and soul. Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system
-of the Hellenes, were developed many gymnastic games which
-did not require any special apparatus and which were not intended
-for tests of superior strength, but merely to furnish pleasant and
-suitable physical exercise.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">A game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ostrakou peristrophê">ὀστράκου περιστροφή</span>
-was often played. The boys arranged themselves in two divisions on
-either side of a line. One of them then held up a piece of broken
-crockery, or an oyster shell, one side of which was blackened with
-tar. One division chose the black side, the other the white. A boy then
-threw the fragment, with the words, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="nyx, hêmera">νύξ, ἡμέρα</span>.
-The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared uppermost after
-the throw; this division then pursued the other; those who were captured
-were called donkeys and were debarred from further participation
-in the game.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="epostrakismos">ἐποστρακισμός</span>
-(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 119), a more informal game, was played by boys on the
-beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted in “skipping”
-smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the water. The boy
-who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance, or, perhaps, made it
-cut the water the greatest number of times, was victor. This pastime,
-known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor with boys.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">There were two games for testing bodily strength, the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dielkystinda">διελκυστίνδα</span>
-and the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperda">σκαπέρδα</span>. In the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dielkystinda">διελκυστίνδα</span> a party of
-children separated into two divisions, each of which faced the other
-in a row, so as to give every member an opponent. Probably a line of
-some kind lay between the two divisions, and the game consisted in each
-boy’s striving to pull his opponent across it by means of a rope. The
-victory was decided when all members of one side had been forced to the
-other.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperda">σκαπέρδα</span> was
-a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made in a tree-trunk or
-rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two contestants then
-took their places on opposite sides of the pillar, with their backs
-to each other and each holding an end of the rope. If one of them could
-succeed in lifting the other from the ground he was declared victor, but
-so difficult was the feat that the phrase
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperdan helkein">σκαπέρδαν <a name="TN051_1" id="TN051_1"></a>ἕλκειν</span>
-came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable to very difficult
-tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the Attic Dionysia.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[Pg 54]</span>
-name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chalkê myia">χαλκῆ μυῖα</span>, or “brazen fly,”
-very prettily described by <i>Pollux</i> ix, 122.
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hê de chalkê myia, tainia tô ophthalmô perisphinxantes henos paidos, ho men peristrephetai kêryttôn: chalkên myian thêrasô: hoi de apokrinamenoi, thêraseis all’ ou lêpsei, skytesi biblinois paiousin auton, heôs tinos autôn lêpsetai">
-ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, <a name="TN052_1" id="TN052_1"></a>ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες
-<a name="TN052_2" id="TN052_2"></a>ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν
-μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι, θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν
-αὐτόν, <a name="TN052_3" id="TN052_3"></a>ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται</span>.
-One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture one of the rest.
-With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating the words
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chalkên myian thrassô">χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω</span>,
-“I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others responded
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="thrasseis all’ ou lêpsei">θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει</span>,
-“you will hunt, but you will not catch,” and at the same time struck
-him more or less lightly with whips or threads of papyrus. When one of
-them was caught, he was blindfolded in place of the other, and the game
-repeated.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">A game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytrinda">χυτρίνδα</span>
-(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity on the part
-of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytra">χύτρα</span>. The others ran round
-him, pinching or striking him until by a quick movement he managed
-to catch one of them, who was obliged to take his place and be the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytra">χύτρα</span> in turn. Sometimes the
-child ran about in a circle, carrying on his head a jar which he
-held with his left hand. His companions would strike him while asking him
-the question, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="tis tên chytran?">τίς τὴν χύτραν;</span>
-(who has the jar?), to which he answered, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="egô, Midas">ἐγὼ, Μίδας</span>
-(I, Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that
-child had to take his place.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chyndalismos">χυνδαλισμός</span>
-(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play, which somewhat
-resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging short, pointed
-poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first child holds
-his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to leave it
-standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to throw
-his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his own
-standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and so
-on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is still
-played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground is
-soft.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">A game especially suited to develop attention was the following.
-The players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a
-cord which he tried to place beside another child without being
-detected in the act. If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside
-whom the cord was found had to run round the ring amid the
-blows of his playfellows; if, on the other hand, he had noticed the
-other when putting the cord there, that one would have been
-obliged to run round the ring himself.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[Pg 55]</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles
-were flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm
-in falling, was played under the name of
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="pentalithos">πεντάλιθος</span>. This game
-was much in favor with Hellenic women, as well as with children,
-and was said to be the favorite amusement of the famous beauty,
-Phryne of Athens.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The game of king (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="basilinda">βασιλίνδα</span>)
-consisted of feats, done by one child at the bidding of another,
-as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be king and who soldier
-was decided by lot.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">A favorite pastime with children was the game called
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="artiasmos">ἀρτιασμός</span> or
-“Odd and Even” (<i>Pollux</i> ix, 101), in which they guessed
-whether the number of objects one held concealed in his hand
-was odd or even. Dice, nuts, coins, etc., were used for this purpose.
-The amount won or lost was either the articles themselves
-or a sum of money staked upon the guess. Horace also in the
-Satires alludes to this game under the name <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ludere par impar</span></i>
-(<i>Satires</i> 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kollabismos">κολλαβισμός</span>,
-in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
-him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking
-him.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="schoinophilinda">σχοινοφιλίνδα</span>), a
-piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The modern “hide and seek”
-was the Greek <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apodidraskinda">ἀποδιδρασκίνδα</span>.
-“Kiss in the ring” (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kynêtinda">κυνητίνδα</span>)
-is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no correct details.
-“Ride a cock horse”
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kalamou peribênai">κάλαμου <a name="TN053_1" id="TN053_1"></a>περιβῆναι</span>)
-was also an amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in
-Greece and in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this
-sport in the following words: <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">equitare in arundine
-longa</span></i>.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Greek and Roman children played several games
-of skill with nuts, which resembled very closely our modern game
-of marbles. Nuts played so important a part in childish sports
-that <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">nuces relinquere</span></i> became a proverbial
-expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts were
-pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ômilla"><a name="TN053_2" id="TN053_2"></a>ὤμιλλα</span>
-(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 102-3) or into a hole <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bothros">βόθρος</span>
-dug in the ground. Those that fell outside the circle were forfeited.
-The name delta was given to a certain game with nuts in which a triangle
-was chalked on the ground, and marked across with lines or bars running
-parallel to the base. The player then flipped nuts into the triangle,
-winning as many nuts as he crossed bars, provided, of course, that
-they did not roll outside the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[Pg 56]</span> triangle,
-in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most skilful play
-consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the triangle.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The ball (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphaira">σφαῖρα</span>)
-was not only a favorite toy among children, but it also played an
-important part in the physical exercises of youths and adults. No
-other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks and Romans of
-different periods as the ball games, though regarded less as a game
-than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and cultivating grace
-and symmetry of body.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes
-as well as in later times when Greece was at the height of its
-glory. The Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of
-the emperors, also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued
-favor which ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its
-benefit to the body. The earliest mention of ball-playing is found
-in two passages of the Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare <i>Athen.</i>
-i, 15, c. Plutarch, <i>Alex.</i> c. 73). In the second passage, Homer
-represents ball-tossing as an adjunct to the dance. The game was
-accompanied by music and Odysseus was surprised at the marvelous
-dexterity of the players.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance
-alone, for with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a
-goodly purple ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one,
-bending backward, flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other,
-leaping upward from the earth, easily caught the ball before his
-feet touched ground again. Then after they had tried the ball
-straight in the air, they danced upon the bounteous earth with
-tossings to and fro. Other young men beat time for them, standing
-round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping arose. Then to
-Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned of all,
-you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is proved
-true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
-ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (<i>Athenaios</i> i, 246), and
-long survived.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (<i>Od.</i> vi, 100), and her companions
-accompanied their game by singing, and the women of
-Corcyra at a later period are said to have followed this ancient
-custom. (<i>Athen.</i> i. 24 <i>b</i>.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing
-was also accompanied by music.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span>
-the right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected
-pillars in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a
-player. The Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did
-the Athenians, and to them is attributed the invention of ball
-games. Among the kings of Greece, Alexander is mentioned as
-favoring ball-playing.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In one of his plays, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Plyntriai">Πλυντρίαι</span>,
-which was received with great favor, Sophocles introduced <a name="TN055_1" id="TN055_1"></a>Nausicaä
-at play with a ball. Only the Milesians, who were devoted to
-agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as it did not tend
-to increase athletic ability and was of no value in helping them
-to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved on
-ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians,
-as ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a
-foundation for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was
-not considered complete without having a special room, called the
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>,
-devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistikos">σφαιριστικός</span>) who
-had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
-this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
-become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered
-it a pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the
-Elder enjoyed a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same
-day that he <a name="TN055_2" id="TN055_2"></a>received the
-refusal of the consulate (<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Oratio pro Archia
-Poeta</span></i> <i>c.</i> 6, §6). Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried
-ball-playing along with banquets and games of dice. The emperor,
-Augustus, enjoyed a game of ball. Pliny, the younger,
-relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with old age by indulging
-in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a game at ball was
-the most common exercise practised immediately before bathing in
-the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>
-(ball-court) connected with the bath.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
-undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during
-the game, except in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>
-and probably not always even there.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
-descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others
-we know simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios
-consider the game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ourania">οὐρανία</span>
-to be identical with that practised by the Phæacians, as in this,
-according to Homer’s description, the body was bent backward and the ball was thrown<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span>
-high up into the air. The players then tried to catch the ball
-before it touched the ground.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="episkyros">ἐπίσκυρος</span>
-(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 104) at first peculiar to Sparta, was very popular
-and took its name from the line <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skyros">σκῦρος</span>
-which separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and
-parallel with it were drawn two base lines (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammai katopin">γραμμαὶ κατόπιν</span>)
-beyond which the players could not go in catching the ball. The latter
-was placed upon the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skyros">σκῦρος</span>
-(whence the name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="episkyros">ἐπίσκυρος</span>)
-and the players started simultaneously from their respective base
-lines. Whoever seized the ball first, threw it as far as he could
-toward the enemies’ base line. The object, of course, was to force the
-line of enemies back, by constantly returning the ball further and
-further over their heads until they were driven over their own base
-lines. In this case a swift runner must have had a great advantage over
-the others, by securing the first throw.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">A favorite game is described by the term
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="phaininda">φαινίνδα</span>). The peculiar
-feature of this game was that the player who held the ball
-appeared to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an
-entirely different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and
-surprising another. This game is said to have demanded the
-utmost dexterity of a flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a
-skilful player to display a fine carriage and much grace, as may be
-seen in the description of Damoxenos by Athenaios (<i>Athen.</i> i, 15, 7).</p>
-
-<p class="tp"><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Neanias tis esphairizen heis ... hos epei pot’ emblepseie tois kathêmenois, hê lambanôn tên sphairan, hê didous, hama pantes eboômen">
-Νεανίας τις <a name="TN056_1" id="TN056_1"></a>ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς
-ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις, ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς,
-ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp"><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ê t’ eurythmia, to t’ êthos, hê taxis th’ hosê en tô ti prattein hê legein ephaineto, peras ti kallous andres: out’ akêkoa emprosthen outh’ heôraka toiautên charin, esphairize d’ ouk aêdôs, kai Ktêsibios ho Chalkideus philosophos">
-ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ
-λέγειν ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν
-οὔθ’ ἑώρακα τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ <a name="TN056_2" id="TN056_2"></a>ἀηδῶς,
-καὶ <a name="TN056_3" id="TN056_3"></a>Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος.</span></p>
-
-<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="harpaston">ἁρπαστόν</span>
-was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with the Greeks
-and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It required skill
-in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating distance, as
-well as great care in catching the ball. The name of the game indicates
-that each player tried to prevent the other from catching it. This game
-is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and according to him it was
-also played by women.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">The term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="aporrhaxis">ἀπόῤῥαξις</span>
-was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which the ball was thrown
-to the ground with great force and continually struck back with the hand,
-as it rebounded. The number of times the ball was forced to the ground was
-counted. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[Pg 59]</span>
-victor was called king and could order the others about. The
-loser was called donkey (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="onos"><a name="TN057_1" id="TN057_1"></a>ὄνος</span>).
-In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
-into the air as long as possible with the open hand.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
-to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four
-divisions according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he
-described in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball
-games, which he considered of great importance on account of the
-benefit which they imparted to the mental and physical powers.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In connection with these various ball games, they practised a
-peculiar gymnastic exercise with the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kôrykos">κώρυκος</span>,
-a leathern sack that must have resembled the modern punching bag on which
-pugilists try their fists. In form it resembled a ball, but in size
-and weight far surpassed the largest and heaviest ball. The
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kôrykos">κώρυκος</span> was filled with fig
-seeds, meal or sand, and its size varied according to the age and
-strength of the individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach
-to about the middle of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in
-increasingly rapid motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast
-and hands. The game is alluded to by Plautus (<i>Rud.</i> iii, 4, 16). This
-sport cannot properly be styled a ball game, although it resembled one
-in some respects. Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient
-physicians regarded this exercise as very beneficial, because it not
-only strengthened the muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent
-corpulency.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">There are no records in classical literature to show that the
-Greeks and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
-disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
-under the charge of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paidonomos">παιδονόμος</span>;
-this official was, in conformance with the direction of Lykourgos,
-one of the best citizens; he was expected to discipline the youth in
-all the exercises that were so nicely adapted to develop the Spartan
-citizen, and to teach him all the cunning and courage that would
-afterwards be required in his service of the state.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself.
-When children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and
-nurses was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were
-conducted each day by the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paidagôgos">παιδαγωγός</span>,
-a special slave whose duty it was not only to conduct the children to
-and from school, but also to supervise their deportment.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[Pg 60]</span></p>
-
-<p class="p0a tp">In the Athenian school, gymnastics
-(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>) was not by any
-means the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included
-three distinct courses:</p>
-
-<p class="p0 p0a tl">(1) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammatikê">γραμματική</span>.</p>
-<p class="p0 p0a tl">(2) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mousikê">μουσική</span>.</p>
-<p class="p0 p0a tl">(3) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>.</p>
-
-<p class="p0">Under <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammatikê">γραμματική</span>
-were included reading and writing, to which were added after the 4th
-century <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> elementary geometry,
-arithmetic and drawing.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">When the child was able to read and write with facility, he
-entered on the course called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mousikê">μουσική</span>,
-which embraced the study of poetry and music. Passages from Homer,
-Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon, and from many lyric poets,
-were read and committed to memory. Xenophon mentions in his Symposium
-(<i>Symp.</i> iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who had committed to memory the
-whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The boys were also taught to
-chant the poems they had learned to the accompaniment of the lyre. Much
-stress was laid on the moral effects of music.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">But from no system of Greek education was
-<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>, the
-careful and systematic development of the young body excluded.
-Nor did this training cease in mature years; when young men left
-the palæstra, they found awaiting them the gymnasium,&mdash;an institution
-that was adapted to social as well as athletic purposes.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected,
-ever dream of dropping <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>
-from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of Plato there is a detailed
-discussion of the education of children, and the plan is therein
-advocated of restricting the education of boys to gymnastics until
-their tenth year; the regular study of letters was not to begin until
-after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also maintained that
-gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany that of the
-mind.</p>
-
-<p class="tp">Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood
-was not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked
-athlete with firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted
-that the mass of their young men reached during the best age of
-Greek history a stage of physical perfection which has never been
-attained in any other age or country. This is attested by thousands
-of statues of victorious athletes, not only in Olympia but
-throughout Greece. Although the Greeks had no cricket or football
-they had on the other hand a far greater variety of games
-than we have, and this variety made for the symmetrical development<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[Pg 61]</span>
-of the body. The athletic sports of Greece remained great
-and respected until excessive training and extreme specialization
-brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted all his time
-to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of a harmonious
-development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
-games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
-will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal
-of a sound body for a sound mind.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<div class="chapter transnote">
-
-<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>
-
-<p>The following inconsistencies and typos were corrected:</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>accidently</b> to <b>accidentally</b>
-in “he accidentally killed by an unlucky throw” on page
-<a href="#TN004_1">6</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>greeves</b> to <b>greaves</b> in
-“helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves and shield” on page
-<a href="#TN007_2">9</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>greeves</b> to <b>greaves</b> in “The
-greaves, which were made of flexible metal plates” on page
-<a href="#TN007_3">9</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in
-“layers of tough oxhide” on page <a href="#TN007_4">9</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Mycenæn</b> to <b>Mycenæan</b> in “pictured on
-Mycenæan gems” on page <a href="#TN007_1">9</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>subtile</b> to <b>subtle</b> in “Only by
-subtle inferences” on page <a href="#TN014_1">16</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in “old
-Greek traveller Pausanias” on page <a href="#TN018_1">20</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
-“Pausanias claims to have seen” on page <a href="#TN022_1">24</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
-“according to Pausanias died” on page <a href="#TN025_1">27</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Phæcians</b> to <b>Phæacians</b>
-in “the Phæacians, a light-hearted people” on page
-<a href="#TN025_2">27</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
-“Pausanias describes them” on page <a href="#TN026_1">28</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
-“Pausanias especially mentions” on page <a href="#TN026_2">28</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Phayllos</b> to <b>Phaÿllos</b> in “Phaÿllos
-of Rhegium is said” on page <a href="#TN028_1">30</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Hippodrom</b> to <b>Hippodrome</b>
-in “a separate race-course, called the Hippodrome” on page
-<a href="#TN036_1">38</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Mycenean</b> to <b>Mycenæan</b> in
-“the prowess of Mycenæan boxers” on page <a href="#TN037_1">39</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox-hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in “strips of
-undressed oxhide” on page <a href="#TN040_1">42</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἁγραύλοιο</b> to <b>ἀγραύλοιο</b> in “ἱμάντας
-ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο” on page <a href="#TN040_3">42</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox-hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in “made of raw
-oxhide” on page <a href="#TN040_2">42</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὠθιομοί</b> to <b>ὠθισμοί</b> in “The
-following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί” on page
-<a href="#TN044_1">46</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>advsied</b> to <b>advised</b> in “and advised
-that it be practised” on page <a href="#TN049_1">51</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ρόμβος</b> to <b>ῥόμβος</b> in “βέμβηξ,
-βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος” on page <a href="#TN049_2">51</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Plutrach</b> to <b>Plutarch</b> in “Cato the
-Younger also, says Plutarch” on page <a href="#TN050_1">52</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἔλκειν</b> to <b>ἕλκειν</b> in “the phrase
-σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν” on page <a href="#TN051_1">53</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ταινία</b> to <b>ταινίᾳ</b> in
-“ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός” on page
-<a href="#TN052_1">54</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἐνὸς</b> to <b>ἑνὸς</b> in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ
-περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός” on page <a href="#TN052_2">54</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἔως</b> to <b>ἕως</b> in “ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν
-λήψεται” on page <a href="#TN052_3">54</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>περιβήναι</b> to <b>περιβῆναι</b> in “κάλαμου
-περιβῆναι” on page <a href="#TN053_1">55</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὥμιλλα</b> to <b>ὤμιλλα</b> in “a circle drawn
-on the ground called ὤμιλλα” on page <a href="#TN053_2">55</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>Nausicaa</b> to <b>Nausicaä</b> in “introduced
-Nausicaä at play with a ball” on page <a href="#TN055_1">57</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>recieved</b> to <b>received</b>
-in “he received the refusal of the consulate” on page
-<a href="#TN055_2">57</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἐσφαίριζειν</b> to <b>ἐσφαίριζεν</b> in
-“Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς” on page <a href="#TN056_1">58</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἀνδῶς</b> to <b>ἀηδῶς</b> in “δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς” on
-page <a href="#TN056_2">58</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>κτησίβιος</b> to <b>Κτησίβιος</b> in “καὶ
-Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος” on page <a href="#TN056_3">58</a>.</p>
-
-<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὄνοξ</b> to <b>ὄνος</b> in “was called donkey
-(ὄνος)” on page <a href="#TN057_1">59</a>.</p>
-
-</div>
-
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+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 64627 ***</div>
+
+<h1>ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS.</h1>
+
+<p class="xlarge p4 centre">EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.,</p>
+
+<p class="p2 centre">AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON
+TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY;
+INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE
+MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, <span class="smcap">Etc</span>.</p>
+
+
+<p class="smaller p4 centre">Reprinted from the <i>American Physical Education Review</i>, 1898.</p>
+
+
+<p class="p4 centre">CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,<br />
+<span class="smcap">Lombard &amp; Caustic, Printers, 26a Brattle St.</span><br />
+1898.</p>
+
+<p class="p6 centre">Copyrighted<br />
+By <span class="smcap">Edward M. Plummer</span>, M.D.<br />
+Boston, 1898.</p>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2 class="p4 p0a nobreak">I. ATHLETIC GAMES AMONG THE HOMERIC HEROES.</h2>
+
+<p class="p1a small centre">BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner.
+This is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter
+and the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and
+arms, but small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending
+over his work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity
+of body, and often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects
+result from the more primitive forms of labor, it is not at all
+strange that the laborers of the modern industrial world show
+bodily peculiarities and variations that correspond, in a marked
+degree, to their respective trades. A well-known teacher of gymnastics
+in a New England college has declared himself able to
+designate the various occupations of laborers in a Boston Labor
+Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner, merely by
+inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may, therefore,
+be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion, if
+performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions essential
+to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete respiration,
+and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only rarely, if
+ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the
+design to produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is
+not deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical
+development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be
+such, is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts
+and powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing
+not only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in
+other words, of developing what the Greeks called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="eurythmia">εὐρυθμία</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks
+alone made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not
+so much because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy
+to be a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[Pg 6]</span>
+discerned the advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor
+of a powerful and graceful body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally
+turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that
+these poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of
+the Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization
+in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one
+hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once
+learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now
+we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe
+as uncivilized;&mdash;this art of literature is, nevertheless, only
+one phase of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today
+the lives of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations,
+outside the sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a
+people that has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be
+versed in simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet
+civilized; and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary
+records of that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception
+would be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the
+Homeric poems as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition
+of this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric
+athletics especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development.
+Hellenic legend strengthens this inference. According to
+a myth, Apollo enjoyed the diskos no less than music. He practiced
+for amusement with his favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is
+related, he <a name="TN004_1" id="TN004_1"></a>accidentally killed by
+an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged
+Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of
+Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of
+a very select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours
+and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to
+them. French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years
+of the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for
+the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not
+sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes.
+There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime,
+described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification,
+as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must
+be remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class
+whose deeds they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[Pg 7]</span>
+which the scenes of this high life were adorned, would add to the
+credit of the poet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to
+our subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The
+Homeric poems give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band
+of Greek nobles who, with their followers, had left their native
+land, to besiege a foreign and hostile city.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line
+that throws light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable
+classes. Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the
+Iliad, where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial
+occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement
+from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. <i>Il.</i> ii,
+773-775. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laoi de para, rhêgmini thalassês diskoisin terponto kai aiganeêsin hientes, toxoisin th’">λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laos">λαός</span>, here
+used, is usually considered as denoting the people or multitude. The
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laos">λαός</span> before Troy, however, was
+undoubtedly of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of
+the Greeks were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples.
+And so the “folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with
+the diskos, spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the
+diskos alone was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear,
+in this case at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was
+used both in the chase and in war.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports
+was, to a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those
+qualities required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means
+to an end, but they were also an end in themselves. Bodily
+exercise was not an irksome task, but an agreeable pastime. The
+ancient Hellenes were therefore a very happy people, the ends
+that they sought to attain prescribed tasks that were congenial
+with their national temperament. Accordingly, we find, in a well-established
+condition, a system of athletic sports that were not
+directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport was diskos
+throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a cylinder,
+and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who hurled
+the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless
+the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by
+the skilled diskobolos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well
+as of military training, is shown by the fact that when for any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[Pg 8]</span>
+reason the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their
+followers resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors
+with years of experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they
+exercised, because to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual
+fighting will not alone explain this temperament. With the
+Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost synonymous with life itself.
+When they desired to escape from the chilling effect of a hero’s
+death, they instituted games, and thereby reasserted life. Perhaps
+the sufficient cause of this predilection for athletic exercise was the
+climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear, serene sky over
+Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity but did not
+dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled by the sea,
+and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains and
+valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must necessarily
+have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a free
+life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed to
+the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In order to understand Homeric athletics&mdash;the
+substantial basis of all subsequent athletics&mdash;one must become
+interested in the method and details of Greek warfare. For to the
+Greek the road to distinction lay in the acquisition of the qualities
+required of the successful warrior, and it was only natural that
+pleasure and expediency should combine to make a pastime of the
+feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is achieved largely by
+the use of superior machines and by advantage of position. Until
+the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks, depended on the
+muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual warriors. The
+central and principal feature of early Greek warfare was a personal
+hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in preparing for
+war that each separate soldier should be made as active and vigorous
+as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until a late date,
+may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the victory
+of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra, <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span>
+371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of
+physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the
+weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered
+by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man.
+But, throughout all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has
+existed that could not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or
+wrestling. And it is certain that those who have survived the risks of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[Pg 9]</span>
+these sports&mdash;the fittest&mdash;had developed bodies far superior in
+agility, and attained far greater command over the muscular system,
+as a whole, than would have been possible from practicing sports
+that do not involve risk.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants
+quickly into each other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot
+or from the ground, they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing
+spears (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichoskia enchea">δολιχόσκια ἔγχεα</span>)
+<i>Il.</i> iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both came
+closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each other
+again.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted
+to their swords or to any other available implement of offense.
+Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to
+conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric
+combat. In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the
+two heroes, after using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them
+at each other (<i>Il.</i> vii, 264-270).</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as
+could be handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according
+to the strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons,
+in the hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it
+was but natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing
+the strength requisite for adopting them.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet,
+girdle, <a name="TN007_2" id="TN007_2"></a>greaves and shield. The
+Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap, covering the head in front
+above the eyes, and extending down in the back, to the nape of the neck
+from ear to ear. Some forms show that the lower part was prolonged and
+carried round so as to cover all above the shoulders. The corselet
+consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate and a back-plate, which were
+laced together by cords passed through eyelet holes made in the sides,
+below the bottom of which the body was protected by metal girdle.
+The <a name="TN007_3" id="TN007_3"></a>greaves, which were made of
+flexible metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front
+part of the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield
+consisted of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough
+<a name="TN007_4" id="TN007_4"></a>oxhide, and reached from the neck
+to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is pictured on
+<a name="TN007_1" id="TN007_1"></a>Mycenæan gems.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare,
+the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain
+that the attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient.
+Nestor is deemed happy because his sons were “wise-minded and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span>
+mighty with the spear.” The poet frequently makes sly fun of
+Telamonian Aias, who, although gigantic in size and of immense
+strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat dull of intellect. To train the
+senses, and above all the eye, to make the body alert and immediately
+responsive to the perceptions, was considered quite as requisite
+as to train the muscles. For, in the exigencies of battle, a certain
+quickness of intellect was often more effective than brute strength.
+Agility was, therefore, prized and cultivated above all other qualities.
+When the ponderous spear of Menelaos smote and pierced
+the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and escaped black death.”
+(<i>Il.</i> iii, 392.) To fight successfully from the chariot, to dismount
+and grapple with the adversary, necessitated not only muscular
+strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an ability to
+seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or fend
+instantly the deadly thrust.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially
+notable way on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a
+hero, yet it should not be supposed that such contests were at all
+uncommon. On the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and
+sentences that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of
+competitive games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podarkês">ποδάρκης</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podas ôkys">πόδας ὠκὺς</span>) <i>Il.</i>
+ix, 307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="pyx agathos">πὺξ ἀγαθός</span>) <i>Il.</i>
+iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being shown at the
+more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited, had there not
+been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again, Homer often
+speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain lines of athletics
+was well known, and had been often sustained against challengers. When
+Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he asks for the two
+who are best (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hôper aristô">ὥπερ ἀρίστω</span>),
+<i>Il.</i> xxiii, 659, to come forward, as if it were well known who
+the skilful boxers were. When Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor
+in the foot-race, he is called the champion of foot-racers among the youth
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ho gar aute neous posi pantas enika">ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ πάντας ἐνίκα</span>).
+<i>Il.</i> xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to the fact
+that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize. Athletic
+skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice. We may
+conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of which Homer
+wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,&mdash;so frequent that they
+were taken as a matter of course,&mdash;and that on special occasions,
+such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or
+the anniversary of some god’s benefaction,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[Pg 11]</span>
+the games were conducted in a more public and ceremonious manner;
+and that on such occasions prizes were offered and intense
+excitement prevailed.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when
+an old man, tells of competing in his youth in the various games
+held in honor of Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion,
+Nestor was in his prime and was victor in the boxing-match, the
+foot-race, and the spear-throwing contest; being surpassed only
+in the chariot-races. Certain recorded myths sustain the scholar in
+referring the origin of funeral games to a time much preceding the
+age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of the funeral games
+in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato, as the most
+ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral contest
+in honor of Androgeos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable
+minuteness the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend,
+whom Hector slew in battle.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of
+racing was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic
+legend assigns the origin of the races far back of Homeric times,
+in the dark heroic age of mythology. While the site of stately
+Thebes was still covered with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen
+in Poseidon’s grove, horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from
+the race. When Apollo thought of building a temple for himself
+at the sacred spring of the nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded
+him, declaring that the god would be disturbed by the incessant
+noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of horses, and that every one
+would prefer to see the beautifully-built chariots and the swift-footed
+horses, and so fail to appreciate the temple with its treasures.
+Oinomaos is said to have offered to her suitors his daughter,
+Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a chariot-race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes,
+and called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos,
+Antilochos, and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of
+swift horses to his war-chariot. The competitors were directed
+to round a goal in the distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising
+his son, Antilochos: “A fathom’s height above the ground
+standeth a withered stump, whether of oak or pine; it decayeth
+not in the rain, and two white stones, on either side thereof, are
+fixed at the joining of the track, and all around it is smooth driving
+ground. Whether it be a monument of some man dead long ago,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[Pg 12]</span>
+or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient men, this
+now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is easy
+to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of
+the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round
+this goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mêtis">μῆτις</span>) the principal factor of
+victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of charioteer. For
+whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth heedlessly and
+wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course, and he keepeth
+them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though he drive worse
+horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth closely by it,
+neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses by the oxhide
+reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the leader in the
+race.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the
+advantage that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched
+horses. Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed
+the best horses of those that were gathered before Troy;
+they were very swift, and were classified and paired with regard to
+speed, color, age, and stature; they were “matched to the measure
+of a levelling-line across their backs.” <i>Il.</i> ii, 763-765.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of
+Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race,
+although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios&mdash;the
+immortal steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon&mdash;would undoubtedly
+have won for him the victory. Through skill and cunning,
+Antilochos quickly overtook Menelaos, left him behind and won
+the race, although his horses were much inferior to those of the
+latter.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile
+combat, the Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood
+alone in his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil
+of battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hêniochos">ἡνίοχος</span>). This was
+beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work
+of art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century
+<span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered
+two prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the
+loser. He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of
+first-class reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly
+claimed the first prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting
+this claim, gave voice to the following prediction: “I will
+utterly bruise mine adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span>
+his friends abide together here to bear him forth when vanquished
+by my hands.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists
+cast about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of
+raw oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all
+their limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek,
+and Euryalos collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s
+ripple a fish leapeth on a tangled-covered beach, and then the
+black wave hideth it, so leapt up Euryalos at that blow.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again
+Achilles offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the
+loser. Only Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and
+Telamonian Aias, the representative of bodily size and brute force,
+essayed to struggle. After they had girt themselves they went
+into the midst of the ring. Here they stood locked in each other’s
+arms, like two gable rafters joined by a builder. Their backs
+were gripped with such force that they creaked; the sweat ran
+down their bodies in streams; blood-colored welts appeared on
+their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with the advantage
+on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary. At
+last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful
+of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias
+fell backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was
+not bought with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After
+Odysseus had tried futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell
+together in the dust. They rose and would have wrestled the
+third time had not Achilles restrained them by declaring the contest
+a draw.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes
+practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished
+from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the
+antagonists struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and
+struggled again. When an antagonist had been thrown three
+times the contest was decided in favor of the other. In the latter
+variety the contestants continued the struggle on the ground, after
+they had fallen. At a later period standing wrestling was practiced
+at all the great games. Plato, who was always alive to the
+value of these contests, as a preparation for war, greatly preferred
+standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles of the upper
+part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders, and neck.
+Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a fine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[Pg 14]</span>
+carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the
+resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the
+most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle
+entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after
+the bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic
+exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor
+and unimportant things, does not mention oil in this connection.
+He certainly would not have passed over in complete silence, the
+use of oil in these contests had he been familiar with the custom.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was
+ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors
+were three,&mdash;Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos,
+son of Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes
+the duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the
+contest with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been
+pronounced, on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation.
+It should accordingly be considered as data for an account of the
+athletics of later times.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of
+javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete,
+Achilles at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his
+well-known excellence in this feat.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell
+upon the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of
+the poem, after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a
+thought given to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race,
+the descriptions are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the
+poet would dispose of them as quickly as possible, and as if he
+would say: “This is not my theme.” Achilles superintends the
+games with a lofty indifference, and even cuts some of them short,
+as if other things were on his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a
+greater inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more
+in harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades
+the Odyssey; the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s
+imagination, and have been replaced by those of festivity and
+pleasure. A new generation is described. Athletics have become
+less violent and the scenes are embellished by the interspersion of
+music, dancing, and poetry.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[Pg 15]</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of
+things among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island
+on the western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed
+Odysseus, the representative of the older generation. The
+shipwrecked stranger does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an
+escort that may guide him homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">“Say from what city, from what regions tossed,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">And what inhabitants those regions boast?</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Like man intelligent they plow the tides,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Conscious of every coast and every bay</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”</div>
+    <div class="verse indent25"><i>Odyssey</i>, Book viii.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="p0">But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal
+entertainment has been provided.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the
+Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes
+and of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare
+for the games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger
+their skill in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued
+forth from the palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian
+athletes exhibited themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling
+match, at leaping, throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these
+games, except leaping, are mentioned also in the Iliad.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive
+body, invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no
+greater glory for a man in all his life than what he wins with his
+own feet and hands,” says Laodamas.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos
+he decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak
+still on, he sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and
+thick, heavier by not a little than those which the Phæacians were
+using for themselves. This with a twist he sent from his stout
+hand. The stone hummed as it went. Past all the marks it flew,
+swift speeding from his hands.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and
+he challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to
+contend with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,&mdash;it
+matters not to him.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[Pg 16]</span>”
+athlete. “Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I
+understand full well handling the polished bow. None except
+Philoktetes excelled me with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans
+tried the bow. I send the spear farther than other men an arrow.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the
+stern mood of the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the
+king, “no, nor wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in
+our ships excel. Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance,
+changes of clothes, warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers
+the best among you make us sport, that so the stranger on returning
+home may tell his friends how we surpass all other men in sailing,
+running, in the dance and song.”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1"
+class="fnanchor">[*]</a></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires
+(the mention of whom shows how important athletics have become),
+clear the ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious
+lyre,” Demodokos, the blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring,
+and is surrounded by youthful men skilled in dancing. “They
+struck the splendid dance-ground with their feet; Odysseus
+watched their twinkling feet, and was astonished.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric
+aristocracy, but activity of the most virile type. And, although
+Homer’s two epics grew into form long after the splendid Achæan
+civilization of which he wrote existed only in legend, yet he
+artfully excludes any references to contemporary facts. Only by
+<a name="TN014_1" id="TN014_1"></a>subtle inferences can information
+about the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works
+of art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes
+them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is
+therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made an
+admission with regard to his own times,&mdash;times, which, in fact
+were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have
+demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric
+epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan
+civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the
+Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility
+practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in
+addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as
+if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is
+recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral
+games in honor of Amphidamos.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p class="p4a"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[*]</a> Palmer’s Translation.</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[Pg 17]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">II. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.</h2>
+
+<p class="tp">In historic times the great national festivals were already established.
+They had undoubtedly grown out of local athletic festivals of very
+ancient origin. Of these Panhellenic festivals, that celebrated once in
+every four years at Olympia in Elis was the oldest and the greatest.
+The nationalization of this festival is assigned traditionally to the
+year 776 <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> This date depends
+on a list of Olympic victors, compiled in the last part of the fifth
+century by the sophist Hippias of Elis, and handed down by Eusebios.
+Modern historians are not unanimous in accepting the early part of this
+register, and the minority have supported their charge of spuriousness
+by adducing unharmonious facts. In itself the date 776 <span
+class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> is not unreasonable. And when it
+is considered how comparatively easy and common travel was in Hellas,
+it is not rash to suppose that the festival, when once it had become
+celebrated as a local affair was resorted to by travellers, if not as
+participants, at least as spectators. Certain it is that the Olympic
+festival was already a Panhellenic institution, when the other three
+festivals were established early in the sixth century, and that to the
+close of Greek history it continued the most glorious.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Pythian games were celebrated on the Krissean Plain in
+Phokis in honor of Apollo. These games were held for several
+days in January in the third year of each Olympiad. The prize
+was a wreath of laurel and a palm.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Nemean games were held in the groves of Nemea, near
+Kleonai in Argolis, in the winter and summer alternately of the
+second and fourth years of each Olympiad. The prize was a
+wreath of parsley.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Isthmian games, instituted in honor of Poseidon, took place at
+Corinth in the spring and summer alternately of the first and third
+years of each Olympiad. This alternation was arranged to avoid interference
+with the Olympian and Pythian festivals. The victor’s
+prize at the Isthmia was a wreath of pine native to the spot.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent
+recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a
+local exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the
+Isthmus, Pytho, and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined.
+Each of the four great festivals had peculiar features of its own.
+Thus, the Pythian games, probably next to the Olympian in importance,
+were characterized by competitions in music and poetry in
+addition to the athletic contests. The Isthmian games were distinguished
+by the addition of boat-racing and swimming contests.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">But all were essentially alike. All were designed as
+glorifications of the strong and agile body. All were marked with
+patriotism. All were embellished with the greatest products of Hellenic
+art. All were held in honor of gods. And a fitting tribute and worship
+they furnished, not the mumbled prayers of a sallow-visaged, stunted
+race, but the exultant feats of proud, self-reliant men. All were
+attended by the most studied and artistic pomp. The greatest lyric
+poets of Hellas, Simonides and Pindar, for instance, celebrated the
+victors. Of Pindar’s <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="epinikia">ἐπινίκια</span>
+or “Odes of Victory,” we possess fourteen <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Olympionikai">Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι</span>
+for winners in the Olympian games. Twelve <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Pythionikai">Πυθιονῖκαι</span>
+for the Pythian games, seven <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Nemeonikai">Νεμεονῖκαι</span>
+for the Nemean games, and eleven <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Isthmeonikai">Ἰσθμεονῖκαι</span>
+for the Isthmian games. Even the wise men and famous bards of Greece
+could not resist the desire to be present. It is said that the Spartan
+Chilon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, died while witnessing
+these games, being overcome with joy at his son’s victory. Sages like
+Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Sokrates, Plato, Aristippos, Diogenes and
+Thales came, lured not only by the desire of beholding athletic feats,
+but also eager to engage in debate, or perhaps to explain some new
+theory of the universe. Statesmen like Themistokles and Kimon resorted
+to the games and there met the rulers of distant states. Orators and
+sophists like Gorgias, Lysias and Demosthenes, were present at the
+Olympian games. The first two made great panegyric speeches. The games
+on the Isthmus were attended by the great dramatists Aischylos and
+Ion. Historians like Herodotos carried their scrolls to read before
+assembled Hellas. Artists came to exhibit their works of art, and
+perhaps to obtain new customers. Sculptors showed models of their
+skill, and potters exhibited vases. These games, like the Schwingfest
+and the shooting-matches of Switzerland, served not only as pleasant
+occasions of reunion, but tended to the diffusion of national ideas. In
+the language of John Fiske, “young men<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[Pg 19]</span> of the noblest families and
+from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran,
+undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor
+to his country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and
+on reaching home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal
+song written by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant
+fact is that the Greek era began with the Olympic games; every
+period of four years was called an Olympiad.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">About twenty miles above the mouth of the Alpheios, in a long,
+narrow valley surrounded by well-wooded hills, it is joined by
+the ancient Kladeos, coming from the north. At the angle
+formed by the junction of the two rivers is the area known as Olympia,
+the scene of the greatest athletic festival that the world has
+ever witnessed.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To the north of this plain was a range of rocky hills, the nearest
+of which was the famous Kronion, conical in shape and about 400
+feet in height. As its name signifies, this hill was sacred to Kronos,
+the father of Zeus. Another low range bounded the valley on the
+south. The western boundary was the Kladeos. Eastward was
+the hill of Pisa, and further in the distance were visible the snow-crowned
+summits of Erymanthos and Kyllene.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">During the long centuries that succeeded the extinction of Greek
+civilization, the precinct of the games, and the equipments, buildings
+and statues that remained, were gradually covered by a stratum
+of alluvium from the Alpheios, mixed with a deposit of clay from
+Kronion. The rest of the world was not interested enough to record
+the process, and when in modern times scholars saw no trace
+of the original scene, it was supposed that the Alpheios by its overflowings
+had destroyed all monuments. Recent excavations, however,
+have revealed a very precious remnant at the bottom of the
+alluvium. It was indeed not really a misfortune that during periods
+when the products of old civilizations were treated with fanaticism
+on the one hand, and rapacity on the other, the Olympian scene
+was covered with earth rather than left exposed to the hand of
+Middle Age barbarians.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The systematic excavation of Olympia was undertaken in 1875
+by the German government. The work involved great expense,
+and the willingness of the Germans to undertake and execute the
+task has brought them much praise from the scholars of other
+countries. The excavations were completed on the 20th of March,
+1881.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[Pg 20]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">During these six years a space in the form of a square, measuring
+1,000 feet on each side, was stripped of the accumulated deposit
+of twelve centuries; the average depth of this covering was
+estimated to be over sixteen feet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Archæologically, this excavation involved expert care and much
+labor. Neither the care nor the labor was withheld. The result
+may best be described in the language of an eminent professor of
+classical archæology:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“The result of these excavations, carried on there at great cost
+and with supreme disinterestedness by the German people, has been
+to enable the traveller at Olympia not only to study the scene of the
+greatest of Greek athletic festivals, but to trace the celebration
+from hour to hour and from point to point. He not only sees the
+hill of Cronion, where the spectators crowded, wades through Olympic
+dust, and feels the sun of Olympia beat on his head, but he can
+wander on the threshold of the temple of Zeus, pass from building
+to building in the sacred enclosure of the Altis, and stand at the
+starting-point of the runners in the Stadium. Taking the guidebook
+of the old Greek traveller <a name="TN018_1" id="TN018_1"></a>Pausanias
+in our hand, we can follow in his steps, and out of broken pillars,
+truncated pedestals and the foundations of demolished buildings, we
+can conjure forth the beautiful Olympia of old, with its glorious
+temples, its rows of altars, its statues of gods and godlike men who
+conquered in the games, its treasuries full of the noblest works of art
+and the richest spoils of war. And we can people the solitude with the
+combatants and with the spectators, a crowd filled with the enthusiasm
+of the place and with delight in manly contests; a crowd over whom
+emotions swept as rapidly as chariots through the hippodrome, and who
+were ever breaking out into wild cries of delight, or loud shouts of
+scorn and derision. We can see the bestowal of the crowns of wild
+olive, and can hear the heralds recite the names of those who have been
+victorious.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Here, then, in the summer time was held the great athletic festival
+in honor of Olympian Zeus. At the beginning of authentic
+history it was already a venerable institution. We have already
+learned that early in the sixth century the other three Panhellenic
+festivals were modeled upon it. Many myths very early sprang
+into existence to explain its origin. Pindar, it is well known, in
+one of his Olympian odes makes the Dorian Herakles the founder.
+Of course, the myths do not agree, and if they did would establish
+nothing directly; indirectly, however, they show that at the time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[Pg 21]</span>
+of their first promulgation the festival had attained so approved a
+system, so wide a celebrity, and so great a prestige as to need accounting
+for and to be compatible with an exalted origin. And as
+a matter of fact, system, celebrity and prestige do not fall to the lot
+of an institution in the period of a single generation.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The festival was from the first under the charge of the Eleians.
+But so liberal a policy did this nation adopt and pursue that people
+from neighboring states were glad to send competitors. Rapidly
+the custom of resorting to the games spread to more distant states.
+From an Eleian event, the festival became Peloponnesian, and
+finally Panhellenic. The Athenians and Thebans at a very early
+date achieved splendid victories in these games. The Theban
+Pagondas was crowned victor in the four-horse chariot race in the
+25th Olympiad, when for the first time this was a feature of the
+festival. Thus one state after another turned its attention to the
+venerable celebration, and if it happened that a citizen of one state
+was crowned victor in a contest, interest in the games was sure to
+be increased in that locality.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Even in the absence of positive evidence it would
+be contrary to reason to suppose that the games were originally
+established as they existed at the time of Pindar. In fact,
+the different features were added successively. According to a
+fairly reliable tradition, there was originally and for twelve
+following Olympiads only one contest: the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span>,
+a foot-race consisting of a single lap of a stadion of two hundred
+yards. About 720 <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span>, according
+to the tradition, was added the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>,
+a race in which the stadion was traversed twice. Soon afterward was added
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>, or long race,
+consisting of seven, then of twelve and perhaps twenty-four laps.
+The next contest to be introduced was the wrestling-match. In the
+same year that wrestling was introduced, about the 18th Olympiad, the
+pentathlon made its appearance. This feature, though consisting of five
+contests&mdash;leaping, spear-throwing, diskos-pitching, running and
+wrestling&mdash;was nevertheless a single event, inasmuch as victory in
+one contest alone was not rewarded; an athlete to be crowned victor in
+the pentathlon must win at least three of the contests. Boxing and the
+chariot race are said to have been added in the 23d Olympiad. Thus the
+games grew more elaborate, and the time over which they extended was
+increased from a single day to five or six.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The festival was conducted by judges, called Hellanodikai, elected
+by the people of Elis a year beforehand. The number of these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[Pg 22]</span>
+judges was about ten; they were expected to give close attention to
+their duties. Thirty days before the festival, candidates for the
+various contests presented themselves before the Hellanodikai for
+examination. In order that the name of a candidate could be considered,
+he must prove himself to be of pure Hellenic stock, and
+must give evidence of having practised in a gymnasium for ten
+months previously; finally, the candidate must practise for thirty
+days in the great gymnasium of Elis, under the supervision of the
+Hellanodikai. The names of those who were able to satisfy the
+judges were placed on a white board which was exposed to view at
+Olympia. After an athlete had been entered for a contest, it was
+considered the greatest ignominy for him to withdraw for any reason;
+indeed, for so doing he was heavily fined. Theagenes, an
+athlete of wide fame, was unable to enter the pankration because he
+had been disabled in the boxing-match; but inasmuch as he had
+had his name entered for both events, he was fined.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Eleven days before the festival, the Hellanodikai caused to be
+proclaimed by heralds throughout all the cities of Hellas the truce,
+sacred to Olympian Zeus, which was to last a month. It was this
+truce that made the Olympia possible as a Panhellenic institution.
+During the month that followed the proclamations of the heralds,
+all wars between Hellenic states were held in abeyance, and travellers
+were allowed to journey through them unmolested. The
+awful name of Zeus coupled with the decrees of rulers made this
+truce effective.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">During the eleven days pilgrims from all over Hellas were approaching
+Olympia. Some of the scenes may be imagined. In the
+language of Professor Percy Gardner: “From all the shores of the
+Mediterranean and the Euxine seas the Greek colonies sent deputations
+to represent them at the games, to bear offerings to the temple,
+and to perform sacrifices on their behalf. And the Greeks
+readily took a tinge from the land wherein they dwelt. There were
+dwellers on the northern shore of the Black Sea, to whom continual
+intercourse and frequent intermarriage with their Scythian neighbors
+gave almost the aspect of nomads; and colonists from Massilia,
+who in dress and blood were half Gauls. There were people from
+Cyrene, with the hot blood and dark complexions of Africa, and
+oriental Ionians, with trailing robes and effeminate airs. There
+were rude pirates from Acarnania, and delicate sensualists from
+Cyprus.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To give a detailed account of the competitions at each of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[Pg 23]</span>
+great festivals would involve much unnecessary repetition. That
+held at Olympia, therefore, may be taken as the type and the ideal
+of the others. But even at Olympia, the celebrations of which
+have been most widely written of both by ancient and modern
+scholars, it is not always easy to determine the exact order of the
+various contests.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There is hardly a doubt that at the Olympic festival as
+well as at the others the foot-races were the initial competitions.
+Plato says that at his time when a contest took place the herald first
+called on the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="stadiodromos">σταδιοδρόμος</span>
+to do his part. The reason for beginning with the foot-race was
+probably an historical one; as has been said, it was originally the
+sole competition at the Olympic celebration. According to the old
+Eleian priest legends, the Idaian Herakles, one of the Cretan Kouretes,
+came to Elis in the reign of Kronos, in the golden age, and arranged a
+foot-race in which the victor was crowned with wild olive. The legends
+further state that the place thus honored by the priest of Olympian
+Zeus was afterward called Olympia, and that in time the celebration
+was repeated at intervals of four years. Of course the foregoing is a
+tale invented to explain the priority of the foot-race as well as the
+founding of the festival. Another legend recounts that at one of these
+subsequent celebrations Endymion, son of Æthlios, offered the kingdom
+of Klymenos, whom he had conquered, as a prize to that one of his sons
+who should be first in the foot-race. Such are some of the myths that
+helped to sanction and endear an inviolable Olympic custom. It is
+noteworthy in this connection that in the Odyssey the Phæacians had
+opened their games with the foot-race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The technique of foot-racing, the style of running most advantageous,
+and the training and qualities necessary for it, differ considerably
+with the distance covered. Accordingly very early in the
+history of the Olympic festival races of varying length were one by
+one introduced, and the variety doubtless tended to attract a larger
+number of competitors and to make the occasion more interesting.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">For thirteen Olympiads, however, the race called
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span> was the only
+feature. In this race the stadion was traversed but once. As the
+course of the stadion was about 200 yards, the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span>
+was what we call a sprint, and required that a runner exert himself to
+the utmost from start to finish. This simple race remained a favorite
+mode of competition among the Greeks until a late time&mdash;being
+practised by Alexander.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>, or
+double course of the stadion, was introduced in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[Pg 24]</span>
+the 14th Olympiad. This race required that the runner, after having
+traversed the 200 yards and reached the goal, should return to
+the point of starting. As he rounded the goal he described an arc,
+and on his way back took the opposite side of the track in order
+that he might not collide with other runners.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Very soon after the introduction of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippios dromos">ἵππιος δρόμος</span> and
+then the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span> were instituted.
+The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippios dromos">ἵππιος δρόμος</span>, which
+implies a horse-race, was in reality a foot-race, the contestant running the
+distance generally covered in a horse-race&mdash;namely, four times the
+length of the stadion, or 800 yards.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>
+was added to the Olympic games in the 15th Olympiad, and was,
+like our long runs, a test primarily of endurance and lung-power.
+The distance covered varied from seven to twenty-four laps of the
+stadion, or from less than a mile to about three miles. At Olympia,
+however, the distance was twelve stadia. As the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>
+was run on the same track on which the single and double races took
+place, it was really only a series of double races.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the 65th Olympiad, the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hoplitôn dromos">ὁπλίτων δρόμος</span>
+was introduced. In this race the competitors wore helmets and greaves,
+and carried shields on their left arms. <a name="TN022_1" id="TN022_1"></a>Pausanias
+claims to have seen the statue of Demaratos equipped with a round
+shield, helmet and antique greaves. At a later period, however,
+the helmet and greaves were discarded at Olympia, and the race was
+run with shields alone. The distance covered in this race was two
+stadia&mdash;the length of the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>. Pindar,
+the poet laureate of the Olympians, mentions the race with shields,
+and with poetic privilege ascribes its origin to heroic times. Plato
+considered the exercise very valuable as war training, and prescribed
+it as a part of the athletics of his ideal commonwealth. Plato devised
+two other races involving armor: in one the competitor should be
+equipped as a heavy-armed hoplite, and should cover a distance of sixty
+stadia on a level plain; in the other the competitor should wear the
+light equipments of an archer, and should cover one hundred stadia over
+hills and valleys.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The running contests at the great games were governed by certain
+established rules. No fraud or guile was allowed to be used
+by the contestant on the track for the purpose of impeding his companions.
+They were very particular that all should start at the
+same time and from the same line, so that no one might have the
+advantage over the others. It was also contrary to rule for an athlete
+voluntarily to slacken his speed and allow his fellow-contestants
+to win. The competitors were appointed by lot and arranged in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[Pg 25]</span>
+groups. These groups raced in heats of four, ranged in the places
+assigned them by lot. The first group was followed by the second, the
+second by the third, etc. When all groups had finished, the victors of
+each again entered the contest and strove for the prize; so that every
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="stadiodromos">σταδιοδρόμος</span> had to win
+twice before he was crowned victor.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The physicians of olden times mentioned two other foot-races
+which in their opinion afforded excellent gymnastic exercise. The
+first of these was practised in the sixth division of the stadion and
+consisted of running first forward and then backward. In this race
+the body was not turned once, but the distance that was run forward
+was continually shortened by backward running until the
+contestant finally stood at the starting-point. In the second race
+the contestant ran on tiptoe with outstretched arms which he swung
+violently to and fro. It was practised along a wall so that, should
+the balance be lost, the runner could hold and support himself
+against it.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Among the less important foot-races were two that had
+their origin in certain local celebrations, namely, the torch race
+and the race of the vintage festival, held at Athens. Similar races
+took place at Sparta during the great national festival of the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Karneia">Κάρνεια</span> held in honor of Apollo.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the preparation for these different kinds of foot-races everything
+was done in the way of training that would tend to make the
+body as light as possible and increase its rapidity, although the different
+cities of Greece varied to some extent as regards the question
+of diet, rubbing and baths.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In practising for the foot-race the contestant,
+having divested himself of every shred of clothing and anointed
+his body with oil, was made to exert himself as much as possible.
+The exertion was often increased by making the run in deep sand
+instead of on firm ground; the foot having a less firm support, the
+runner was obliged to work harder and more quickly. In this way
+these exercises gave to the body not only great power of endurance,
+but also increased speed, and as a result the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichodromoi">δολιχοδρόμοι</span>
+possessed strong and well-developed legs. The shoulders and upper part
+of the body, on the other hand, owing to insufficient exercise were
+small and narrow. On that account Sokrates did not favor the races
+because they did not produce a harmonious development of the body.
+The skilled runner naturally strove to preserve an erect carriage
+while running, and to conform to all established rules regarding the
+contest.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[Pg 26]</span> In
+this connection it may be interesting to mention the strange ideas
+entertained among the Greeks regarding the influence of the spleen over
+the powers of the body. This little organ, situated behind the stomach
+on the left side of the abdomen, and exercising some function which
+still remains unknown, would in their opinion if diseased prove a great
+hindrance to a contestant in the race. In order, therefore, to prevent
+such a catastrophe they resorted to extraordinary means, namely, the
+use of certain plants which they believed would dissolve or eat away
+the spleen; or even to surgical operations, such as cutting or burning
+it out. On the other hand, they believed that a diseased spleen was
+greatly benefited by exercise in running. Laomedon of Orchomenos is
+quoted as furnishing an example of this kind.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The attitude of the runners we learn from vases. Those
+who were contending in the short race or dash swung their arms backward
+and forward alternately. This is beautifully shown by a painting on
+a Panathenæan vase in the possession of Koller. It represents four
+athletes running, hardly touching the ground with one foot, while
+the other is raised and moved forward in order to cover the greatest
+possible distance with one step. The hands are wide open; the arms
+are moved about freely and appear to act as the wings of the body,
+and their motion is in harmony with that of the lower limbs. Another
+vase, discovered in the ancient tombs of Volci, also shows a similar
+method of running. The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their
+arms as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long
+distance clenched their fists and held their arms close to their
+sides, as do our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during
+the games. It is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in
+order to retain their courage, while at the same time the admiring
+spectators cheered wildly as some favorite or friend neared the
+goal. As the Greeks did not possess the modern mechanical means
+of communication, they had to rely mostly upon messengers; hence
+the great necessity for expert runners. To this fact is due to a
+considerable degree the development of agonistic and running contests
+in Greece. It is said that after the battle of Platæa all the sacred
+fires which had been profaned by the Persians were extinguished, and
+that <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Enchidas">Ἐνχίδας</span>, a Platæan,
+covered in one day the distance of a thousand stadia from Platæa
+to Delphi and back again, and brought his fellow-citizens the pure
+fire from the altar of Apollo. As a result of this terrible strain
+he sank to the ground and died. The Cretans were especially noted in
+the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[Pg 27]</span> <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>.
+Sotades and Ergoteles were among the most famous. The Arcadian Dromeos
+was another celebrated runner, having been like the former twelve times
+victorious in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>.
+Ladas, the famous Spartan runner, was also victorious in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>,
+but according to <a name="TN025_1" id="TN025_1"></a>Pausanias died
+at the goal on completing a race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Comparison of the speed of Hellenic athletes with that of
+modern runners is exceedingly difficult, because the Hellenes had no
+means of measuring minutes of time; they did not say of an athlete that
+he ran the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span> in such a
+time, but that he won (<i>i. e.</i>, surpassed his competitors) in a certain
+Olympic celebration.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Probably the next event was the pentathlon. This
+competition was introduced into the festival at about the
+18th Olympiad. As the etymology of the word signifies, the
+pentathlon consisted of five distinct competitions, enumerated
+in a well-known pentameter ascribed to Simonides: leaping
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="halma">ἅλμα</span>), running
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podôkeiên">ποδωκείην</span>),
+diskos-throwing (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diskon">δίσκον</span>),
+spear-throwing (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="akonta">ἄκοντα</span>),
+wrestling (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="palên">πάλην</span>). That the
+poet arranged the events in this order cannot be taken as positive
+proof that this was the real order, as it is hard to see how these
+words could be arranged otherwise in a pentameter. It is probable,
+however, that wrestling was the final contest. There is some
+uncertainty as to what constituted a victory in the pentathlon, but it
+is evident that the purpose of this competition was to develop what we
+call “all-round athletes,” and the assertion that the victor must have
+won three out of the five contests cannot be far from the truth.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In such a combination of exercises it would certainly be good
+athletic policy to make leaping the first contest. It may be questioned
+whether an athlete could leap so well after having engaged
+in the more violent exercises, whereas leaping itself, instead of disqualifying
+for the other exercises, would on the contrary rouse the
+animal spirits without bringing on exhaustion, and thereby put the
+athletes at once in good condition. For the leap requires not only
+vigor and elasticity, but also courage and determination.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The beneficent results of this exercise were recognized at a very
+early period by the Hellenes, although in the heroic world the leap
+was not considered so important as the other modes of contest. In
+the games of Achilles the leap is not mentioned. In the Odyssey,
+however, the <a name="TN025_2" id="TN025_2"></a>Phæacians, a
+light-hearted people, more fond of amusement than of war, are said to
+be skilled in leaping. It is in historic times, however, that leaping,
+as an important event in the pentathlon of the public games, acquires
+its technique, and receives the careful attention of athletes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[Pg 28]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">What may be called the pure leap, that is the standing
+leap without accessory aids, was not practised at Olympia. The leaper
+held in his hands weights resembling our dumb-bells, and known as
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>. To determine the dynamic
+advantage of these weights is not easy, but it is certain that with
+them the exercise required more skill, and accordingly more practice,
+that it called into play more muscles, and that it was more attractive
+to athletes as a mode of competition.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While little information can be obtained
+from classic writers concerning the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>,
+much can be learned from archæological specimens.
+<a name="TN026_1" id="TN026_1"></a>Pausanias describes them as
+having the form of a semi-oval, or inaccurately-rounded ring that
+could be grasped by the fingers as a shield was grasped. This
+description corresponds with a drawing of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
+on a vase in Hamilton’s second collection. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Haltêres">Ἁλτῆρες</span>
+of another shape, however, resembling very closely the modern
+dumb-bells, are seen on many other vases and gems. These had
+both ends rounded, and were narrow in the middle in order that
+they might be easily held. In Hamilton’s first collection
+are vases giving representations of these <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>.
+In the Museo Borbonico may be seen on a patera a drawing in which the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span> have still another
+form: when the hand has grasped the handle of these, beyond the hand,
+on one side only, a club-shaped part protrudes. The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
+were usually made of lead.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the pentathla, leaping never took place without <span
+lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>, which the athlete usually
+held directly in front of him, and then, as he sprang, brought behind
+him, thus helping to propel his body forward.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In addition to the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>,
+professional athletes made use of another aid&mdash;the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="batêr">βατήρ</span>.
+The latter was a board on which they stood before taking the leap, and
+which may indeed have been provided with a spring.</p>
+
+<p class="tp"><a name="TN026_2" id="TN026_2"></a>Pausanias especially
+mentions the fact that the leaping of the pentathli in the Olympic
+festival was accompanied by airs on the flute. This music was probably
+to open the pentathlon, the most splendid and stirring of gymnastic
+contests, as well as to increase the courage of the leapers.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The only leap that belonged to the pentathlon was the
+standing long jump. There is no trace of anything like the hop,
+step and jump. The figures of athletes on vases are represented
+not as running, but as standing and swinging the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>.
+Then, too, it would seem that in the running jump the weights would be an
+impediment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[Pg 29]</span> rather than an aid.
+With the aid of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
+and the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="batêr">βατήρ</span> enormous distances
+were covered. Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said to have covered more than
+fifty-five feet at a leap. But the record is incredible. Some German
+professors, however, are inclined to credit the record on the ground
+that the ancients had studied the theory of leaping more scientifically
+than have the moderns. For the sake of comparison the modern records
+in jumping may be introduced. On May 28, 1890, J. Darby of England,
+without the aid of weights, made a standing long jump of 12½ feet. At
+Romeo, Mich., October 3, 1879, with 22-pound weights, G. W. Hamilton
+made a standing jump of 14 feet, 5½ inches. A record of 23 feet, 6½
+inches, in the running long jump has been made twice: by C. L. Reber at
+Detroit, July 4, 1891, and by C. B. Frye of England, March 4, 1893. A
+jump of 48 feet, 8 inches, without weights and preceded by a hop and a
+step, was made October 18, 1884, by T. Burrows of Worcester.</p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">In the palæstra and the gymnasium, leaping was practised in
+many different ways, as through a hoop, or over a rope. That the
+high jump also was practised is evident from the fact that the athletes
+leaped not only over pointed poles fixed in the ground, but
+also over one another’s heads, after the manner of modern circus
+performers. Leaping from a higher place to a lower was also practised.
+Leaping took place in dancing and in various other sports.
+A dance, consisting principally of leaping was practised at Sparta,
+particularly by young women and girls. In this the dancers aimed
+to hit their backs with their heels. Aristophanes alludes to this
+custom in the following dialogue between Lysistrata and Lampito:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">How shines thy beauty, O, my sweetest friend!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Why, thou couldst choke a bull.</div>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lampito</span>.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent25">Yes, by the twain;</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">For I do practise the gymnastic art,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels.</div>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tp">It is probable that in the Olympic pentathlon leaping was followed
+by diskos-hurling,&mdash;a contest of great antiquity. An old
+myth represents Apollo as a diskos-thrower.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[Pg 30]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The diskos was circular in form with perhaps an average diameter
+of a little less than a foot, and was made of various materials
+at different periods and places. The heroic diskos, as has been
+said, was made of stone, while that of a later period was of metal,
+and even of wood. The diskos in common use at the Olympic
+festival was metallic, and resembled a small shield.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the local gymnasia the size and weight of the diskos varied
+in order that an athlete might select one in accord with his strength.
+But in the men’s pentathlon at the public games a standard diskos
+was required,&mdash;uniform in material, form, and weight, in order that
+the strength and skill of the competitors might be impartially tested
+and the victory correspondingly awarded. There is considerable
+doubt as to the dimensions and weight of this standard diskos. It
+is likely that the weight was between four and five pounds. A
+specimen found at Ægina and now preserved among the bronzes
+at Munich is about eight inches in diameter and slightly less than
+four pounds in weight. But another specimen at present in the
+British Museum weighs twelve pounds.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There is also doubt as to the distance to which a skilful athlete
+could hurl the diskos. An extravagant record of one hundred
+cubits is preserved in the writings of Philostratos. It is probable,
+however, that one hundred feet was an extraordinary throw and
+was exceeded only by the best athletes. While it is unlikely that
+the throws of renowned athletes were carelessly measured at the
+time, it is probable that many subsequent accounts were more or
+less exaggerated. It is well to bear in mind that the statue of
+<a name="TN028_1" id="TN028_1"></a>Phaÿllos was greatly admired
+among the Greeks because that athlete had thrown the diskos ninety-five
+feet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It is interesting in this connection to note that at the International
+Athletic Games, celebrated at Athens in 1896, the victor
+in the diskos-throwing competition made a record of 95.64 feet.
+The diskos used in this competition weighed 4¾ pounds. Although
+three skilful Greek athletes participated in this competition
+and exhibited a technique much superior to that of the foreign
+competitors, yet the victory was won by Mr. Garret, an American,
+who though never having handled the diskos before threw it to the
+above distance, thereby surpassing the best throw of M. Paraskevopoulos,
+the Greek champion, by .64 feet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To return to the ancient contests, the Homeric heroes practised
+diskos-throwing without completely disrobing,&mdash;the upper garment
+only being laid aside. But at Olympia after the 15th Olympiad<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[Pg 31]</span>
+all clothing was dispensed with, and the advantage of entire nudity
+in this sport came to be clearly recognized. Nudity characterized,
+of course, the diskoboloi of the other great athletic festivals.
+Again, while the Homeric heroes did not anoint the body with oil,
+the athlete of historic times did not consider his preparation complete
+without it.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">After roughening his hands and the diskos with earth, in order
+to grasp it more firmly and handle it more deftly, the diskobolos
+ascended an eminence, called the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="balbis">βαλβίς</span>.
+When about to throw, the body of the diskobolos was bent quite a little
+to the right and forward. At the same time the head was bent to the
+right so far that it was possible for him to see the upper left side
+of his body. The right arm was now moved from below, first backward to
+the height of the shoulders, and then with a rapid movement forward
+it described a semi-circle, giving the diskos at once velocity and
+direction. In throwing the diskos, the diskobolos rested first on the
+right foot and then on the left. At the moment of hurling the diskos
+the left knee was slightly bent, while the other was kept backward.
+As the diskos left his hand he took one or more steps forward, like a
+person throwing a ball in a bowling alley.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Again we are indebted to the archæologist who has brought to
+the light of day not only statues but also vases and gems with
+their elaborate scenes of the diskobolos in various attitudes, for
+they reveal to us many facts about which the ancient historians are
+silent.</p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">In classifying these works of art three different attitudes may be
+recognized:</p>
+
+<p class="p0 p0a tp">(1) The diskobolos preparing to throw.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 p0a tp">(2) The diskobolos in the act of throwing.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 tp">(3) The diskobolos having hurled the diskos and still following
+it with his eyes, or where he has already been declared victor.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the Museo Pio Clementino is a statue representing an athlete
+about to hurl the diskos. In his left hand he is testing the weight
+of the diskos, but holding the right ready to receive it and hurl it
+into space. This statue was supposed by Visconti to be a copy of
+a diskobolos by Naukydes, the pupil of Polykleitos. Many other
+copies are also seen on vases and gems. On one of Hamilton’s
+vases the diskobolos holds the diskos in his right hand, supporting
+its weight in his left.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of the statues representing the athlete in the act of throwing,
+we will consider only Myron’s Diskobolos, the beau ideal of athletic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span>
+motion, famous even in antiquity. Eight copies in a more or
+less mutilated condition have come down to us. That which was
+found in the Villa Palombara in 1781 on the Esquiline is the
+best reproduction of the original. This statue passed from the
+palace known as that of the <i>Massimi alle Colonne</i> to the <i>Lancelotti
+Palace</i>, Rome, where it still remains. The attitude of the diskobolos
+is very nearly that described by Lucian and Quintilian. In
+the <i>Philopseudes</i>&mdash;1, 8, Lucian gives the following description of
+Myron’s Diskobolos: “Thou speakest of the disk-thrower, who is
+bending forward for the throw, with his face turned away towards
+the hand that holds the disk, and with one foot slightly pointed, as
+if he would raise himself with the action of throwing.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The statue reveals probably the most approved attitude of a
+diskobolos just before making a throw. The centre of gravity falls
+upon the right foot, which, though the leg is bent in a slight curve,
+rests firmly on the ground; both legs are bent at the knees, but
+the left more acutely; the right fore-leg is perpendicular, while the
+left is thrust backward obliquely; the left foot, forming a noticeable
+curve, is upright and touches the ground only at the tips of
+the toes; the thighs, close together, slant upward, making an angle
+of over 45° with the ground; the upper part of the body is bent
+forward, and is steadied by the left arm whose hand rests against
+the right knee; the upper half of the body is twisted to the right;
+the right arm is extended backwards and is straight; the fingers
+of the right hand, which is somewhat above the level of the right
+shoulder, firmly grip the edge of the diskos; the head is turned so
+far to the right that the right side of the body is plainly visible;
+the eyes are fastened on the diskos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It is evident that the diskobolos must have swung the disk in a
+semi-circle, and have hurled it from below forward, and that the
+whole body must have relaxed and readjusted itself as the right
+arm moved forward and imparted the pent-up energy to the disk.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The pose of the large cast in the Boston Athenæum, as well as
+that of the cast in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is not in accordance
+with Lucian’s description. Both represent the head as
+not turned aside but directly forward, with the eyes looking straight
+ahead. There is, however, in the Fourth Greek Room, a cast of a
+small bronze statuette, which is preserved in the Antiquarium at
+Munich. This is in many respects an excellent copy of Myron’s
+diskobolos. In the catalogue of the casts in the Museum, this
+statuette is pronounced especially satisfactory from an æsthetic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[Pg 33]</span>
+point of view because the line of equilibrium falls perpendicularly
+through the centre from whatever point of view the statuette is
+seen.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Besides this copy of Myron’s statue, we find on many vases and
+gems the diskobolos in the act of hurling the diskos. For instance,
+on one of Hamilton’s vases we see a diskobolos with a diskos in
+his right hand, while the right arm is bent and held forward, showing
+that he is on the point of moving the arm backward, and then
+forcibly hurling the diskos from below, forward. The left arm is
+bent over the head, the eyes are fixed on the diskos, the right foot
+is placed forward, so that the centre of gravity falls on the left,
+which is obliquely bent at the knee.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">We will now consider the third class of statues, gems and vase-paintings
+representing the diskobolos as having thrown the diskos,
+and still following it with his eye, or where he has already been
+declared victor and adorned with the palm. In 1754 there was
+discovered at Herculaneum the bronze statue of a diskobolos from
+whose hand the diskos has just flown. He is still standing, however,
+with the upper portion of his body bent forward, the eyes
+looking sharply into space, the face full of expectation. The position
+of the right arm indicates that the hand is only just freed from
+the heavy diskos. Both feet are placed wide apart, as may be observed
+in several other instances, at the moment of throwing. In
+the <i>Galerie de Florence</i> is a gem which represents a diskobolos who
+has been declared victor. He holds the diskos in his left hand, the
+palm of victory in his right. At his right stands a prize cup, while
+at his left is a tripod upon which is a wreath and a palm. A painting
+from Herculaneum also represents a diskobolos after having
+thrown the diskos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">If space permitted, many other statues, vase and gem pictures
+could be cited to show the different positions of the skilled diskobolos.
+But enough has been said to show that to hurl the diskos
+through the air at once gracefully and effectively required the
+greatest skill and dexterity, and was an art acquired only through
+long practice. In diskos-throwing, distance, not height, determined
+the victor. He who threw the farthest beyond the mark or σῆμα
+was awarded the prize.</p>
+
+<p class="p4a tp">Diskos-throwing was a good preparation for war, as it developed
+great skill in stone-throwing&mdash;a very important feature in the war
+practices of the ancients. This exercise must have developed to a
+remarkable degree the muscles of the upper part of the body,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span>
+shoulders, arms and hands&mdash;especially those of the right side of
+the body. At the same time the feet were trained in a firm and
+secure step, and, although the diskos was thrown at no fixed point,
+the eye was nevertheless used and trained. So beneficial was the
+exercise in certain cases that it was often ordered by the ancient
+physicians. Among the Spartans the diskos was especially loved,
+ostensibly on account of Apollo’s contest with Hyakinthos on Spartan
+soil.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[Pg 35]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">III. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.</h2>
+
+<p class="tp">The third event of the pentathlon was spear-throwing. In the
+athletic training of an Hellenic youth, spear-throwing came after
+the hand and arm had been strengthened by ball-playing and
+diskos-throwing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Spear-throwing, as has been shown, growing out of the very
+early necessity of war-training, was a primitive mode of exercise.
+The spear (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dory">δόρυ</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="lonchê">λόγχη</span>) used by the Homeric
+heroes was very large, and as heavy as they could handle effectively.
+None but that warrior himself could wield the spear of Achilles.
+Hector’s spear was 16 feet long; the shaft was made of ash. A socket
+was fitted to the upper end of the spear, in which was inserted a
+bronze spear point. But that used at the pentathlon, and denoted by the
+term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="akôn">ἄκων</span>, was smaller and lighter.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The attitude of the body, the movement of the arms and shoulders,
+and the carriage of the head were very different in spear-throwing
+from those in diskos-hurling. The athlete stood erect,
+and raised his right arm upward and slightly backward; his right
+foot was generally placed backward, while his left was advanced;
+his eye was fixed on a goal straight ahead. He grasped the spear
+in the middle and held it in a horizontal position on a level with
+his right ear; sometimes he moved it backward and forward before
+throwing, but as often omitted such preliminary exercise.
+Sometimes it was thrown by means of a strap attached to it, as is
+still the custom in many countries.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the pentathlon, spear-throwing was a test rather of skill than
+of strength; an athlete who could win the victory with the diskos
+might suffer defeat with the spear, although diskos-throwing required
+more strength than spear-throwing. Spear-throwing
+trained the eye and made the arm deft in executing the eye’s
+direction.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[Pg 36]</span>
+of respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and
+enlarged; the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the
+spear effectively the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and
+have command of his entire body; to do so with a weight held
+aloft, strengthened the lower limbs, made their muscles more
+facile, and the step more sure.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the
+early Olympians not only recognized the foregoing advantages,
+but they also honored the characteristic exercise of their ancestors,
+and subsequent Olympians followed their example. For the
+spear was the traditional sign of the freeman; as far back as myth
+and memory could go, it had been carried, even in peace, as an
+honorable and distinguishing token.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Plato, in his scheme of the ideal state, prescribed spear-throwing
+as a training for war, and directed that it should be
+practiced by women as well as by men.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">At Rome, during the time of the emperors, spear-throwing was
+included among the gymnastic exercises of that city. Instruction
+in this art was received from the Mauritanians. But it is said
+that the Emperor Commodus surpassed even the skill of his instructors;
+in the amphitheatre he killed, according to the story, a
+hundred lions with as many spears; at another time he astonished
+the spectators by the dexterity with which he hurled his spear at
+the Mauritanian ostriches, as they ran by the amphitheatre at full
+speed; with every throw he severed a bird’s head from its body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">We have no accounts to show as to how far a Greek athlete
+could hurl a spear, but we know that savages of today can hurl it
+to a great distance. It is said by travellers that a Kaffir who suddenly
+comes upon game will hit an antelope ten or fifteen yards
+away without raising his arm.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The three events that have been described, leaping, diskos-throwing
+and spear-throwing, were probably the essential features
+of the pentathlon; that is to say, an athlete who won in all three
+events was probably crowned victor. If, however, the victories
+in the three events were not secured by the same man, the competition
+was decided by additional contests in running and wrestling.
+But as at other stages of the festival these two exercises were
+distinct events, a description of their technique may be omitted
+in this place. Among those who distinguished themselves in the
+pentathlon, were included some of the most illustrious men of
+Greece.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The pentathlon was succeeded by horse and chariot races.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Chariot racing, even as far back as the heroic time, had attained
+a high rank in the domain of antagonistics; it was, indeed, the
+first contest in the funeral games of Patroklos. (Il. xxiii.
+262-650.) In the minute and vivid description of Homer, the
+nature of the contest and the arrangements are very clearly indicated.
+There was no artificially constructed hippodrome. A
+flat, open plain, with its natural irregularities and without buildings
+of any sort, served as the race-course. The point of starting
+was on the sea-coast, but the turning point was in the plain of
+Troy. The goal, which was the stump of a tree, could be seen in
+the far distance only by its having two white stones leaning
+against it on either side. On account of the great distance, the
+spectators were not able to distinguish between the approaching
+horses. (Il. 450 ff.) Hence rose an altercation between Idomeneus
+and Aias, as to whose chariot was leading in the race.
+Achilles advised both to wait quietly until the horses were nearer
+and the order of the chariots could be recognized by all.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">With a very few points of difference, this description of Homer
+gives a good idea of a chariot race at Olympia. The difference
+consisted, first, in running the length of the course several times
+instead of once, in order that a body of spectators might witness
+the entire race; second, in the greater number of chariots, and
+third, in the arrangements, whereby they might start without
+confusion. In the games of Achilles, the chariots were five in
+number, each with two horses and a single driver, who stood
+upright in the chariot. As we have already mentioned, the
+Homeric hero made use of two horses in the race as well as in
+hostile combat, while the Olympic contestant did not limit himself
+to two horses. In fact, the four-horse chariot-race, which
+was introduced in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, was the first in
+honor and in importance, and always remained the most popular.
+In this contest, only kings, nobles, and the wealthy could take
+part, on account of the great expense involved in rearing fine
+horses, and in maintaining costly chariots. Very often, the victor
+had his triumphs recorded on the state issues of coins.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Races on horseback date from the thirty-third Olympiad.
+Philip of Macedon won in this contest, and celebrated his victory
+by having an enormous horse, ridden by a diminutive jockey,
+placed on his coinage. As this victory took place in the same<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[Pg 38]</span>
+year in which Potidaea fell into his hands and his son Alexander
+was born, he regarded that year as especially auspicious.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While the race of the quadrigæ of horses was introduced as
+early as the twenty-fifth Olympiad, that of the bigæ of horses was
+not introduced until the ninety-third Olympiad. A quadriga
+consisted of four horses harnessed to a chariot; a biga, of two
+horses. In the seventieth Olympiad, bigæ of mules were admitted,
+but in the eighty-fourth Olympiad they were excluded; their
+exclusion may be ascribed to two reasons: first, they presented an
+unpleasing appearance; second, among the Eleians, according to
+Pausanias, a curse had rested on the animals from ancient times.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Prior to the twenty-fifth Olympiad, all athletic contests had
+taken place in the Stadion. As chariot-racing, however, demanded
+more room, a separate race-course, called the
+<a name="TN036_1" id="TN036_1"></a>Hippodrome, was established.
+The site of the Hippodrome cannot be exactly traced. This is because
+the Alpheios has washed away all certain indications of its limits.
+But from the account of Pausanias (V, 4; VI, 20, 7 foll.) it may be
+approximately located; it lay to the south of the Stadion and extended
+roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east.
+The German explorers who excavated Olympia inferred from the state
+of the ground that the Hippodrome was about 2526 feet in length. The
+Stadion and Hippodrome were closely connected, the rear part of the
+aphesis, or starting point, of the Hippodrome adjoining the end of the
+Stadion. At the farther end of the Hippodrome was the goal outside of
+which the chariots had to turn. To round this goal with advantage, that
+is, to keep as close to it as it was possible to do without upsetting
+his own chariot or colliding with another, required long practice
+and great dexterity on the part of the driver; it was indeed a very
+dangerous feat; at every race a large number of the chariots involved
+were wrecked, and in such accidents the charioteers rarely escaped
+without serious injuries. According to legend, Orestes had met his
+death at a Pythian festival; his chariot colliding with the goal, he
+fell to the ground, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged or
+trampled to death. After every turning of the goal, the chariots were
+greeted with the sound of trumpets in order that men and horses might
+attain new courage and vigor after so dangerous an ordeal.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The signal for the chariots to come out from the rooms allotted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[Pg 39]</span>
+to them in the aphesis and form in line for the race was given by
+an eagle which, by means of mechanism, rose into the air at the
+same moment that a dolphin fell to the ground. Such a signal
+was characteristic of the Greek; but in the Roman races, the
+chariots started at the waving of a white cloth by a person of
+distinction.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The equestrian contests at Olympia were succeeded by boxing.
+Boxing for men was introduced at the Olympic festival in the
+twenty-third Olympiad, and for boys in the thirty-seventh Olympiad.
+But the sport was already very old, and its introduction at
+Olympia was probably a recognition of its popularity and antiquity.
+In fact, as the fist is the simplest and most natural
+weapon of mankind, it is not surprising to find that boxing was
+one of the earliest athletic games among the Hellenes. Homer’s
+detailed description of the contest of the invincible Epeios with
+Euryalos has already been mentioned, and Homer had probably
+heard many similar tales of the prowess of <a name="TN037_1" id="TN037_1"></a>Mycenæan boxers.
+Polydeukes, the bravest boxer among the pre-Homeric heroes, is
+said to have defeated the strong Amykos. The latter was a
+teacher of the art, and allowed no stranger to depart from his
+country without challenging him to a pugilistic contest. Apollo
+himself, the gracious companion and leader of the Pierides, is
+described as engaging in a boxing contest at Olympus with Ares,
+the powerful god of war; perhaps in this myth there is a suggestion
+of the advantage which the nimble and quick-witted boxer
+sometimes has over a more bulky one. In the mythical founding
+of the Nemean games, Tydeus was victorious in a boxing contest.
+In the passage of Virgil’s Æneid (Book V, 401 ff.), which so
+closely resembles the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, the aged
+Entellus vanquishes the young and boastful Dares. This contest
+showed a complete system of striking and parrying.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It is quite likely that these and many other similar legends
+augmented the natural interest in the sport, and hastened its
+introduction into the greatest of all athletic festivals. But at
+Olympia the sport was marked with variations. Whereas, for
+instance, the Homeric heroes, when boxing, had protected their
+bodies by means of a girdle around the loins (Il. XXIII, 683),
+the Olympian athletes, being already accustomed to nudity in the
+wrestling and racing contests, dispensed with such protection.
+Again, from the first, Olympian boxers oiled the body, contrary
+to the practice of Homeric athletes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[Pg 40]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">Probably very few of the tactics of modern pugilists were unknown
+to the Greek athletes. Some of the accessories of a
+modern ring-fight, such as the “preliminary hand-shake,” tossing
+for corners, etc., were of course wanting; particularly noticeable
+was the absence of ropes and stakes; there was no referee to
+enforce so strict a code of ethics as the Marquis of Queensberry
+rules, fair play being secured by the voice of the people. Grasping
+or hugging the opponent was not permitted; it was in the
+elimination of such tactics that boxing differed from the pankration,
+a combination of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was likewise
+forbidden.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The set-to of Greek boxers probably resembled very closely
+that of modern pugilists. The ancient descriptions of the manner
+of giving and guarding or blocking blows are rather vague; but
+on antique vases may be seen representations of boxers facing
+one another in well-balanced attitudes, their heads thrown back,
+and their arms well advanced, in the manner of the best modern
+pugilism. In a famous Greek painting of boxers, one of the men
+stands with his left foot and hand advanced, his left arm slightly
+bent, and his right arm held across his lower chest, in fact, just as
+Fitzsimmons or Corbett would stand when expecting a blow. In
+the beginning of the contest, the boxer was sparing of his strength
+and preferred to assume the defensive position, and so wear out
+his opponent. It was, of course, considered a merit for a boxer to
+conquer without receiving wounds.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The principal differences between the technique of Olympian
+boxing and that of modern pugilism must be ascribed to the use
+at Olympia of that cruel boxing weapon known as the cæstus.
+This consisted of a heavy thong of dry, hardened leather, wound
+about the palm of the hand so as to form a formidable ridge of
+considerable circumference; it was even rendered more formidable
+by being loaded with lead, and studded with little metal
+projections. This nail-studded covering was called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphaira">σφαῖρα</span>,
+and was unknown to the ancient Greeks. That it was very dangerous is
+shown by the fact that when used in the practice gymnasia, it was
+itself covered, in order that young athletes might become accustomed
+to its use before subjecting themselves to its deadliness. But even
+more brutal than these were the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="myrmêkes">μύρμηκες</span>,
+called the breakers or crushers of limbs. One cannot conceive of a
+more formidable covering for the hand, unless it be the terrible<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[Pg 41]</span>
+cæstus of the Romans, to which Virgil alludes in the memorial games
+of Anchises (Æn. V, 401): “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Tantorum ingentia septem
+Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.</span>” “So terrible was
+the seven-fold bullhide stiffened with patches of lead and iron.” An
+examination of the representations of hands armed with this covering
+makes it evident that the straight blow or counter would not only fail
+to make the weapon effective, but would, if forcible enough, crush the
+fingers of the boxer between the leather and the adversary’s body. The
+cæstus must, therefore, have been used for round blows, or for the old
+English blow called the “chopper”; these were delivered by the back of
+the hand in an outward and downward swing, and, to be given without
+injury to the one who dealt them, required considerable skill.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and
+the wounds inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and
+nose, were very severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth
+were often broken or injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the
+Cyrenean, that his teeth were knocked out by his adversary, but
+that he quietly swallowed them in order to conceal from him how
+much he was injured; his adversary, disheartened by the apparently
+small effect of his powerful blow, lost hope and allowed
+Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially, were exposed
+to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were usually
+so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear” became a
+stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="auphôtires">αὐφώτιρες</span>, were invented
+for gymnasium work, but they were not used in public games. Boxers, on
+account of the bruises and disfigurations that usually marked their
+features, were the subjects of numerous epigrammatic jests. Here is a
+sample from the pen of a comic poet:</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses
+was recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by
+his dog, Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four
+hours, hast been so altered, that neither dogs nor any person in
+the town could possibly recognize thee. And if thou lookest at
+thy face in a mirror, thou thyself wilt swear that thou art not
+Stratophon.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a
+beard, eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed
+his name among the pugilists he lost them all.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside
+from skill in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn
+by boxers at Olympia.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and
+modern boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the
+contest, as do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their
+blows with certain inarticulate sounds, believing that their force
+was thereby increased. Modern stone-masons frequently do the
+same.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants
+was rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue,
+wounds or despair to declare himself conquered, which he signified
+by lifting his right hand.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In this connection it is interesting to trace the evolution of
+boxing in Greece. At first, of course, the bare fist was used; but
+as time went on, boxers learned to cover their fists and wrists with
+strips of undressed <a name="TN040_1" id="TN040_1"></a>oxhide, the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="himantas eutmêtous boos agrauloio">ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς <a name="TN040_3" id="TN040_3"></a>ἀγραύλοιο</span>
+in the contest of Epeios and Euryalos (Il. XXIII, 684).
+Homer mentions these <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="himantes">ἱμάντες</span>
+as if they were very common. The name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="meilichai">μειλίχαι</span>
+was given them by later writers, because they dealt a mild blow; they
+are described by Pausanias (VIII, 40, 3) as made of raw
+<a name="TN040_2" id="TN040_2"></a>oxhide, cut into thin strips and
+braided according to the custom of the ancients. The strips were wound
+round the palm, leaving the fingers uncovered, at least enough so that
+they could be bent to form a clenched fist. As the name indicates,
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="meilichai">μειλίχαι</span> were not cruel
+weapons; they served not only to moderate the force of the blow, but
+also to protect the hand from injury. They were used at the Nemean
+games as late as the famous contest between Kreugas and Damoxenos.
+It is likely that with these soft coverings the technique of blows
+conformed more nearly with the modern technique. It has been already
+shown that the straight counter was rendered impracticable by the
+cæstus. But without the cæstus the Greek was very skillful with this
+blow. The Greek also understood the advantage of the cross-counter,
+a blow sometimes thought to be a comparatively recent discovery in
+pugilism. If the Homeric description of the bare-handed fight between
+Odysseus and the impudent ruffian and parasite, Iros, be analyzed, the
+blow will be found plainly involved. Iros, who is of gigantic size, has
+insulted Odysseus. A ring is formed and they begin to fight (Od. XVIII,
+73-231).</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[Pg 43]</span></p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">“On his right shoulder Iros laid his stroke,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Odysseus struck him just beneath the ear,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">His jaw-bone broke, and made the blood appear,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">When straight he strewed the dust.”</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tp">The blow of Odysseus must have been a cross-counter. Iros
+leads with his left at Odysseus’ head, but the blow falls instead on
+his right shoulder. Odysseus avoids the blow just as a trained
+boxer would avoid a similar one today; that is to say, he moves
+his head to the left, and catches the blow on his right shoulder,
+at the same moment, “rising to the stroke.” He then crosses
+Iros’ arm with his right, strikes him beneath the ear, and breaks
+his jaw, thereby “knocking him out.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The introduction and use of the cæstus, brought about by the
+blood-thirstiness of the ancient mob, instead of being in the interest
+of further skill was decidedly a backward step. For not only
+did it improperly limit the technique of blows, as has been shown,
+but it was too sure a menace to the very source of human skill,
+the senses and consciousness itself.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Solon praised boxing from an educational point of view. Cato
+the elder must have entertained a high opinion of this art, for,
+according to Plutarch, he himself instructed his son, with whose
+education he took the greatest pains, in the art of boxing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that
+Greek boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic
+side. A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity
+were cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful
+grace and beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented
+as a boxer. Even from the medical point of view, boxing
+was highly esteemed. Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and
+chronic headache (De Morb. Dint. Cur. 1, 2).</p>
+
+<p class="tp">This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all
+parts of Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when
+a youth in a boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia
+and Elis were noted for producing skilled pugilists.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which
+were the final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one
+of the most popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of
+Homer. According to mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of
+Hermes, established the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="palê">πάλη</span>,
+while her brother, Autolykos,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[Pg 44]</span>
+is mentioned as the instructor of the young Herakles in this art.
+Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling to the earliest times and
+declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most ancient wrestlers.
+But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere desire to
+fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is said
+to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice it
+according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how
+Homer, in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian
+Aias and Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling
+matches were among the chief events in the famous games at
+Olympia and elsewhere. They were introduced earlier than
+boxing and were believed to show off the strength, activity and
+grace of the body to more advantage than any other contest. No
+other exercise required such perfect development of every muscle
+in the body, or an equal combination of strength and agility.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic
+sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern
+times. The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions
+and movements. Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to
+grasp his adversary in a certain place, but by a quick, cat-like
+movement would attack him in another which had been left exposed.
+Cunning was likewise practiced by the Homeric heroes.
+Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the hollow of the
+knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks, the observance
+of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking,
+kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing
+an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground
+that it involved grasping.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and
+symmetry as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their
+wrestlers were noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered
+advantageous for a wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased
+weight rendered it less easy for an opponent to lift him off the
+ground; second, it was easier for him, on the other hand, to overpower
+his adversary at the opportune moment. Nevertheless, a
+graceful style of wrestling, while less easy to attain under this
+condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes grace is the
+concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage over mere
+bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact
+was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[Pg 45]</span>
+in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere
+strength, the authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis
+not only his own statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says
+that Kratinos exhibited a more graceful style than any other
+wrestler of his time.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing
+and ground wrestling; the former, called the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="triagmos">τριαγμός</span>,
+was most common. The contestants stood upright, face to face, and after
+one had been thrown and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was
+the style practiced by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had
+thrown each other to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle.
+Victory was bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced
+in later times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers
+this style, as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms,
+shoulders, chest and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the
+combatants had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until
+one acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged
+especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown
+in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is
+of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so
+regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the
+Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this
+particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially
+advantageous.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the
+Greeks, the following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist
+endeavored to throw his opponent either by tripping him, or by
+grasping his foot with his hand. This latter style is differently
+illustrated on two vases. On the first vase the antagonist is represented
+as grasping with his right hand his opponent’s foot, which
+he has raised to a line with the middle of his body, while with the
+left arm he is further raising the thigh, thus forcing his opponent
+to the ground. On the second vase, the contestant has raised his
+opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the left hand, which is
+placed under the knee; both contestants are moving the right
+arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents the pankration,
+as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A
+similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist,
+whose foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms
+in order to drag him down if he should fall.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[Pg 46]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his
+opponent’s thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully
+illustrated by the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery,
+Florence, of which a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum
+of Fine Arts. Winckelmann considers these wrestlers to be the
+sons of Niobe, as they were found in 1583 at the same time and
+place as the Niobe group. According to the legend, they were
+engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s arrows.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The technical names of the various locks and holds which have
+come down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling.
+If one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts
+of the different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete
+list of movements, or if the most important parts of the literature
+bearing upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we
+might form a more definite conception of the wrestling match.
+To the student of athletics it may be interesting to mention a few
+expressions which have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature.
+The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="drassein">δράσσειν</span> which
+literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied to
+the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully
+illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases,
+gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers
+and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch
+designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the
+wrestlers by the terms <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="embolai">ἐμβολαί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="parembolai">παρεμβολαί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="systaseis">συστάσεις</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paratheseis">παραθέσεις</span>,
+from which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly
+clear imagery. The following Greek words,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ôthismoi"><a name="TN044_1" id="TN044_1"></a>ὠθισμοί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="periplokai">περιπλοκαί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="lygismoi">λυγισμοί</span>, which literally
+mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by
+Lucian to express different styles of wrestling. The terms
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="synaphê">συναφή</span> and
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="katochê">κατοχή</span> used by Hesychios
+when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the wrestling
+match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced
+from his position is described by the term
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apagein">ἀπάγειν</span>, literally to lead
+away or carry off. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Anchein">Ἄγχειν</span>
+and <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apopnigein">ἀποπνίγειν</span> describe
+the grasping of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration.
+This trick of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him
+until he acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning
+act. Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his
+elbow under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring
+the neck of the latter between his thighs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[Pg 47]</span>
+and then exert such pressure as almost to strangle him. This occurred
+more frequently in the ground wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group
+of boy wrestlers, one of whom, while resting on his right knee, is
+firmly holding by the throat his opponent, who is on both knees; to the
+right stands a prize vase with a palm, to the left, an umpire with a
+rod.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hamma">ἅμμα</span> involved grasping
+the opponent in such a manner that he could be held in a position
+that would tire him and perhaps exhaust his energy. Herakles in his
+wrestling contest with the mighty giant, Antaios, was believed to have
+used this trick; but Herakles held his antagonist in the air. Running
+toward each other with lowered heads for the purpose of butting, after
+the manner of rams, also belonged to the province of wrestling, and was
+practiced by Lucian himself in the Lykeion at Athens.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Plato protests against right-handedness (Laws, 8-794). He
+demands that a trained wrestler, pankratiast and boxer should be
+able to use both hands equally, so that if his opponent should succeed
+in turning him around he could defend himself from the
+other side. The wrestler would sometimes endeavor to place
+himself behind his adversary by a quick movement, then wind his
+leg around his opponent’s body and throw him. If successful in
+this attempt he would choke him.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Besides these tricks there were others with the fingers. For
+instance, a wrestler would grasp his opponent’s finger-tips and disjoint
+or break them, not letting go until the pain compelled his victim
+to declare himself conquered. This finger contest sometimes
+preceded the actual contest, and was oftentimes the only feature.
+Sostratos of Sikyon was specially famed for this mode of contest;
+he was twelve times victorious in the Nemean and Isthmian, twice
+in the Pythian and three times in the Olympian games. Leontiskos
+of Messina, in Sicily, also practiced wrestling in this manner
+and gained his victory by breaking his opponent’s fingers.</p>
+
+<p class="p4a tp">In ground wrestling the athlete even attempted to break his
+opponent’s toes. Another special scheme which belonged to the
+standing wrestling was as follows: the contestant made a circle
+around himself and challenged his opponent to force him from
+his position. If the latter failed to do this, the victory belonged
+to the former. Especially noted in this style of wrestling was Milo
+of Crotona, the most famous wrestler of antiquity. When a mere
+boy he was victorious in the Olympic and Pythian games. Six<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[Pg 48]</span>
+times his head was crowned with the sacred olive of Olympia.
+Young men of the noblest families engaged in these wrestling
+contests. Plato, when a youth, is said to have been victorious in
+the Pythian and Isthmian games, probably in the wrestling
+match.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[Pg 49]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE
+ANCIENT HELLENES.</h2>
+
+<p class="tp">We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of
+professional athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily
+have influenced the more widespread practices whereby the
+young developed their bodies, just as today the system of professional
+athletics is a model for college training and exerts an influence
+upon the sports of even young children. But professional
+athletics, even in ancient Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct
+from that important phase of Hellenic education called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no
+means be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of
+education. But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were
+held in least favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves;
+being thoroughly in earnest to produce a race that was hardy
+and valiant to the last degree, and regarding physical culture as a
+serious and all-engrossing business rather than an exciting amusement,
+they quickly discerned that the specialism of professional
+athletics was detrimental to this end.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby
+all Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever
+uppermost in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither
+deluded themselves in their estimate of these needs, nor did they
+even dream of a compassion that would deter them from establishing
+and executing regulations whereby these needs would be met.
+In Sparta the unfortunate individual who did not conform in
+promise or attainment to the criterion of a Spartan citizen found no
+pity.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the
+man, without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle
+outward show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely
+fearless, who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing
+pain; it was the man whose powers of endurance were very great,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[Pg 50]</span>
+who could march long distances over a rough country without
+fatigue, who could then halt and await the onset of an enemy with
+a glad and confident heart, and who could engage his enemy and
+be victorious; it was the man who loved combat.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
+through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
+was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens
+should marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage.
+If at the present day we exercised the same care to bring sound
+children into the world there would be little need of being “born
+again.” Spartan infants were subjected to the judgment of a
+body of selected citizens, and if approved by the latter became
+thenceforth the objects of the care and direction of the state, but
+if condemned as not promising health and vigor they were killed.
+According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were exposed in the
+apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Taugetos">Ταΰγετος</span>)
+and left to die.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care
+of their parents, but even during this early period they received a
+foretaste of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very
+plain and limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the
+little fears of childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the
+dark or when left alone.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Many interesting little sports were in vogue
+among Hellenic children, and it may well be believed that in
+Sparta they were practised with a peculiar earnestness. Most
+of the amusements of modern children were also the delight of
+Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the latter are
+no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="platagê">πλαταγή</span>)
+was a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
+Then there were hoops (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="trochoi">τροχοί</span>
+or <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikoi">κρίκοι</span>). The
+childish game of rolling the hoop was called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikêlasia">κρικηλασία</span>.
+The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikos">κρίκος</span> corresponded to the Roman
+<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">trochus</span> described by Horace (<i>Ode</i> 3; 24,
+57) and Ovid, as well as by Propertius, Martialis, and other
+writers. The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikos">κρίκος</span> was a
+large hoop probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its
+diameter was less than the height of a man, reaching probably to
+his chest. The implement used in rolling it is said to have been a
+crooked-necked iron with a wooden handle, called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="elatêr">ἐλατήρ</span>
+(Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as with us, the hoop was set round with
+small metal rings or bells which when in motion caused a jingling
+sound very pleasing to a child’s ears. Some regarded these rings<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[Pg 51]</span>
+as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them on the ground that
+the sound they produced added much to the child’s happiness and
+engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also considered
+this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and <a name="TN049_1" id="TN049_1"></a>advised
+that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating. The
+familiar top (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bembêx">βέμβηξ</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bembix">βέμβιξ</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="rhombos"><a name="TN049_2" id="TN049_2"></a>ῥόμβος</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="strobilos">στρόβιλος</span>), old as the
+days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
+times&mdash;“<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="strombon d’ hôs esseue balôn, peri d’ edrame pantê">στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη</span>”
+(<i>Il.</i> xiv, 413).</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and
+made to revolve by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil
+in the following lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,</span></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum</span></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Intenti ludo exercent.</span>”</div>
+    <div class="verse indent25"><i>Æneid</i> vii, 378-380.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tp">Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children.
+Stilts (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kalobathra">καλόβαθρα</span>) were much
+used by children and also by adults in certain mimic dances. The girls
+had dolls (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="korai">κόραι</span>) of wax or
+clay, and the usual paraphernalia connected with this ever popular
+plaything. Many of these, which still survive, show that they
+were painted and that the arms and legs were so fastened with
+strings as to be easily movable. The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="korê">κόρη</span>
+literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek girls dedicated
+their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus. If they died unwedded,
+their dolls were buried with them. The terms <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dagynon">δάγυνον</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dagys">δαγύς</span> and <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="plangôn">πλαγγών</span>
+were often applied by the Greeks to the wax doll.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The swing <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="aiôra">αἰώρα</span> occupied
+the same position in Greece as in our nurseries. Then there were clappers
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="plêktra">πλῆκτρα</span>), toy-carts
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hamaxides">ἁμαξίδες</span>), hobby-horses
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippidia xylina">ἱππίδια ξύλινα</span>),
+toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned.
+From the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy
+of consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in
+sport, then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
+character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
+be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
+and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental
+powers and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise.
+The Spartan children were superior to the other Greek
+children in the power of expression, although they were not so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[Pg 52]</span>
+highly educated. This is no doubt due to the fact that at a very
+early age the Spartan children were forced into a free life in the
+open air and to systematic gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also
+though they did not consider gymnastics of so much importance as
+did the Hellenes, did not neglect them. Being a warlike people,
+they began to develop and strengthen the body of the child at an
+early age. The sports of childhood are as important to the boy as
+work is to the man, and demand as much of his strength and
+intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as a real
+victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games are
+imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause the
+child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
+Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He
+claimed that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work,
+should be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first
+training should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction
+should be followed by that based on theory and science.
+Experience has often corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic
+life itself furnishes the best illustration of it. According to
+the legend, Achilles, attired in the garb of a girl among the
+daughters of the king, betrayed himself to the keen eye of Odysseus,
+by handling the weapons, placed by the latter among the ornaments
+which he offered for sale. Strepsiades, hard pressed by his
+creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness for horses and
+chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates with pride how
+as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts, moulded
+houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind. (Aristophanes,
+<i>Nub.</i> 877.) Cato the Younger also, says <a name="TN050_1" id="TN050_1"></a>Plutarch,
+gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
+youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
+chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
+circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
+heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
+represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
+was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
+young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
+often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
+Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment
+was detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[Pg 53]</span>
+was most beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of
+body and soul. Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system
+of the Hellenes, were developed many gymnastic games which
+did not require any special apparatus and which were not intended
+for tests of superior strength, but merely to furnish pleasant and
+suitable physical exercise.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ostrakou peristrophê">ὀστράκου περιστροφή</span>
+was often played. The boys arranged themselves in two divisions on
+either side of a line. One of them then held up a piece of broken
+crockery, or an oyster shell, one side of which was blackened with
+tar. One division chose the black side, the other the white. A boy then
+threw the fragment, with the words, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="nyx, hêmera">νύξ, ἡμέρα</span>.
+The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared uppermost after
+the throw; this division then pursued the other; those who were captured
+were called donkeys and were debarred from further participation
+in the game.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="epostrakismos">ἐποστρακισμός</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 119), a more informal game, was played by boys on the
+beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted in “skipping”
+smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the water. The boy
+who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance, or, perhaps, made it
+cut the water the greatest number of times, was victor. This pastime,
+known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor with boys.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There were two games for testing bodily strength, the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dielkystinda">διελκυστίνδα</span>
+and the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperda">σκαπέρδα</span>. In the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dielkystinda">διελκυστίνδα</span> a party of
+children separated into two divisions, each of which faced the other
+in a row, so as to give every member an opponent. Probably a line of
+some kind lay between the two divisions, and the game consisted in each
+boy’s striving to pull his opponent across it by means of a rope. The
+victory was decided when all members of one side had been forced to the
+other.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperda">σκαπέρδα</span> was
+a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made in a tree-trunk or
+rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two contestants then
+took their places on opposite sides of the pillar, with their backs
+to each other and each holding an end of the rope. If one of them could
+succeed in lifting the other from the ground he was declared victor, but
+so difficult was the feat that the phrase
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperdan helkein">σκαπέρδαν <a name="TN051_1" id="TN051_1"></a>ἕλκειν</span>
+came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable to very difficult
+tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the Attic Dionysia.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[Pg 54]</span>
+name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chalkê myia">χαλκῆ μυῖα</span>, or “brazen fly,”
+very prettily described by <i>Pollux</i> ix, 122.
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hê de chalkê myia, tainia tô ophthalmô perisphinxantes henos paidos, ho men peristrephetai kêryttôn: chalkên myian thêrasô: hoi de apokrinamenoi, thêraseis all’ ou lêpsei, skytesi biblinois paiousin auton, heôs tinos autôn lêpsetai">
+ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, <a name="TN052_1" id="TN052_1"></a>ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες
+<a name="TN052_2" id="TN052_2"></a>ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν
+μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι, θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν
+αὐτόν, <a name="TN052_3" id="TN052_3"></a>ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται</span>.
+One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture one of the rest.
+With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating the words
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chalkên myian thrassô">χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω</span>,
+“I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others responded
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="thrasseis all’ ou lêpsei">θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει</span>,
+“you will hunt, but you will not catch,” and at the same time struck
+him more or less lightly with whips or threads of papyrus. When one of
+them was caught, he was blindfolded in place of the other, and the game
+repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytrinda">χυτρίνδα</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity on the part
+of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytra">χύτρα</span>. The others ran round
+him, pinching or striking him until by a quick movement he managed
+to catch one of them, who was obliged to take his place and be the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytra">χύτρα</span> in turn. Sometimes the
+child ran about in a circle, carrying on his head a jar which he
+held with his left hand. His companions would strike him while asking him
+the question, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="tis tên chytran?">τίς τὴν χύτραν;</span>
+(who has the jar?), to which he answered, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="egô, Midas">ἐγὼ, Μίδας</span>
+(I, Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that
+child had to take his place.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chyndalismos">χυνδαλισμός</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play, which somewhat
+resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging short, pointed
+poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first child holds
+his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to leave it
+standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to throw
+his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his own
+standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and so
+on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is still
+played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground is
+soft.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game especially suited to develop attention was the following.
+The players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a
+cord which he tried to place beside another child without being
+detected in the act. If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside
+whom the cord was found had to run round the ring amid the
+blows of his playfellows; if, on the other hand, he had noticed the
+other when putting the cord there, that one would have been
+obliged to run round the ring himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[Pg 55]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles
+were flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm
+in falling, was played under the name of
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="pentalithos">πεντάλιθος</span>. This game
+was much in favor with Hellenic women, as well as with children,
+and was said to be the favorite amusement of the famous beauty,
+Phryne of Athens.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The game of king (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="basilinda">βασιλίνδα</span>)
+consisted of feats, done by one child at the bidding of another,
+as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be king and who soldier
+was decided by lot.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A favorite pastime with children was the game called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="artiasmos">ἀρτιασμός</span> or
+“Odd and Even” (<i>Pollux</i> ix, 101), in which they guessed
+whether the number of objects one held concealed in his hand
+was odd or even. Dice, nuts, coins, etc., were used for this purpose.
+The amount won or lost was either the articles themselves
+or a sum of money staked upon the guess. Horace also in the
+Satires alludes to this game under the name <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ludere par impar</span></i>
+(<i>Satires</i> 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kollabismos">κολλαβισμός</span>,
+in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
+him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking
+him.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="schoinophilinda">σχοινοφιλίνδα</span>), a
+piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The modern “hide and seek”
+was the Greek <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apodidraskinda">ἀποδιδρασκίνδα</span>.
+“Kiss in the ring” (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kynêtinda">κυνητίνδα</span>)
+is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no correct details.
+“Ride a cock horse”
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kalamou peribênai">κάλαμου <a name="TN053_1" id="TN053_1"></a>περιβῆναι</span>)
+was also an amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in
+Greece and in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this
+sport in the following words: <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">equitare in arundine
+longa</span></i>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Greek and Roman children played several games
+of skill with nuts, which resembled very closely our modern game
+of marbles. Nuts played so important a part in childish sports
+that <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">nuces relinquere</span></i> became a proverbial
+expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts were
+pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ômilla"><a name="TN053_2" id="TN053_2"></a>ὤμιλλα</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 102-3) or into a hole <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bothros">βόθρος</span>
+dug in the ground. Those that fell outside the circle were forfeited.
+The name delta was given to a certain game with nuts in which a triangle
+was chalked on the ground, and marked across with lines or bars running
+parallel to the base. The player then flipped nuts into the triangle,
+winning as many nuts as he crossed bars, provided, of course, that
+they did not roll outside the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[Pg 56]</span> triangle,
+in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most skilful play
+consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the triangle.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The ball (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphaira">σφαῖρα</span>)
+was not only a favorite toy among children, but it also played an
+important part in the physical exercises of youths and adults. No
+other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks and Romans of
+different periods as the ball games, though regarded less as a game
+than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and cultivating grace
+and symmetry of body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes
+as well as in later times when Greece was at the height of its
+glory. The Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of
+the emperors, also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued
+favor which ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its
+benefit to the body. The earliest mention of ball-playing is found
+in two passages of the Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare <i>Athen.</i>
+i, 15, c. Plutarch, <i>Alex.</i> c. 73). In the second passage, Homer
+represents ball-tossing as an adjunct to the dance. The game was
+accompanied by music and Odysseus was surprised at the marvelous
+dexterity of the players.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance
+alone, for with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a
+goodly purple ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one,
+bending backward, flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other,
+leaping upward from the earth, easily caught the ball before his
+feet touched ground again. Then after they had tried the ball
+straight in the air, they danced upon the bounteous earth with
+tossings to and fro. Other young men beat time for them, standing
+round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping arose. Then to
+Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned of all,
+you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is proved
+true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
+ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (<i>Athenaios</i> i, 246), and
+long survived.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (<i>Od.</i> vi, 100), and her companions
+accompanied their game by singing, and the women of
+Corcyra at a later period are said to have followed this ancient
+custom. (<i>Athen.</i> i. 24 <i>b</i>.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing
+was also accompanied by music.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span>
+the right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected
+pillars in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a
+player. The Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did
+the Athenians, and to them is attributed the invention of ball
+games. Among the kings of Greece, Alexander is mentioned as
+favoring ball-playing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In one of his plays, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Plyntriai">Πλυντρίαι</span>,
+which was received with great favor, Sophocles introduced <a name="TN055_1" id="TN055_1"></a>Nausicaä
+at play with a ball. Only the Milesians, who were devoted to
+agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as it did not tend
+to increase athletic ability and was of no value in helping them
+to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved on
+ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians,
+as ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a
+foundation for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was
+not considered complete without having a special room, called the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>,
+devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistikos">σφαιριστικός</span>) who
+had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
+this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
+become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered
+it a pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the
+Elder enjoyed a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same
+day that he <a name="TN055_2" id="TN055_2"></a>received the
+refusal of the consulate (<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Oratio pro Archia
+Poeta</span></i> <i>c.</i> 6, §6). Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried
+ball-playing along with banquets and games of dice. The emperor,
+Augustus, enjoyed a game of ball. Pliny, the younger,
+relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with old age by indulging
+in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a game at ball was
+the most common exercise practised immediately before bathing in
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>
+(ball-court) connected with the bath.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
+undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during
+the game, except in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>
+and probably not always even there.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
+descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others
+we know simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios
+consider the game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ourania">οὐρανία</span>
+to be identical with that practised by the Phæacians, as in this,
+according to Homer’s description, the body was bent backward and the ball was thrown<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span>
+high up into the air. The players then tried to catch the ball
+before it touched the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="episkyros">ἐπίσκυρος</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 104) at first peculiar to Sparta, was very popular
+and took its name from the line <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skyros">σκῦρος</span>
+which separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and
+parallel with it were drawn two base lines (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammai katopin">γραμμαὶ κατόπιν</span>)
+beyond which the players could not go in catching the ball. The latter
+was placed upon the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skyros">σκῦρος</span>
+(whence the name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="episkyros">ἐπίσκυρος</span>)
+and the players started simultaneously from their respective base
+lines. Whoever seized the ball first, threw it as far as he could
+toward the enemies’ base line. The object, of course, was to force the
+line of enemies back, by constantly returning the ball further and
+further over their heads until they were driven over their own base
+lines. In this case a swift runner must have had a great advantage over
+the others, by securing the first throw.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A favorite game is described by the term
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="phaininda">φαινίνδα</span>). The peculiar
+feature of this game was that the player who held the ball
+appeared to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an
+entirely different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and
+surprising another. This game is said to have demanded the
+utmost dexterity of a flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a
+skilful player to display a fine carriage and much grace, as may be
+seen in the description of Damoxenos by Athenaios (<i>Athen.</i> i, 15, 7).</p>
+
+<p class="tp"><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Neanias tis esphairizen heis ... hos epei pot’ emblepseie tois kathêmenois, hê lambanôn tên sphairan, hê didous, hama pantes eboômen">
+Νεανίας τις <a name="TN056_1" id="TN056_1"></a>ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς
+ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις, ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς,
+ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp"><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ê t’ eurythmia, to t’ êthos, hê taxis th’ hosê en tô ti prattein hê legein ephaineto, peras ti kallous andres: out’ akêkoa emprosthen outh’ heôraka toiautên charin, esphairize d’ ouk aêdôs, kai Ktêsibios ho Chalkideus philosophos">
+ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ
+λέγειν ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν
+οὔθ’ ἑώρακα τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ <a name="TN056_2" id="TN056_2"></a>ἀηδῶς,
+καὶ <a name="TN056_3" id="TN056_3"></a>Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος.</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="harpaston">ἁρπαστόν</span>
+was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with the Greeks
+and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It required skill
+in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating distance, as
+well as great care in catching the ball. The name of the game indicates
+that each player tried to prevent the other from catching it. This game
+is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and according to him it was
+also played by women.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="aporrhaxis">ἀπόῤῥαξις</span>
+was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which the ball was thrown
+to the ground with great force and continually struck back with the hand,
+as it rebounded. The number of times the ball was forced to the ground was
+counted. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[Pg 59]</span>
+victor was called king and could order the others about. The
+loser was called donkey (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="onos"><a name="TN057_1" id="TN057_1"></a>ὄνος</span>).
+In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
+into the air as long as possible with the open hand.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
+to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four
+divisions according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he
+described in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball
+games, which he considered of great importance on account of the
+benefit which they imparted to the mental and physical powers.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In connection with these various ball games, they practised a
+peculiar gymnastic exercise with the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kôrykos">κώρυκος</span>,
+a leathern sack that must have resembled the modern punching bag on which
+pugilists try their fists. In form it resembled a ball, but in size
+and weight far surpassed the largest and heaviest ball. The
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kôrykos">κώρυκος</span> was filled with fig
+seeds, meal or sand, and its size varied according to the age and
+strength of the individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach
+to about the middle of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in
+increasingly rapid motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast
+and hands. The game is alluded to by Plautus (<i>Rud.</i> iii, 4, 16). This
+sport cannot properly be styled a ball game, although it resembled one
+in some respects. Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient
+physicians regarded this exercise as very beneficial, because it not
+only strengthened the muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent
+corpulency.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There are no records in classical literature to show that the
+Greeks and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
+disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
+under the charge of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paidonomos">παιδονόμος</span>;
+this official was, in conformance with the direction of Lykourgos,
+one of the best citizens; he was expected to discipline the youth in
+all the exercises that were so nicely adapted to develop the Spartan
+citizen, and to teach him all the cunning and courage that would
+afterwards be required in his service of the state.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself.
+When children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and
+nurses was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were
+conducted each day by the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paidagôgos">παιδαγωγός</span>,
+a special slave whose duty it was not only to conduct the children to
+and from school, but also to supervise their deportment.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[Pg 60]</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">In the Athenian school, gymnastics
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>) was not by any
+means the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included
+three distinct courses:</p>
+
+<p class="p0 p0a tl">(1) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammatikê">γραμματική</span>.</p>
+<p class="p0 p0a tl">(2) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mousikê">μουσική</span>.</p>
+<p class="p0 p0a tl">(3) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="p0">Under <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammatikê">γραμματική</span>
+were included reading and writing, to which were added after the 4th
+century <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> elementary geometry,
+arithmetic and drawing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">When the child was able to read and write with facility, he
+entered on the course called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mousikê">μουσική</span>,
+which embraced the study of poetry and music. Passages from Homer,
+Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon, and from many lyric poets,
+were read and committed to memory. Xenophon mentions in his Symposium
+(<i>Symp.</i> iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who had committed to memory the
+whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The boys were also taught to
+chant the poems they had learned to the accompaniment of the lyre. Much
+stress was laid on the moral effects of music.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">But from no system of Greek education was
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>, the
+careful and systematic development of the young body excluded.
+Nor did this training cease in mature years; when young men left
+the palæstra, they found awaiting them the gymnasium,&mdash;an institution
+that was adapted to social as well as athletic purposes.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected,
+ever dream of dropping <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>
+from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of Plato there is a detailed
+discussion of the education of children, and the plan is therein
+advocated of restricting the education of boys to gymnastics until
+their tenth year; the regular study of letters was not to begin until
+after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also maintained that
+gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany that of the
+mind.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood
+was not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked
+athlete with firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted
+that the mass of their young men reached during the best age of
+Greek history a stage of physical perfection which has never been
+attained in any other age or country. This is attested by thousands
+of statues of victorious athletes, not only in Olympia but
+throughout Greece. Although the Greeks had no cricket or football
+they had on the other hand a far greater variety of games
+than we have, and this variety made for the symmetrical development<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[Pg 61]</span>
+of the body. The athletic sports of Greece remained great
+and respected until excessive training and extreme specialization
+brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted all his time
+to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of a harmonious
+development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
+games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
+will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal
+of a sound body for a sound mind.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<div class="chapter transnote">
+
+<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>
+
+<p>The following inconsistencies and typos were corrected:</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>accidently</b> to <b>accidentally</b>
+in “he accidentally killed by an unlucky throw” on page
+<a href="#TN004_1">6</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>greeves</b> to <b>greaves</b> in
+“helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves and shield” on page
+<a href="#TN007_2">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>greeves</b> to <b>greaves</b> in “The
+greaves, which were made of flexible metal plates” on page
+<a href="#TN007_3">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in
+“layers of tough oxhide” on page <a href="#TN007_4">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Mycenæn</b> to <b>Mycenæan</b> in “pictured on
+Mycenæan gems” on page <a href="#TN007_1">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>subtile</b> to <b>subtle</b> in “Only by
+subtle inferences” on page <a href="#TN014_1">16</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in “old
+Greek traveller Pausanias” on page <a href="#TN018_1">20</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“Pausanias claims to have seen” on page <a href="#TN022_1">24</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“according to Pausanias died” on page <a href="#TN025_1">27</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Phæcians</b> to <b>Phæacians</b>
+in “the Phæacians, a light-hearted people” on page
+<a href="#TN025_2">27</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“Pausanias describes them” on page <a href="#TN026_1">28</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“Pausanias especially mentions” on page <a href="#TN026_2">28</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Phayllos</b> to <b>Phaÿllos</b> in “Phaÿllos
+of Rhegium is said” on page <a href="#TN028_1">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Hippodrom</b> to <b>Hippodrome</b>
+in “a separate race-course, called the Hippodrome” on page
+<a href="#TN036_1">38</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Mycenean</b> to <b>Mycenæan</b> in
+“the prowess of Mycenæan boxers” on page <a href="#TN037_1">39</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox-hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in “strips of
+undressed oxhide” on page <a href="#TN040_1">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἁγραύλοιο</b> to <b>ἀγραύλοιο</b> in “ἱμάντας
+ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο” on page <a href="#TN040_3">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox-hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in “made of raw
+oxhide” on page <a href="#TN040_2">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὠθιομοί</b> to <b>ὠθισμοί</b> in “The
+following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί” on page
+<a href="#TN044_1">46</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>advsied</b> to <b>advised</b> in “and advised
+that it be practised” on page <a href="#TN049_1">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ρόμβος</b> to <b>ῥόμβος</b> in “βέμβηξ,
+βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος” on page <a href="#TN049_2">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Plutrach</b> to <b>Plutarch</b> in “Cato the
+Younger also, says Plutarch” on page <a href="#TN050_1">52</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἔλκειν</b> to <b>ἕλκειν</b> in “the phrase
+σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν” on page <a href="#TN051_1">53</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ταινία</b> to <b>ταινίᾳ</b> in
+“ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός” on page
+<a href="#TN052_1">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἐνὸς</b> to <b>ἑνὸς</b> in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ
+περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός” on page <a href="#TN052_2">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἔως</b> to <b>ἕως</b> in “ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν
+λήψεται” on page <a href="#TN052_3">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>περιβήναι</b> to <b>περιβῆναι</b> in “κάλαμου
+περιβῆναι” on page <a href="#TN053_1">55</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὥμιλλα</b> to <b>ὤμιλλα</b> in “a circle drawn
+on the ground called ὤμιλλα” on page <a href="#TN053_2">55</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Nausicaa</b> to <b>Nausicaä</b> in “introduced
+Nausicaä at play with a ball” on page <a href="#TN055_1">57</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>recieved</b> to <b>received</b>
+in “he received the refusal of the consulate” on page
+<a href="#TN055_2">57</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἐσφαίριζειν</b> to <b>ἐσφαίριζεν</b> in
+“Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς” on page <a href="#TN056_1">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἀνδῶς</b> to <b>ἀηδῶς</b> in “δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς” on
+page <a href="#TN056_2">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>κτησίβιος</b> to <b>Κτησίβιος</b> in “καὶ
+Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος” on page <a href="#TN056_3">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὄνοξ</b> to <b>ὄνος</b> in “was called donkey
+(ὄνος)” on page <a href="#TN057_1">59</a>.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 64627 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks,
+by Edward Marwick Plummer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks
+
+Author: Edward Marwick Plummer
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64627]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Ian Crann, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+             produced from images generously made available by The Internet
+             Archive)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT
+GREEKS ***
+
+
+
+
+                      ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE
+                            ANCIENT GREEKS.
+
+
+                        EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.,
+
+     AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON
+         TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY;
+              INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE
+                  MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
+
+
+   Reprinted from the _American Physical Education Review_, 1898.
+
+
+                           CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,
+            LOMBARD & CAUSTIC, PRINTERS, 26A BRATTLE ST.
+                                 1898.
+
+                             Copyrighted
+                  By EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.
+                             Boston, 1898.
+
+
+
+
+              I. ATHLETIC GAMES AMONG THE HOMERIC HEROES.
+
+                    BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.
+
+
+Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner. This
+is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter and
+the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and arms, but
+small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending over his
+work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity of body, and
+often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects result from the more
+primitive forms of labor, it is not at all strange that the laborers of
+the modern industrial world show bodily peculiarities and variations
+that correspond, in a marked degree, to their respective trades. A
+well-known teacher of gymnastics in a New England college has declared
+himself able to designate the various occupations of laborers in a
+Boston Labor Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner,
+merely by inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may,
+therefore, be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion,
+if performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions
+essential to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete
+respiration, and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only
+rarely, if ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.
+
+Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the design to
+produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is not
+deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical
+development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be such,
+is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts and
+powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing not
+only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in other
+words, of developing what the Greeks called εὐρυθμία.
+
+Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks alone
+made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not so much
+because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy to be
+a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly discerned the
+advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor of a powerful and
+graceful body.
+
+For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally
+turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that these
+poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of the
+Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization
+in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one
+hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once
+learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now
+we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe as
+uncivilized;--this art of literature is, nevertheless, only one phase
+of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today the lives
+of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations, outside the
+sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a people that
+has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be versed in
+simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet civilized;
+and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary records of
+that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception would
+be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the Homeric poems
+as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition of
+this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric athletics
+especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development. Hellenic
+legend strengthens this inference. According to a myth, Apollo enjoyed
+the diskos no less than music. He practiced for amusement with his
+favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is related, he accidentally killed by
+an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged
+Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of
+Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.
+
+It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of a very
+select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours
+and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to them.
+French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years of
+the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for
+the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not
+sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes.
+There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime,
+described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification,
+as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must be
+remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class whose deeds
+they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with which the scenes
+of this high life were adorned, would add to the credit of the poet.
+
+Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to our
+subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The Homeric poems
+give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band of Greek nobles
+who, with their followers, had left their native land, to besiege a
+foreign and hostile city.
+
+Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line that throws
+light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable classes.
+Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the Iliad,
+where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial
+occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement
+from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. _Il._ ii,
+773-775. λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ
+αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’.
+
+The word λαός, here used, is usually considered as denoting the
+people or multitude. The λαός before Troy, however, was undoubtedly
+of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of the Greeks
+were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples. And so the
+“folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with the diskos,
+spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the diskos alone
+was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear, in this case
+at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was used both in
+the chase and in war.
+
+The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports was, to
+a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those qualities
+required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means to an end, but
+they were also an end in themselves. Bodily exercise was not an irksome
+task, but an agreeable pastime. The ancient Hellenes were therefore
+a very happy people, the ends that they sought to attain prescribed
+tasks that were congenial with their national temperament. Accordingly,
+we find, in a well-established condition, a system of athletic sports
+that were not directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport
+was diskos throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a
+cylinder, and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who
+hurled the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless
+the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by the
+skilled diskobolos.
+
+That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well as of
+military training, is shown by the fact that when for any reason
+the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their followers
+resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors with years of
+experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they exercised, because
+to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual fighting will not alone
+explain this temperament. With the Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost
+synonymous with life itself. When they desired to escape from the
+chilling effect of a hero’s death, they instituted games, and thereby
+reasserted life. Perhaps the sufficient cause of this predilection for
+athletic exercise was the climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear,
+serene sky over Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity
+but did not dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled
+by the sea, and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains
+and valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must
+necessarily have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a
+free life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed
+to the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.
+
+In order to understand Homeric athletics--the substantial basis of all
+subsequent athletics--one must become interested in the method and
+details of Greek warfare. For to the Greek the road to distinction lay
+in the acquisition of the qualities required of the successful warrior,
+and it was only natural that pleasure and expediency should combine
+to make a pastime of the feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is
+achieved largely by the use of superior machines and by advantage
+of position. Until the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks,
+depended on the muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual
+warriors. The central and principal feature of early Greek warfare
+was a personal hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in
+preparing for war that each separate soldier should be made as active
+and vigorous as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until
+a late date, may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the
+victory of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra,
+B. C. 371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.
+
+Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of
+physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the
+weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered
+by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man. But, throughout
+all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has existed that could
+not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or wrestling. And it
+is certain that those who have survived the risks of these sports--the
+fittest--had developed bodies far superior in agility, and attained far
+greater command over the muscular system, as a whole, than would have
+been possible from practicing sports that do not involve risk.
+
+Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants quickly into each
+other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot or from the ground,
+they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing spears (δολιχόσκια
+ἔγχεα) _Il._ iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both
+came closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each
+other again.
+
+Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted
+to their swords or to any other available implement of offense.
+Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to
+conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric combat.
+In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the two heroes, after
+using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them at each other
+(_Il._ vii, 264-270).
+
+The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as could be
+handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according to the
+strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons, in the
+hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it was but
+natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing the
+strength requisite for adopting them.
+
+Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet, girdle,
+greaves and shield. The Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap,
+covering the head in front above the eyes, and extending down in the
+back, to the nape of the neck from ear to ear. Some forms show that the
+lower part was prolonged and carried round so as to cover all above
+the shoulders. The corselet consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate
+and a back-plate, which were laced together by cords passed through
+eyelet holes made in the sides, below the bottom of which the body was
+protected by metal girdle. The greaves, which were made of flexible
+metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front part of
+the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield consisted
+of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough oxhide, and reached
+from the neck to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is
+pictured on Mycenæan gems.
+
+For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare,
+the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain that the
+attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient. Nestor is deemed
+happy because his sons were “wise-minded and mighty with the spear.”
+The poet frequently makes sly fun of Telamonian Aias, who, although
+gigantic in size and of immense strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat
+dull of intellect. To train the senses, and above all the eye, to
+make the body alert and immediately responsive to the perceptions,
+was considered quite as requisite as to train the muscles. For, in
+the exigencies of battle, a certain quickness of intellect was often
+more effective than brute strength. Agility was, therefore, prized
+and cultivated above all other qualities. When the ponderous spear of
+Menelaos smote and pierced the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and
+escaped black death.” (_Il._ iii, 392.) To fight successfully from
+the chariot, to dismount and grapple with the adversary, necessitated
+not only muscular strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an
+ability to seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or
+fend instantly the deadly thrust.
+
+While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially notable way
+on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a hero, yet it
+should not be supposed that such contests were at all uncommon. On
+the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and sentences
+that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of competitive
+games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (ποδάρκης, πόδας ὠκὺς) _Il._ ix,
+307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer (πὺξ
+ἀγαθός) _Il._ iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being
+shown at the more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited,
+had there not been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again,
+Homer often speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain
+lines of athletics was well known, and had been often sustained against
+challengers. When Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he
+asks for the two who are best (ὥπερ ἀρίστω), _Il._ xxiii, 659, to come
+forward, as if it were well known who the skilful boxers were. When
+Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor in the foot-race, he is called
+the champion of foot-racers among the youth (ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ
+πάντας ἐνίκα). _Il._ xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to
+the fact that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize.
+Athletic skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice.
+We may conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of
+which Homer wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,--so frequent that
+they were taken as a matter of course,--and that on special occasions,
+such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or
+the anniversary of some god’s benefaction, the games were conducted in
+a more public and ceremonious manner; and that on such occasions prizes
+were offered and intense excitement prevailed.
+
+Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when an old man,
+tells of competing in his youth in the various games held in honor of
+Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion, Nestor was in his prime and
+was victor in the boxing-match, the foot-race, and the spear-throwing
+contest; being surpassed only in the chariot-races. Certain recorded
+myths sustain the scholar in referring the origin of funeral games to a
+time much preceding the age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of
+the funeral games in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato,
+as the most ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral
+contest in honor of Androgeos.
+
+In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable minuteness
+the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend, whom Hector
+slew in battle.
+
+The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of racing
+was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic legend assigns
+the origin of the races far back of Homeric times, in the dark heroic
+age of mythology. While the site of stately Thebes was still covered
+with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen in Poseidon’s grove,
+horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from the race. When Apollo
+thought of building a temple for himself at the sacred spring of the
+nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded him, declaring that the god would be
+disturbed by the incessant noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of
+horses, and that every one would prefer to see the beautifully-built
+chariots and the swift-footed horses, and so fail to appreciate the
+temple with its treasures. Oinomaos is said to have offered to her
+suitors his daughter, Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a
+chariot-race.
+
+To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes, and
+called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos,
+and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of swift horses to
+his war-chariot. The competitors were directed to round a goal in the
+distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising his son, Antilochos: “A
+fathom’s height above the ground standeth a withered stump, whether
+of oak or pine; it decayeth not in the rain, and two white stones, on
+either side thereof, are fixed at the joining of the track, and all
+around it is smooth driving ground. Whether it be a monument of some
+man dead long ago, or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient
+men, this now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is
+easy to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of
+the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round this
+goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning (μῆτις) the
+principal factor of victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of
+charioteer. For whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth
+heedlessly and wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course,
+and he keepeth them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though
+he drive worse horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth
+closely by it, neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses
+by the oxhide reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the
+leader in the race.”
+
+On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the advantage
+that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched horses.
+Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed the best
+horses of those that were gathered before Troy; they were very swift,
+and were classified and paired with regard to speed, color, age, and
+stature; they were “matched to the measure of a levelling-line across
+their backs.” _Il._ ii, 763-765.
+
+Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of
+Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race,
+although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios--the immortal
+steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon--would undoubtedly have won for
+him the victory. Through skill and cunning, Antilochos quickly overtook
+Menelaos, left him behind and won the race, although his horses were
+much inferior to those of the latter.
+
+It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile combat, the
+Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood alone in
+his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil of
+battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver (ἡνίοχος). This was
+beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work of
+art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century B. C.
+
+After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered two
+prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the loser.
+He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of first-class
+reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly claimed the first
+prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting this claim,
+gave voice to the following prediction: “I will utterly bruise mine
+adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let his friends abide
+together here to bear him forth when vanquished by my hands.”
+
+Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists cast
+about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of raw
+oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all their
+limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek, and Euryalos
+collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s ripple a fish leapeth on a
+tangled-covered beach, and then the black wave hideth it, so leapt up
+Euryalos at that blow.”
+
+The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again Achilles
+offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the loser. Only
+Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and Telamonian Aias, the
+representative of bodily size and brute force, essayed to struggle.
+After they had girt themselves they went into the midst of the ring.
+Here they stood locked in each other’s arms, like two gable rafters
+joined by a builder. Their backs were gripped with such force that they
+creaked; the sweat ran down their bodies in streams; blood-colored
+welts appeared on their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with
+the advantage on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary.
+At last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful
+of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias fell
+backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was not bought
+with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After Odysseus had tried
+futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell together in the
+dust. They rose and would have wrestled the third time had not Achilles
+restrained them by declaring the contest a draw.
+
+From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes
+practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished
+from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the antagonists
+struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and struggled again.
+When an antagonist had been thrown three times the contest was decided
+in favor of the other. In the latter variety the contestants continued
+the struggle on the ground, after they had fallen. At a later period
+standing wrestling was practiced at all the great games. Plato, who was
+always alive to the value of these contests, as a preparation for war,
+greatly preferred standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles
+of the upper part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders,
+and neck. Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a
+fine carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the
+resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the
+most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.
+
+In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle
+entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after the
+bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic
+exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor and unimportant
+things, does not mention oil in this connection. He certainly would not
+have passed over in complete silence, the use of oil in these contests
+had he been familiar with the custom.
+
+After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was
+ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors
+were three,--Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos, son of
+Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.
+
+That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes the
+duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the contest
+with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been pronounced,
+on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation. It should
+accordingly be considered as data for an account of the athletics of
+later times.
+
+The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of
+javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete, Achilles
+at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his well-known excellence
+in this feat.
+
+The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell upon
+the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of the poem,
+after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a thought given
+to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race, the descriptions
+are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the poet would dispose
+of them as quickly as possible, and as if he would say: “This is not my
+theme.” Achilles superintends the games with a lofty indifference, and
+even cuts some of them short, as if other things were on his mind.
+
+In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a greater
+inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more in
+harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades the Odyssey;
+the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s imagination, and
+have been replaced by those of festivity and pleasure. A new generation
+is described. Athletics have become less violent and the scenes are
+embellished by the interspersion of music, dancing, and poetry.
+
+The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of things
+among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island on the
+western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed Odysseus,
+the representative of the older generation. The shipwrecked stranger
+does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an escort that may guide him
+homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:
+    “Say from what city, from what regions tossed,
+    And what inhabitants those regions boast?
+    So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned
+    In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;
+    No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;
+    Like man intelligent they plow the tides,
+    Conscious of every coast and every bay
+    That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”
+                                   _Odyssey_, Book viii.
+But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal
+entertainment has been provided.
+
+First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the
+Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes and
+of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare for the
+games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger their skill
+in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued forth from the
+palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian athletes exhibited
+themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling match, at leaping,
+throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these games, except leaping,
+are mentioned also in the Iliad.
+
+Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive body,
+invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no greater glory for
+a man in all his life than what he wins with his own feet and hands,”
+says Laodamas.
+
+At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos he
+decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak still on, he
+sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and thick, heavier by
+not a little than those which the Phæacians were using for themselves.
+This with a twist he sent from his stout hand. The stone hummed as it
+went. Past all the marks it flew, swift speeding from his hands.”
+
+Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and he
+challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to contend
+with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,--it matters not
+to him.
+
+Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round” athlete.
+“Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I understand full
+well handling the polished bow. None except Philoktetes excelled me
+with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans tried the bow. I send the spear
+farther than other men an arrow.”
+
+Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the stern mood of
+the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the king, “no, nor
+wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in our ships excel.
+Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance, changes of clothes,
+warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers the best among you
+make us sport, that so the stranger on returning home may tell his
+friends how we surpass all other men in sailing, running, in the dance
+and song.”[A]
+
+[A] Palmer’s Translation.
+
+The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires (the
+mention of whom shows how important athletics have become), clear the
+ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious lyre,” Demodokos, the
+blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring, and is surrounded by
+youthful men skilled in dancing. “They struck the splendid dance-ground
+with their feet; Odysseus watched their twinkling feet, and was
+astonished.”
+
+No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric aristocracy, but
+activity of the most virile type. And, although Homer’s two epics grew
+into form long after the splendid Achæan civilization of which he wrote
+existed only in legend, yet he artfully excludes any references to
+contemporary facts. Only by subtle inferences can information about
+the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works of
+art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes
+them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is
+therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made
+an admission with regard to his own times,--times, which, in fact
+were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have
+demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric
+epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan
+civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the
+Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility
+practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in
+addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as
+if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is
+recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral
+games in honor of Amphidamos.
+
+
+
+
+               II. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.
+
+
+In historic times the great national festivals were already
+established. They had undoubtedly grown out of local athletic
+festivals of very ancient origin. Of these Panhellenic festivals, that
+celebrated once in every four years at Olympia in Elis was the oldest
+and the greatest. The nationalization of this festival is assigned
+traditionally to the year 776 B. C. This date depends on a list of
+Olympic victors, compiled in the last part of the fifth century by the
+sophist Hippias of Elis, and handed down by Eusebios. Modern historians
+are not unanimous in accepting the early part of this register, and
+the minority have supported their charge of spuriousness by adducing
+unharmonious facts. In itself the date 776 B. C. is not unreasonable.
+And when it is considered how comparatively easy and common travel was
+in Hellas, it is not rash to suppose that the festival, when once it
+had become celebrated as a local affair was resorted to by travellers,
+if not as participants, at least as spectators. Certain it is that the
+Olympic festival was already a Panhellenic institution, when the other
+three festivals were established early in the sixth century, and that
+to the close of Greek history it continued the most glorious.
+
+The Pythian games were celebrated on the Krissean Plain in Phokis in
+honor of Apollo. These games were held for several days in January in
+the third year of each Olympiad. The prize was a wreath of laurel and a
+palm.
+
+The Nemean games were held in the groves of Nemea, near Kleonai in
+Argolis, in the winter and summer alternately of the second and fourth
+years of each Olympiad. The prize was a wreath of parsley.
+
+The Isthmian games, instituted in honor of Poseidon, took place at
+Corinth in the spring and summer alternately of the first and third
+years of each Olympiad. This alternation was arranged to avoid
+interference with the Olympian and Pythian festivals. The victor’s
+prize at the Isthmia was a wreath of pine native to the spot.
+
+Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent
+recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a local
+exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the Isthmus, Pytho,
+and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined. Each of the four great
+festivals had peculiar features of its own. Thus, the Pythian games,
+probably next to the Olympian in importance, were characterized by
+competitions in music and poetry in addition to the athletic contests.
+The Isthmian games were distinguished by the addition of boat-racing
+and swimming contests.
+
+But all were essentially alike. All were designed as glorifications of
+the strong and agile body. All were marked with patriotism. All were
+embellished with the greatest products of Hellenic art. All were held
+in honor of gods. And a fitting tribute and worship they furnished,
+not the mumbled prayers of a sallow-visaged, stunted race, but the
+exultant feats of proud, self-reliant men. All were attended by the
+most studied and artistic pomp. The greatest lyric poets of Hellas,
+Simonides and Pindar, for instance, celebrated the victors. Of Pindar’s
+ἐπινίκια or “Odes of Victory,” we possess fourteen Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι for
+winners in the Olympian games. Twelve Πυθιονῖκαι for the Pythian
+games, seven Νεμεονῖκαι for the Nemean games, and eleven Ἰσθμεονῖκαι
+for the Isthmian games. Even the wise men and famous bards of Greece
+could not resist the desire to be present. It is said that the Spartan
+Chilon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, died while witnessing
+these games, being overcome with joy at his son’s victory. Sages like
+Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Sokrates, Plato, Aristippos, Diogenes and
+Thales came, lured not only by the desire of beholding athletic feats,
+but also eager to engage in debate, or perhaps to explain some new
+theory of the universe. Statesmen like Themistokles and Kimon resorted
+to the games and there met the rulers of distant states. Orators and
+sophists like Gorgias, Lysias and Demosthenes, were present at the
+Olympian games. The first two made great panegyric speeches. The games
+on the Isthmus were attended by the great dramatists Aischylos and
+Ion. Historians like Herodotos carried their scrolls to read before
+assembled Hellas. Artists came to exhibit their works of art, and
+perhaps to obtain new customers. Sculptors showed models of their
+skill, and potters exhibited vases. These games, like the Schwingfest
+and the shooting-matches of Switzerland, served not only as pleasant
+occasions of reunion, but tended to the diffusion of national ideas.
+In the language of John Fiske, “young men of the noblest families and
+from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran,
+undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”
+
+The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor to his
+country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and on reaching
+home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal song written
+by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant fact is that the Greek
+era began with the Olympic games; every period of four years was called
+an Olympiad.
+
+About twenty miles above the mouth of the Alpheios, in a long, narrow
+valley surrounded by well-wooded hills, it is joined by the ancient
+Kladeos, coming from the north. At the angle formed by the junction of
+the two rivers is the area known as Olympia, the scene of the greatest
+athletic festival that the world has ever witnessed.
+
+To the north of this plain was a range of rocky hills, the nearest of
+which was the famous Kronion, conical in shape and about 400 feet in
+height. As its name signifies, this hill was sacred to Kronos, the
+father of Zeus. Another low range bounded the valley on the south.
+The western boundary was the Kladeos. Eastward was the hill of Pisa,
+and further in the distance were visible the snow-crowned summits of
+Erymanthos and Kyllene.
+
+During the long centuries that succeeded the extinction of Greek
+civilization, the precinct of the games, and the equipments, buildings
+and statues that remained, were gradually covered by a stratum of
+alluvium from the Alpheios, mixed with a deposit of clay from Kronion.
+The rest of the world was not interested enough to record the process,
+and when in modern times scholars saw no trace of the original scene,
+it was supposed that the Alpheios by its overflowings had destroyed all
+monuments. Recent excavations, however, have revealed a very precious
+remnant at the bottom of the alluvium. It was indeed not really a
+misfortune that during periods when the products of old civilizations
+were treated with fanaticism on the one hand, and rapacity on the
+other, the Olympian scene was covered with earth rather than left
+exposed to the hand of Middle Age barbarians.
+
+The systematic excavation of Olympia was undertaken in 1875 by the
+German government. The work involved great expense, and the willingness
+of the Germans to undertake and execute the task has brought them much
+praise from the scholars of other countries. The excavations were
+completed on the 20th of March, 1881.
+
+During these six years a space in the form of a square, measuring 1,000
+feet on each side, was stripped of the accumulated deposit of twelve
+centuries; the average depth of this covering was estimated to be over
+sixteen feet.
+
+Archæologically, this excavation involved expert care and much labor.
+Neither the care nor the labor was withheld. The result may best
+be described in the language of an eminent professor of classical
+archæology:--
+
+“The result of these excavations, carried on there at great cost and
+with supreme disinterestedness by the German people, has been to
+enable the traveller at Olympia not only to study the scene of the
+greatest of Greek athletic festivals, but to trace the celebration
+from hour to hour and from point to point. He not only sees the hill
+of Cronion, where the spectators crowded, wades through Olympic dust,
+and feels the sun of Olympia beat on his head, but he can wander on
+the threshold of the temple of Zeus, pass from building to building
+in the sacred enclosure of the Altis, and stand at the starting-point
+of the runners in the Stadium. Taking the guidebook of the old Greek
+traveller Pausanias in our hand, we can follow in his steps, and out of
+broken pillars, truncated pedestals and the foundations of demolished
+buildings, we can conjure forth the beautiful Olympia of old, with its
+glorious temples, its rows of altars, its statues of gods and godlike
+men who conquered in the games, its treasuries full of the noblest
+works of art and the richest spoils of war. And we can people the
+solitude with the combatants and with the spectators, a crowd filled
+with the enthusiasm of the place and with delight in manly contests;
+a crowd over whom emotions swept as rapidly as chariots through the
+hippodrome, and who were ever breaking out into wild cries of delight,
+or loud shouts of scorn and derision. We can see the bestowal of the
+crowns of wild olive, and can hear the heralds recite the names of
+those who have been victorious.”
+
+Here, then, in the summer time was held the great athletic festival in
+honor of Olympian Zeus. At the beginning of authentic history it was
+already a venerable institution. We have already learned that early in
+the sixth century the other three Panhellenic festivals were modeled
+upon it. Many myths very early sprang into existence to explain its
+origin. Pindar, it is well known, in one of his Olympian odes makes
+the Dorian Herakles the founder. Of course, the myths do not agree,
+and if they did would establish nothing directly; indirectly, however,
+they show that at the time of their first promulgation the festival
+had attained so approved a system, so wide a celebrity, and so great a
+prestige as to need accounting for and to be compatible with an exalted
+origin. And as a matter of fact, system, celebrity and prestige do not
+fall to the lot of an institution in the period of a single generation.
+
+The festival was from the first under the charge of the Eleians. But
+so liberal a policy did this nation adopt and pursue that people from
+neighboring states were glad to send competitors. Rapidly the custom of
+resorting to the games spread to more distant states. From an Eleian
+event, the festival became Peloponnesian, and finally Panhellenic.
+The Athenians and Thebans at a very early date achieved splendid
+victories in these games. The Theban Pagondas was crowned victor in the
+four-horse chariot race in the 25th Olympiad, when for the first time
+this was a feature of the festival. Thus one state after another turned
+its attention to the venerable celebration, and if it happened that a
+citizen of one state was crowned victor in a contest, interest in the
+games was sure to be increased in that locality.
+
+Even in the absence of positive evidence it would be contrary to
+reason to suppose that the games were originally established as they
+existed at the time of Pindar. In fact, the different features were
+added successively. According to a fairly reliable tradition, there
+was originally and for twelve following Olympiads only one contest:
+the δρόμος, a foot-race consisting of a single lap of a stadion of two
+hundred yards. About 720 B. C., according to the tradition, was added
+the δίαυλος, a race in which the stadion was traversed twice. Soon
+afterward was added the δόλιχος, or long race, consisting of seven,
+then of twelve and perhaps twenty-four laps. The next contest to be
+introduced was the wrestling-match. In the same year that wrestling
+was introduced, about the 18th Olympiad, the pentathlon made its
+appearance. This feature, though consisting of five contests--leaping,
+spear-throwing, diskos-pitching, running and wrestling--was
+nevertheless a single event, inasmuch as victory in one contest alone
+was not rewarded; an athlete to be crowned victor in the pentathlon
+must win at least three of the contests. Boxing and the chariot race
+are said to have been added in the 23d Olympiad. Thus the games grew
+more elaborate, and the time over which they extended was increased
+from a single day to five or six.
+
+The festival was conducted by judges, called Hellanodikai, elected
+by the people of Elis a year beforehand. The number of these judges
+was about ten; they were expected to give close attention to their
+duties. Thirty days before the festival, candidates for the various
+contests presented themselves before the Hellanodikai for examination.
+In order that the name of a candidate could be considered, he must
+prove himself to be of pure Hellenic stock, and must give evidence of
+having practised in a gymnasium for ten months previously; finally,
+the candidate must practise for thirty days in the great gymnasium of
+Elis, under the supervision of the Hellanodikai. The names of those
+who were able to satisfy the judges were placed on a white board which
+was exposed to view at Olympia. After an athlete had been entered for
+a contest, it was considered the greatest ignominy for him to withdraw
+for any reason; indeed, for so doing he was heavily fined. Theagenes,
+an athlete of wide fame, was unable to enter the pankration because he
+had been disabled in the boxing-match; but inasmuch as he had had his
+name entered for both events, he was fined.
+
+Eleven days before the festival, the Hellanodikai caused to be
+proclaimed by heralds throughout all the cities of Hellas the truce,
+sacred to Olympian Zeus, which was to last a month. It was this truce
+that made the Olympia possible as a Panhellenic institution. During the
+month that followed the proclamations of the heralds, all wars between
+Hellenic states were held in abeyance, and travellers were allowed to
+journey through them unmolested. The awful name of Zeus coupled with
+the decrees of rulers made this truce effective.
+
+During the eleven days pilgrims from all over Hellas were approaching
+Olympia. Some of the scenes may be imagined. In the language of
+Professor Percy Gardner: “From all the shores of the Mediterranean
+and the Euxine seas the Greek colonies sent deputations to represent
+them at the games, to bear offerings to the temple, and to perform
+sacrifices on their behalf. And the Greeks readily took a tinge from
+the land wherein they dwelt. There were dwellers on the northern
+shore of the Black Sea, to whom continual intercourse and frequent
+intermarriage with their Scythian neighbors gave almost the aspect
+of nomads; and colonists from Massilia, who in dress and blood were
+half Gauls. There were people from Cyrene, with the hot blood and dark
+complexions of Africa, and oriental Ionians, with trailing robes and
+effeminate airs. There were rude pirates from Acarnania, and delicate
+sensualists from Cyprus.”
+
+To give a detailed account of the competitions at each of the great
+festivals would involve much unnecessary repetition. That held at
+Olympia, therefore, may be taken as the type and the ideal of the
+others. But even at Olympia, the celebrations of which have been most
+widely written of both by ancient and modern scholars, it is not always
+easy to determine the exact order of the various contests.
+
+There is hardly a doubt that at the Olympic festival as well as at
+the others the foot-races were the initial competitions. Plato says
+that at his time when a contest took place the herald first called on
+the σταδιοδρόμος to do his part. The reason for beginning with the
+foot-race was probably an historical one; as has been said, it was
+originally the sole competition at the Olympic celebration. According
+to the old Eleian priest legends, the Idaian Herakles, one of the
+Cretan Kouretes, came to Elis in the reign of Kronos, in the golden
+age, and arranged a foot-race in which the victor was crowned with wild
+olive. The legends further state that the place thus honored by the
+priest of Olympian Zeus was afterward called Olympia, and that in time
+the celebration was repeated at intervals of four years. Of course the
+foregoing is a tale invented to explain the priority of the foot-race
+as well as the founding of the festival. Another legend recounts that
+at one of these subsequent celebrations Endymion, son of Æthlios,
+offered the kingdom of Klymenos, whom he had conquered, as a prize to
+that one of his sons who should be first in the foot-race. Such are
+some of the myths that helped to sanction and endear an inviolable
+Olympic custom. It is noteworthy in this connection that in the Odyssey
+the Phæacians had opened their games with the foot-race.
+
+The technique of foot-racing, the style of running most advantageous,
+and the training and qualities necessary for it, differ considerably
+with the distance covered. Accordingly very early in the history of the
+Olympic festival races of varying length were one by one introduced,
+and the variety doubtless tended to attract a larger number of
+competitors and to make the occasion more interesting.
+
+For thirteen Olympiads, however, the race called the δρόμος was the
+only feature. In this race the stadion was traversed but once. As the
+course of the stadion was about 200 yards, the δρόμος was what we
+call a sprint, and required that a runner exert himself to the utmost
+from start to finish. This simple race remained a favorite mode of
+competition among the Greeks until a late time--being practised by
+Alexander.
+
+The δίαυλος, or double course of the stadion, was introduced in
+the 14th Olympiad. This race required that the runner, after having
+traversed the 200 yards and reached the goal, should return to the
+point of starting. As he rounded the goal he described an arc, and on
+his way back took the opposite side of the track in order that he might
+not collide with other runners.
+
+Very soon after the introduction of the δίαυλος the ἵππιος δρόμος and
+then the δόλιχος were instituted. The ἵππιος δρόμος, which implies a
+horse-race, was in reality a foot-race, the contestant running the
+distance generally covered in a horse-race--namely, four times the
+length of the stadion, or 800 yards.
+
+The δόλιχος was added to the Olympic games in the 15th Olympiad, and
+was, like our long runs, a test primarily of endurance and lung-power.
+The distance covered varied from seven to twenty-four laps of the
+stadion, or from less than a mile to about three miles. At Olympia,
+however, the distance was twelve stadia. As the δόλιχος was run on the
+same track on which the single and double races took place, it was
+really only a series of double races.
+
+In the 65th Olympiad, the ὁπλίτων δρόμος was introduced. In this race
+the competitors wore helmets and greaves, and carried shields on their
+left arms. Pausanias claims to have seen the statue of Demaratos
+equipped with a round shield, helmet and antique greaves. At a later
+period, however, the helmet and greaves were discarded at Olympia, and
+the race was run with shields alone. The distance covered in this race
+was two stadia--the length of the δίαυλος. Pindar, the poet laureate
+of the Olympians, mentions the race with shields, and with poetic
+privilege ascribes its origin to heroic times. Plato considered the
+exercise very valuable as war training, and prescribed it as a part
+of the athletics of his ideal commonwealth. Plato devised two other
+races involving armor: in one the competitor should be equipped as
+a heavy-armed hoplite, and should cover a distance of sixty stadia
+on a level plain; in the other the competitor should wear the light
+equipments of an archer, and should cover one hundred stadia over hills
+and valleys.
+
+The running contests at the great games were governed by certain
+established rules. No fraud or guile was allowed to be used by the
+contestant on the track for the purpose of impeding his companions.
+They were very particular that all should start at the same time and
+from the same line, so that no one might have the advantage over
+the others. It was also contrary to rule for an athlete voluntarily
+to slacken his speed and allow his fellow-contestants to win. The
+competitors were appointed by lot and arranged in groups. These groups
+raced in heats of four, ranged in the places assigned them by lot. The
+first group was followed by the second, the second by the third, etc.
+When all groups had finished, the victors of each again entered the
+contest and strove for the prize; so that every σταδιοδρόμος had to win
+twice before he was crowned victor.
+
+The physicians of olden times mentioned two other foot-races which
+in their opinion afforded excellent gymnastic exercise. The first of
+these was practised in the sixth division of the stadion and consisted
+of running first forward and then backward. In this race the body was
+not turned once, but the distance that was run forward was continually
+shortened by backward running until the contestant finally stood at the
+starting-point. In the second race the contestant ran on tiptoe with
+outstretched arms which he swung violently to and fro. It was practised
+along a wall so that, should the balance be lost, the runner could hold
+and support himself against it.
+
+Among the less important foot-races were two that had their origin in
+certain local celebrations, namely, the torch race and the race of the
+vintage festival, held at Athens. Similar races took place at Sparta
+during the great national festival of the Κάρνεια held in honor of
+Apollo.
+
+In the preparation for these different kinds of foot-races everything
+was done in the way of training that would tend to make the body as
+light as possible and increase its rapidity, although the different
+cities of Greece varied to some extent as regards the question of diet,
+rubbing and baths.
+
+In practising for the foot-race the contestant, having divested himself
+of every shred of clothing and anointed his body with oil, was made to
+exert himself as much as possible. The exertion was often increased
+by making the run in deep sand instead of on firm ground; the foot
+having a less firm support, the runner was obliged to work harder and
+more quickly. In this way these exercises gave to the body not only
+great power of endurance, but also increased speed, and as a result the
+δολιχοδρόμοι possessed strong and well-developed legs. The shoulders
+and upper part of the body, on the other hand, owing to insufficient
+exercise were small and narrow. On that account Sokrates did not favor
+the races because they did not produce a harmonious development of the
+body. The skilled runner naturally strove to preserve an erect carriage
+while running, and to conform to all established rules regarding the
+contest. In this connection it may be interesting to mention the
+strange ideas entertained among the Greeks regarding the influence of
+the spleen over the powers of the body. This little organ, situated
+behind the stomach on the left side of the abdomen, and exercising
+some function which still remains unknown, would in their opinion if
+diseased prove a great hindrance to a contestant in the race. In order,
+therefore, to prevent such a catastrophe they resorted to extraordinary
+means, namely, the use of certain plants which they believed would
+dissolve or eat away the spleen; or even to surgical operations, such
+as cutting or burning it out. On the other hand, they believed that a
+diseased spleen was greatly benefited by exercise in running. Laomedon
+of Orchomenos is quoted as furnishing an example of this kind.
+
+The attitude of the runners we learn from vases. Those who were
+contending in the short race or dash swung their arms backward and
+forward alternately. This is beautifully shown by a painting on a
+Panathenæan vase in the possession of Koller. It represents four
+athletes running, hardly touching the ground with one foot, while
+the other is raised and moved forward in order to cover the greatest
+possible distance with one step. The hands are wide open; the arms are
+moved about freely and appear to act as the wings of the body, and
+their motion is in harmony with that of the lower limbs. Another vase,
+discovered in the ancient tombs of Volci, also shows a similar method
+of running. The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their arms
+as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long distance
+clenched their fists and held their arms close to their sides, as do
+our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during the games. It
+is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in order to retain
+their courage, while at the same time the admiring spectators cheered
+wildly as some favorite or friend neared the goal. As the Greeks did
+not possess the modern mechanical means of communication, they had
+to rely mostly upon messengers; hence the great necessity for expert
+runners. To this fact is due to a considerable degree the development
+of agonistic and running contests in Greece. It is said that after the
+battle of Platæa all the sacred fires which had been profaned by the
+Persians were extinguished, and that Ἐνχίδας, a Platæan, covered in one
+day the distance of a thousand stadia from Platæa to Delphi and back
+again, and brought his fellow-citizens the pure fire from the altar
+of Apollo. As a result of this terrible strain he sank to the ground
+and died. The Cretans were especially noted in the δόλιχος. Sotades
+and Ergoteles were among the most famous. The Arcadian Dromeos was
+another celebrated runner, having been like the former twelve times
+victorious in the δόλιχος. Ladas, the famous Spartan runner, was also
+victorious in the δόλιχος, but according to Pausanias died at the goal
+on completing a race.
+
+Comparison of the speed of Hellenic athletes with that of modern
+runners is exceedingly difficult, because the Hellenes had no means of
+measuring minutes of time; they did not say of an athlete that he ran
+the δίαυλος in such a time, but that he won (_i. e._, surpassed his
+competitors) in a certain Olympic celebration.
+
+Probably the next event was the pentathlon. This competition was
+introduced into the festival at about the 18th Olympiad. As the
+etymology of the word signifies, the pentathlon consisted of five
+distinct competitions, enumerated in a well-known pentameter ascribed
+to Simonides: leaping (ἅλμα), running (ποδωκείην), diskos-throwing
+(δίσκον), spear-throwing (ἄκοντα), wrestling (πάλην). That the poet
+arranged the events in this order cannot be taken as positive proof
+that this was the real order, as it is hard to see how these words
+could be arranged otherwise in a pentameter. It is probable, however,
+that wrestling was the final contest. There is some uncertainty as to
+what constituted a victory in the pentathlon, but it is evident that
+the purpose of this competition was to develop what we call “all-round
+athletes,” and the assertion that the victor must have won three out of
+the five contests cannot be far from the truth.
+
+In such a combination of exercises it would certainly be good athletic
+policy to make leaping the first contest. It may be questioned whether
+an athlete could leap so well after having engaged in the more violent
+exercises, whereas leaping itself, instead of disqualifying for the
+other exercises, would on the contrary rouse the animal spirits without
+bringing on exhaustion, and thereby put the athletes at once in good
+condition. For the leap requires not only vigor and elasticity, but
+also courage and determination.
+
+The beneficent results of this exercise were recognized at a very early
+period by the Hellenes, although in the heroic world the leap was not
+considered so important as the other modes of contest. In the games
+of Achilles the leap is not mentioned. In the Odyssey, however, the
+Phæacians, a light-hearted people, more fond of amusement than of war,
+are said to be skilled in leaping. It is in historic times, however,
+that leaping, as an important event in the pentathlon of the public
+games, acquires its technique, and receives the careful attention of
+athletes.
+
+What may be called the pure leap, that is the standing leap without
+accessory aids, was not practised at Olympia. The leaper held in his
+hands weights resembling our dumb-bells, and known as ἁλτῆρες. To
+determine the dynamic advantage of these weights is not easy, but
+it is certain that with them the exercise required more skill, and
+accordingly more practice, that it called into play more muscles, and
+that it was more attractive to athletes as a mode of competition.
+
+While little information can be obtained from classic writers
+concerning the ἁλτῆρες, much can be learned from archæological
+specimens. Pausanias describes them as having the form of a semi-oval,
+or inaccurately-rounded ring that could be grasped by the fingers as a
+shield was grasped. This description corresponds with a drawing of the
+ἁλτῆρες on a vase in Hamilton’s second collection. Ἁλτῆρες of another
+shape, however, resembling very closely the modern dumb-bells, are
+seen on many other vases and gems. These had both ends rounded, and
+were narrow in the middle in order that they might be easily held. In
+Hamilton’s first collection are vases giving representations of these
+ἁλτῆρες. In the Museo Borbonico may be seen on a patera a drawing in
+which the ἁλτῆρες have still another form: when the hand has grasped
+the handle of these, beyond the hand, on one side only, a club-shaped
+part protrudes. The ἁλτῆρες were usually made of lead.
+
+In the pentathla, leaping never took place without ἁλτῆρες, which the
+athlete usually held directly in front of him, and then, as he sprang,
+brought behind him, thus helping to propel his body forward.
+
+In addition to the ἁλτῆρες, professional athletes made use of another
+aid--the βατήρ. The latter was a board on which they stood before
+taking the leap, and which may indeed have been provided with a spring.
+
+Pausanias especially mentions the fact that the leaping of the
+pentathli in the Olympic festival was accompanied by airs on the flute.
+This music was probably to open the pentathlon, the most splendid and
+stirring of gymnastic contests, as well as to increase the courage of
+the leapers.
+
+The only leap that belonged to the pentathlon was the standing long
+jump. There is no trace of anything like the hop, step and jump. The
+figures of athletes on vases are represented not as running, but as
+standing and swinging the ἁλτῆρες. Then, too, it would seem that in
+the running jump the weights would be an impediment rather than an
+aid. With the aid of the ἁλτῆρες and the βατήρ enormous distances
+were covered. Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said to have covered more than
+fifty-five feet at a leap. But the record is incredible. Some German
+professors, however, are inclined to credit the record on the ground
+that the ancients had studied the theory of leaping more scientifically
+than have the moderns. For the sake of comparison the modern records
+in jumping may be introduced. On May 28, 1890, J. Darby of England,
+without the aid of weights, made a standing long jump of 12½ feet. At
+Romeo, Mich., October 3, 1879, with 22-pound weights, G. W. Hamilton
+made a standing jump of 14 feet, 5½ inches. A record of 23 feet, 6½
+inches, in the running long jump has been made twice: by C. L. Reber at
+Detroit, July 4, 1891, and by C. B. Frye of England, March 4, 1893. A
+jump of 48 feet, 8 inches, without weights and preceded by a hop and a
+step, was made October 18, 1884, by T. Burrows of Worcester.
+
+In the palæstra and the gymnasium, leaping was practised in many
+different ways, as through a hoop, or over a rope. That the high jump
+also was practised is evident from the fact that the athletes leaped
+not only over pointed poles fixed in the ground, but also over one
+another’s heads, after the manner of modern circus performers. Leaping
+from a higher place to a lower was also practised. Leaping took place
+in dancing and in various other sports. A dance, consisting principally
+of leaping was practised at Sparta, particularly by young women and
+girls. In this the dancers aimed to hit their backs with their heels.
+Aristophanes alludes to this custom in the following dialogue between
+Lysistrata and Lampito:
+
+            LYSISTRATA.
+    Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women.
+    How shines thy beauty, O, my sweetest friend!
+    How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame!
+    Why, thou couldst choke a bull.
+
+            LAMPITO.
+                                  Yes, by the twain;
+    For I do practise the gymnastic art,
+    And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels.
+
+            LYSISTRATA.
+    In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold.
+
+It is probable that in the Olympic pentathlon leaping was followed by
+diskos-hurling,--a contest of great antiquity. An old myth represents
+Apollo as a diskos-thrower.
+
+The diskos was circular in form with perhaps an average diameter of a
+little less than a foot, and was made of various materials at different
+periods and places. The heroic diskos, as has been said, was made of
+stone, while that of a later period was of metal, and even of wood.
+The diskos in common use at the Olympic festival was metallic, and
+resembled a small shield.
+
+In the local gymnasia the size and weight of the diskos varied in
+order that an athlete might select one in accord with his strength.
+But in the men’s pentathlon at the public games a standard diskos was
+required,--uniform in material, form, and weight, in order that the
+strength and skill of the competitors might be impartially tested and
+the victory correspondingly awarded. There is considerable doubt as to
+the dimensions and weight of this standard diskos. It is likely that
+the weight was between four and five pounds. A specimen found at Ægina
+and now preserved among the bronzes at Munich is about eight inches
+in diameter and slightly less than four pounds in weight. But another
+specimen at present in the British Museum weighs twelve pounds.
+
+There is also doubt as to the distance to which a skilful athlete
+could hurl the diskos. An extravagant record of one hundred cubits is
+preserved in the writings of Philostratos. It is probable, however,
+that one hundred feet was an extraordinary throw and was exceeded only
+by the best athletes. While it is unlikely that the throws of renowned
+athletes were carelessly measured at the time, it is probable that
+many subsequent accounts were more or less exaggerated. It is well to
+bear in mind that the statue of Phaÿllos was greatly admired among the
+Greeks because that athlete had thrown the diskos ninety-five feet.
+
+It is interesting in this connection to note that at the International
+Athletic Games, celebrated at Athens in 1896, the victor in the
+diskos-throwing competition made a record of 95.64 feet. The diskos
+used in this competition weighed 4¾ pounds. Although three skilful
+Greek athletes participated in this competition and exhibited a
+technique much superior to that of the foreign competitors, yet the
+victory was won by Mr. Garret, an American, who though never having
+handled the diskos before threw it to the above distance, thereby
+surpassing the best throw of M. Paraskevopoulos, the Greek champion,
+by .64 feet.
+
+To return to the ancient contests, the Homeric heroes practised
+diskos-throwing without completely disrobing,--the upper garment only
+being laid aside. But at Olympia after the 15th Olympiad all clothing
+was dispensed with, and the advantage of entire nudity in this sport
+came to be clearly recognized. Nudity characterized, of course, the
+diskoboloi of the other great athletic festivals. Again, while the
+Homeric heroes did not anoint the body with oil, the athlete of
+historic times did not consider his preparation complete without it.
+
+After roughening his hands and the diskos with earth, in order to grasp
+it more firmly and handle it more deftly, the diskobolos ascended an
+eminence, called the βαλβίς. When about to throw, the body of the
+diskobolos was bent quite a little to the right and forward. At the
+same time the head was bent to the right so far that it was possible
+for him to see the upper left side of his body. The right arm was now
+moved from below, first backward to the height of the shoulders, and
+then with a rapid movement forward it described a semi-circle, giving
+the diskos at once velocity and direction. In throwing the diskos, the
+diskobolos rested first on the right foot and then on the left. At the
+moment of hurling the diskos the left knee was slightly bent, while the
+other was kept backward. As the diskos left his hand he took one or
+more steps forward, like a person throwing a ball in a bowling alley.
+
+Again we are indebted to the archæologist who has brought to the light
+of day not only statues but also vases and gems with their elaborate
+scenes of the diskobolos in various attitudes, for they reveal to us
+many facts about which the ancient historians are silent.
+
+In classifying these works of art three different attitudes may be
+recognized:
+  (1) The diskobolos preparing to throw.
+  (2) The diskobolos in the act of throwing.
+  (3) The diskobolos having hurled the diskos and still following it
+with his eyes, or where he has already been declared victor.
+
+In the Museo Pio Clementino is a statue representing an athlete about
+to hurl the diskos. In his left hand he is testing the weight of
+the diskos, but holding the right ready to receive it and hurl it
+into space. This statue was supposed by Visconti to be a copy of a
+diskobolos by Naukydes, the pupil of Polykleitos. Many other copies are
+also seen on vases and gems. On one of Hamilton’s vases the diskobolos
+holds the diskos in his right hand, supporting its weight in his left.
+
+Of the statues representing the athlete in the act of throwing, we
+will consider only Myron’s Diskobolos, the beau ideal of athletic
+motion, famous even in antiquity. Eight copies in a more or less
+mutilated condition have come down to us. That which was found in the
+Villa Palombara in 1781 on the Esquiline is the best reproduction of
+the original. This statue passed from the palace known as that of the
+_Massimi alle Colonne_ to the _Lancelotti Palace_, Rome, where it still
+remains. The attitude of the diskobolos is very nearly that described
+by Lucian and Quintilian. In the _Philopseudes_--1, 8, Lucian gives
+the following description of Myron’s Diskobolos: “Thou speakest of
+the disk-thrower, who is bending forward for the throw, with his face
+turned away towards the hand that holds the disk, and with one foot
+slightly pointed, as if he would raise himself with the action of
+throwing.”
+
+The statue reveals probably the most approved attitude of a diskobolos
+just before making a throw. The centre of gravity falls upon the right
+foot, which, though the leg is bent in a slight curve, rests firmly on
+the ground; both legs are bent at the knees, but the left more acutely;
+the right fore-leg is perpendicular, while the left is thrust backward
+obliquely; the left foot, forming a noticeable curve, is upright and
+touches the ground only at the tips of the toes; the thighs, close
+together, slant upward, making an angle of over 45° with the ground;
+the upper part of the body is bent forward, and is steadied by the left
+arm whose hand rests against the right knee; the upper half of the body
+is twisted to the right; the right arm is extended backwards and is
+straight; the fingers of the right hand, which is somewhat above the
+level of the right shoulder, firmly grip the edge of the diskos; the
+head is turned so far to the right that the right side of the body is
+plainly visible; the eyes are fastened on the diskos.
+
+It is evident that the diskobolos must have swung the disk in a
+semi-circle, and have hurled it from below forward, and that the whole
+body must have relaxed and readjusted itself as the right arm moved
+forward and imparted the pent-up energy to the disk.
+
+The pose of the large cast in the Boston Athenæum, as well as that
+of the cast in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is not in accordance
+with Lucian’s description. Both represent the head as not turned aside
+but directly forward, with the eyes looking straight ahead. There is,
+however, in the Fourth Greek Room, a cast of a small bronze statuette,
+which is preserved in the Antiquarium at Munich. This is in many
+respects an excellent copy of Myron’s diskobolos. In the catalogue
+of the casts in the Museum, this statuette is pronounced especially
+satisfactory from an æsthetic point of view because the line of
+equilibrium falls perpendicularly through the centre from whatever
+point of view the statuette is seen.
+
+Besides this copy of Myron’s statue, we find on many vases and gems the
+diskobolos in the act of hurling the diskos. For instance, on one of
+Hamilton’s vases we see a diskobolos with a diskos in his right hand,
+while the right arm is bent and held forward, showing that he is on the
+point of moving the arm backward, and then forcibly hurling the diskos
+from below, forward. The left arm is bent over the head, the eyes are
+fixed on the diskos, the right foot is placed forward, so that the
+centre of gravity falls on the left, which is obliquely bent at the
+knee.
+
+We will now consider the third class of statues, gems and
+vase-paintings representing the diskobolos as having thrown the diskos,
+and still following it with his eye, or where he has already been
+declared victor and adorned with the palm. In 1754 there was discovered
+at Herculaneum the bronze statue of a diskobolos from whose hand the
+diskos has just flown. He is still standing, however, with the upper
+portion of his body bent forward, the eyes looking sharply into space,
+the face full of expectation. The position of the right arm indicates
+that the hand is only just freed from the heavy diskos. Both feet are
+placed wide apart, as may be observed in several other instances, at
+the moment of throwing. In the _Galerie de Florence_ is a gem which
+represents a diskobolos who has been declared victor. He holds the
+diskos in his left hand, the palm of victory in his right. At his
+right stands a prize cup, while at his left is a tripod upon which is
+a wreath and a palm. A painting from Herculaneum also represents a
+diskobolos after having thrown the diskos.
+
+If space permitted, many other statues, vase and gem pictures could
+be cited to show the different positions of the skilled diskobolos.
+But enough has been said to show that to hurl the diskos through the
+air at once gracefully and effectively required the greatest skill
+and dexterity, and was an art acquired only through long practice. In
+diskos-throwing, distance, not height, determined the victor. He who
+threw the farthest beyond the mark or σῆμα was awarded the prize.
+
+Diskos-throwing was a good preparation for war, as it developed great
+skill in stone-throwing--a very important feature in the war practices
+of the ancients. This exercise must have developed to a remarkable
+degree the muscles of the upper part of the body, shoulders, arms and
+hands--especially those of the right side of the body. At the same time
+the feet were trained in a firm and secure step, and, although the
+diskos was thrown at no fixed point, the eye was nevertheless used and
+trained. So beneficial was the exercise in certain cases that it was
+often ordered by the ancient physicians. Among the Spartans the diskos
+was especially loved, ostensibly on account of Apollo’s contest with
+Hyakinthos on Spartan soil.
+
+
+
+
+               III. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.
+
+
+The third event of the pentathlon was spear-throwing. In the athletic
+training of an Hellenic youth, spear-throwing came after the hand and
+arm had been strengthened by ball-playing and diskos-throwing.
+
+Spear-throwing, as has been shown, growing out of the very early
+necessity of war-training, was a primitive mode of exercise. The spear
+(δόρυ, λόγχη) used by the Homeric heroes was very large, and as heavy
+as they could handle effectively. None but that warrior himself could
+wield the spear of Achilles. Hector’s spear was 16 feet long; the
+shaft was made of ash. A socket was fitted to the upper end of the
+spear, in which was inserted a bronze spear point. But that used at the
+pentathlon, and denoted by the term ἄκων, was smaller and lighter.
+
+The attitude of the body, the movement of the arms and shoulders,
+and the carriage of the head were very different in spear-throwing
+from those in diskos-hurling. The athlete stood erect, and raised his
+right arm upward and slightly backward; his right foot was generally
+placed backward, while his left was advanced; his eye was fixed on a
+goal straight ahead. He grasped the spear in the middle and held it
+in a horizontal position on a level with his right ear; sometimes he
+moved it backward and forward before throwing, but as often omitted
+such preliminary exercise. Sometimes it was thrown by means of a strap
+attached to it, as is still the custom in many countries.
+
+In the pentathlon, spear-throwing was a test rather of skill than of
+strength; an athlete who could win the victory with the diskos might
+suffer defeat with the spear, although diskos-throwing required more
+strength than spear-throwing. Spear-throwing trained the eye and made
+the arm deft in executing the eye’s direction.
+
+It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs of
+respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and enlarged;
+the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the spear effectively
+the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and have command of his
+entire body; to do so with a weight held aloft, strengthened the lower
+limbs, made their muscles more facile, and the step more sure.
+
+By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the early
+Olympians not only recognized the foregoing advantages, but they also
+honored the characteristic exercise of their ancestors, and subsequent
+Olympians followed their example. For the spear was the traditional
+sign of the freeman; as far back as myth and memory could go, it had
+been carried, even in peace, as an honorable and distinguishing token.
+
+Plato, in his scheme of the ideal state, prescribed spear-throwing as a
+training for war, and directed that it should be practiced by women as
+well as by men.
+
+At Rome, during the time of the emperors, spear-throwing was included
+among the gymnastic exercises of that city. Instruction in this
+art was received from the Mauritanians. But it is said that the
+Emperor Commodus surpassed even the skill of his instructors; in the
+amphitheatre he killed, according to the story, a hundred lions with
+as many spears; at another time he astonished the spectators by the
+dexterity with which he hurled his spear at the Mauritanian ostriches,
+as they ran by the amphitheatre at full speed; with every throw he
+severed a bird’s head from its body.
+
+We have no accounts to show as to how far a Greek athlete could hurl
+a spear, but we know that savages of today can hurl it to a great
+distance. It is said by travellers that a Kaffir who suddenly comes
+upon game will hit an antelope ten or fifteen yards away without
+raising his arm.
+
+The three events that have been described, leaping, diskos-throwing
+and spear-throwing, were probably the essential features of the
+pentathlon; that is to say, an athlete who won in all three events
+was probably crowned victor. If, however, the victories in the three
+events were not secured by the same man, the competition was decided by
+additional contests in running and wrestling. But as at other stages of
+the festival these two exercises were distinct events, a description
+of their technique may be omitted in this place. Among those who
+distinguished themselves in the pentathlon, were included some of the
+most illustrious men of Greece.
+
+The pentathlon was succeeded by horse and chariot races.
+
+Chariot racing, even as far back as the heroic time, had attained a
+high rank in the domain of antagonistics; it was, indeed, the first
+contest in the funeral games of Patroklos. (Il. xxiii. 262-650.)
+In the minute and vivid description of Homer, the nature of the
+contest and the arrangements are very clearly indicated. There was
+no artificially constructed hippodrome. A flat, open plain, with its
+natural irregularities and without buildings of any sort, served as
+the race-course. The point of starting was on the sea-coast, but the
+turning point was in the plain of Troy. The goal, which was the stump
+of a tree, could be seen in the far distance only by its having two
+white stones leaning against it on either side. On account of the great
+distance, the spectators were not able to distinguish between the
+approaching horses. (Il. 450 ff.) Hence rose an altercation between
+Idomeneus and Aias, as to whose chariot was leading in the race.
+Achilles advised both to wait quietly until the horses were nearer and
+the order of the chariots could be recognized by all.
+
+With a very few points of difference, this description of Homer gives
+a good idea of a chariot race at Olympia. The difference consisted,
+first, in running the length of the course several times instead of
+once, in order that a body of spectators might witness the entire
+race; second, in the greater number of chariots, and third, in the
+arrangements, whereby they might start without confusion. In the games
+of Achilles, the chariots were five in number, each with two horses and
+a single driver, who stood upright in the chariot. As we have already
+mentioned, the Homeric hero made use of two horses in the race as
+well as in hostile combat, while the Olympic contestant did not limit
+himself to two horses. In fact, the four-horse chariot-race, which was
+introduced in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, was the first in honor and in
+importance, and always remained the most popular. In this contest, only
+kings, nobles, and the wealthy could take part, on account of the great
+expense involved in rearing fine horses, and in maintaining costly
+chariots. Very often, the victor had his triumphs recorded on the state
+issues of coins.
+
+Races on horseback date from the thirty-third Olympiad. Philip of
+Macedon won in this contest, and celebrated his victory by having an
+enormous horse, ridden by a diminutive jockey, placed on his coinage.
+As this victory took place in the same year in which Potidaea fell
+into his hands and his son Alexander was born, he regarded that year as
+especially auspicious.
+
+While the race of the quadrigæ of horses was introduced as early as the
+twenty-fifth Olympiad, that of the bigæ of horses was not introduced
+until the ninety-third Olympiad. A quadriga consisted of four horses
+harnessed to a chariot; a biga, of two horses. In the seventieth
+Olympiad, bigæ of mules were admitted, but in the eighty-fourth
+Olympiad they were excluded; their exclusion may be ascribed to two
+reasons: first, they presented an unpleasing appearance; second, among
+the Eleians, according to Pausanias, a curse had rested on the animals
+from ancient times.
+
+Prior to the twenty-fifth Olympiad, all athletic contests had taken
+place in the Stadion. As chariot-racing, however, demanded more room,
+a separate race-course, called the Hippodrome, was established. The
+site of the Hippodrome cannot be exactly traced. This is because
+the Alpheios has washed away all certain indications of its limits.
+But from the account of Pausanias (V, 4; VI, 20, 7 foll.) it may be
+approximately located; it lay to the south of the Stadion and extended
+roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east.
+The German explorers who excavated Olympia inferred from the state
+of the ground that the Hippodrome was about 2526 feet in length. The
+Stadion and Hippodrome were closely connected, the rear part of the
+aphesis, or starting point, of the Hippodrome adjoining the end of the
+Stadion. At the farther end of the Hippodrome was the goal outside of
+which the chariots had to turn. To round this goal with advantage, that
+is, to keep as close to it as it was possible to do without upsetting
+his own chariot or colliding with another, required long practice
+and great dexterity on the part of the driver; it was indeed a very
+dangerous feat; at every race a large number of the chariots involved
+were wrecked, and in such accidents the charioteers rarely escaped
+without serious injuries. According to legend, Orestes had met his
+death at a Pythian festival; his chariot colliding with the goal, he
+fell to the ground, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged or
+trampled to death. After every turning of the goal, the chariots were
+greeted with the sound of trumpets in order that men and horses might
+attain new courage and vigor after so dangerous an ordeal.
+
+The signal for the chariots to come out from the rooms allotted to
+them in the aphesis and form in line for the race was given by an eagle
+which, by means of mechanism, rose into the air at the same moment that
+a dolphin fell to the ground. Such a signal was characteristic of the
+Greek; but in the Roman races, the chariots started at the waving of a
+white cloth by a person of distinction.
+
+The equestrian contests at Olympia were succeeded by boxing. Boxing
+for men was introduced at the Olympic festival in the twenty-third
+Olympiad, and for boys in the thirty-seventh Olympiad. But the sport
+was already very old, and its introduction at Olympia was probably a
+recognition of its popularity and antiquity. In fact, as the fist is
+the simplest and most natural weapon of mankind, it is not surprising
+to find that boxing was one of the earliest athletic games among the
+Hellenes. Homer’s detailed description of the contest of the invincible
+Epeios with Euryalos has already been mentioned, and Homer had probably
+heard many similar tales of the prowess of Mycenæan boxers. Polydeukes,
+the bravest boxer among the pre-Homeric heroes, is said to have
+defeated the strong Amykos. The latter was a teacher of the art, and
+allowed no stranger to depart from his country without challenging him
+to a pugilistic contest. Apollo himself, the gracious companion and
+leader of the Pierides, is described as engaging in a boxing contest at
+Olympus with Ares, the powerful god of war; perhaps in this myth there
+is a suggestion of the advantage which the nimble and quick-witted
+boxer sometimes has over a more bulky one. In the mythical founding of
+the Nemean games, Tydeus was victorious in a boxing contest. In the
+passage of Virgil’s Æneid (Book V, 401 ff.), which so closely resembles
+the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, the aged Entellus vanquishes the
+young and boastful Dares. This contest showed a complete system of
+striking and parrying.
+
+It is quite likely that these and many other similar legends augmented
+the natural interest in the sport, and hastened its introduction into
+the greatest of all athletic festivals. But at Olympia the sport was
+marked with variations. Whereas, for instance, the Homeric heroes, when
+boxing, had protected their bodies by means of a girdle around the
+loins (Il. XXIII, 683), the Olympian athletes, being already accustomed
+to nudity in the wrestling and racing contests, dispensed with such
+protection. Again, from the first, Olympian boxers oiled the body,
+contrary to the practice of Homeric athletes.
+
+Probably very few of the tactics of modern pugilists were unknown to
+the Greek athletes. Some of the accessories of a modern ring-fight,
+such as the “preliminary hand-shake,” tossing for corners, etc., were
+of course wanting; particularly noticeable was the absence of ropes and
+stakes; there was no referee to enforce so strict a code of ethics as
+the Marquis of Queensberry rules, fair play being secured by the voice
+of the people. Grasping or hugging the opponent was not permitted; it
+was in the elimination of such tactics that boxing differed from the
+pankration, a combination of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was likewise
+forbidden.
+
+The set-to of Greek boxers probably resembled very closely that of
+modern pugilists. The ancient descriptions of the manner of giving and
+guarding or blocking blows are rather vague; but on antique vases may
+be seen representations of boxers facing one another in well-balanced
+attitudes, their heads thrown back, and their arms well advanced, in
+the manner of the best modern pugilism. In a famous Greek painting of
+boxers, one of the men stands with his left foot and hand advanced, his
+left arm slightly bent, and his right arm held across his lower chest,
+in fact, just as Fitzsimmons or Corbett would stand when expecting a
+blow. In the beginning of the contest, the boxer was sparing of his
+strength and preferred to assume the defensive position, and so wear
+out his opponent. It was, of course, considered a merit for a boxer to
+conquer without receiving wounds.
+
+The principal differences between the technique of Olympian boxing and
+that of modern pugilism must be ascribed to the use at Olympia of that
+cruel boxing weapon known as the cæstus. This consisted of a heavy
+thong of dry, hardened leather, wound about the palm of the hand so as
+to form a formidable ridge of considerable circumference; it was even
+rendered more formidable by being loaded with lead, and studded with
+little metal projections. This nail-studded covering was called σφαῖρα,
+and was unknown to the ancient Greeks. That it was very dangerous is
+shown by the fact that when used in the practice gymnasia, it was
+itself covered, in order that young athletes might become accustomed to
+its use before subjecting themselves to its deadliness. But even more
+brutal than these were the μύρμηκες, called the breakers or crushers
+of limbs. One cannot conceive of a more formidable covering for the
+hand, unless it be the terrible cæstus of the Romans, to which Virgil
+alludes in the memorial games of Anchises (Æn. V, 401): “Tantorum
+ingentia septem Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.” “So
+terrible was the seven-fold bullhide stiffened with patches of lead and
+iron.” An examination of the representations of hands armed with this
+covering makes it evident that the straight blow or counter would not
+only fail to make the weapon effective, but would, if forcible enough,
+crush the fingers of the boxer between the leather and the adversary’s
+body. The cæstus must, therefore, have been used for round blows, or
+for the old English blow called the “chopper”; these were delivered by
+the back of the hand in an outward and downward swing, and, to be given
+without injury to the one who dealt them, required considerable skill.
+
+The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and the wounds
+inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and nose, were very
+severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth were often broken or
+injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the Cyrenean, that his teeth
+were knocked out by his adversary, but that he quietly swallowed them
+in order to conceal from him how much he was injured; his adversary,
+disheartened by the apparently small effect of his powerful blow, lost
+hope and allowed Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially,
+were exposed to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were
+usually so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear”
+became a stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as
+αὐφώτιρες, were invented for gymnasium work, but they were not used
+in public games. Boxers, on account of the bruises and disfigurations
+that usually marked their features, were the subjects of numerous
+epigrammatic jests. Here is a sample from the pen of a comic poet:
+
+“After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses was
+recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by his dog,
+Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four hours, hast been so
+altered, that neither dogs nor any person in the town could possibly
+recognize thee. And if thou lookest at thy face in a mirror, thou
+thyself wilt swear that thou art not Stratophon.”
+
+Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a beard,
+eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed his name
+among the pugilists he lost them all.
+
+The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside from skill
+in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn by boxers at
+Olympia.
+
+Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and modern
+boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the contest, as
+do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their blows with certain
+inarticulate sounds, believing that their force was thereby increased.
+Modern stone-masons frequently do the same.
+
+The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants was
+rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue, wounds or despair to
+declare himself conquered, which he signified by lifting his right hand.
+
+In this connection it is interesting to trace the evolution of boxing
+in Greece. At first, of course, the bare fist was used; but as time
+went on, boxers learned to cover their fists and wrists with strips of
+undressed oxhide, the ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο in the contest
+of Epeios and Euryalos (Il. XXIII, 684). Homer mentions these ἱμάντες
+as if they were very common. The name μειλίχαι was given them by
+later writers, because they dealt a mild blow; they are described by
+Pausanias (VIII, 40, 3) as made of raw oxhide, cut into thin strips
+and braided according to the custom of the ancients. The strips were
+wound round the palm, leaving the fingers uncovered, at least enough so
+that they could be bent to form a clenched fist. As the name indicates,
+the μειλίχαι were not cruel weapons; they served not only to moderate
+the force of the blow, but also to protect the hand from injury. They
+were used at the Nemean games as late as the famous contest between
+Kreugas and Damoxenos. It is likely that with these soft coverings the
+technique of blows conformed more nearly with the modern technique.
+It has been already shown that the straight counter was rendered
+impracticable by the cæstus. But without the cæstus the Greek was very
+skillful with this blow. The Greek also understood the advantage of the
+cross-counter, a blow sometimes thought to be a comparatively recent
+discovery in pugilism. If the Homeric description of the bare-handed
+fight between Odysseus and the impudent ruffian and parasite, Iros,
+be analyzed, the blow will be found plainly involved. Iros, who is of
+gigantic size, has insulted Odysseus. A ring is formed and they begin
+to fight (Od. XVIII, 73-231).
+
+    “On his right shoulder Iros laid his stroke,
+    Odysseus struck him just beneath the ear,
+    His jaw-bone broke, and made the blood appear,
+    When straight he strewed the dust.”
+
+The blow of Odysseus must have been a cross-counter. Iros leads with
+his left at Odysseus’ head, but the blow falls instead on his right
+shoulder. Odysseus avoids the blow just as a trained boxer would avoid
+a similar one today; that is to say, he moves his head to the left, and
+catches the blow on his right shoulder, at the same moment, “rising
+to the stroke.” He then crosses Iros’ arm with his right, strikes him
+beneath the ear, and breaks his jaw, thereby “knocking him out.”
+
+The introduction and use of the cæstus, brought about by the
+blood-thirstiness of the ancient mob, instead of being in the interest
+of further skill was decidedly a backward step. For not only did it
+improperly limit the technique of blows, as has been shown, but it was
+too sure a menace to the very source of human skill, the senses and
+consciousness itself.
+
+Solon praised boxing from an educational point of view. Cato the elder
+must have entertained a high opinion of this art, for, according to
+Plutarch, he himself instructed his son, with whose education he took
+the greatest pains, in the art of boxing.
+
+In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that Greek
+boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic side.
+A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity were
+cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful grace and
+beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented as a boxer.
+Even from the medical point of view, boxing was highly esteemed.
+Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and chronic headache (De Morb. Dint.
+Cur. 1, 2).
+
+This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all parts of
+Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when a youth in a
+boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia and Elis were noted
+for producing skilled pugilists.
+
+Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which were the
+final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one of the most
+popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of Homer. According to
+mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of Hermes, established the πάλη,
+while her brother, Autolykos, is mentioned as the instructor of the
+young Herakles in this art. Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling
+to the earliest times and declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most
+ancient wrestlers. But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere
+desire to fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is
+said to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice
+it according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how Homer,
+in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian Aias and
+Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling matches were among
+the chief events in the famous games at Olympia and elsewhere. They
+were introduced earlier than boxing and were believed to show off the
+strength, activity and grace of the body to more advantage than any
+other contest. No other exercise required such perfect development
+of every muscle in the body, or an equal combination of strength and
+agility.
+
+Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic
+sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern times.
+The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions and movements.
+Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to grasp his adversary in a
+certain place, but by a quick, cat-like movement would attack him in
+another which had been left exposed. Cunning was likewise practiced by
+the Homeric heroes. Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the
+hollow of the knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks,
+the observance of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking,
+kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing
+an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground that it
+involved grasping.
+
+While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and symmetry
+as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their wrestlers were
+noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered advantageous for a
+wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased weight rendered it less
+easy for an opponent to lift him off the ground; second, it was easier
+for him, on the other hand, to overpower his adversary at the opportune
+moment. Nevertheless, a graceful style of wrestling, while less easy
+to attain under this condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes
+grace is the concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage
+over mere bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact
+was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious
+in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere strength, the
+authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis not only his own
+statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says that Kratinos exhibited
+a more graceful style than any other wrestler of his time.
+
+Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing and ground
+wrestling; the former, called the τριαγμός, was most common. The
+contestants stood upright, face to face, and after one had been thrown
+and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was the style practiced
+by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had thrown each other
+to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle. Victory was
+bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced in later
+times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers this style,
+as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms, shoulders, chest
+and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the combatants
+had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until one
+acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged
+especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown
+in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is
+of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so
+regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the
+Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this
+particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially
+advantageous.
+
+Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the Greeks, the
+following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist endeavored to throw
+his opponent either by tripping him, or by grasping his foot with
+his hand. This latter style is differently illustrated on two vases.
+On the first vase the antagonist is represented as grasping with his
+right hand his opponent’s foot, which he has raised to a line with the
+middle of his body, while with the left arm he is further raising the
+thigh, thus forcing his opponent to the ground. On the second vase, the
+contestant has raised his opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the
+left hand, which is placed under the knee; both contestants are moving
+the right arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents
+the pankration, as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A
+similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist, whose
+foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms in order to
+drag him down if he should fall.
+
+Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his opponent’s
+thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully illustrated by
+the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, of which
+a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Winckelmann
+considers these wrestlers to be the sons of Niobe, as they were found
+in 1583 at the same time and place as the Niobe group. According to the
+legend, they were engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s
+arrows.
+
+The technical names of the various locks and holds which have come
+down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling. If
+one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts of the
+different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete list of
+movements, or if the most important parts of the literature bearing
+upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we might form a
+more definite conception of the wrestling match. To the student of
+athletics it may be interesting to mention a few expressions which
+have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature. The word δράσσειν
+which literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied
+to the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully
+illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases,
+gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers
+and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch
+designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the
+wrestlers by the terms ἐμβολαί, παρεμβολαί, συστάσεις, παραθέσεις, from
+which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly clear imagery. The
+following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί, which literally
+mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by Lucian to
+express different styles of wrestling. The terms συναφή and κατοχή
+used by Hesychios when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the
+wrestling match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced
+from his position is described by the term ἀπάγειν, literally to
+lead away or carry off. Ἄγχειν and ἀποπνίγειν describe the grasping
+of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration. This trick
+of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him until he
+acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning act.
+Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his elbow
+under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring the neck
+of the latter between his thighs and then exert such pressure as
+almost to strangle him. This occurred more frequently in the ground
+wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group of boy wrestlers, one of whom,
+while resting on his right knee, is firmly holding by the throat his
+opponent, who is on both knees; to the right stands a prize vase with a
+palm, to the left, an umpire with a rod.
+
+The ἅμμα involved grasping the opponent in such a manner that he
+could be held in a position that would tire him and perhaps exhaust
+his energy. Herakles in his wrestling contest with the mighty giant,
+Antaios, was believed to have used this trick; but Herakles held his
+antagonist in the air. Running toward each other with lowered heads
+for the purpose of butting, after the manner of rams, also belonged to
+the province of wrestling, and was practiced by Lucian himself in the
+Lykeion at Athens.
+
+Plato protests against right-handedness (Laws, 8-794). He demands that
+a trained wrestler, pankratiast and boxer should be able to use both
+hands equally, so that if his opponent should succeed in turning him
+around he could defend himself from the other side. The wrestler would
+sometimes endeavor to place himself behind his adversary by a quick
+movement, then wind his leg around his opponent’s body and throw him.
+If successful in this attempt he would choke him.
+
+Besides these tricks there were others with the fingers. For instance,
+a wrestler would grasp his opponent’s finger-tips and disjoint or break
+them, not letting go until the pain compelled his victim to declare
+himself conquered. This finger contest sometimes preceded the actual
+contest, and was oftentimes the only feature. Sostratos of Sikyon
+was specially famed for this mode of contest; he was twelve times
+victorious in the Nemean and Isthmian, twice in the Pythian and three
+times in the Olympian games. Leontiskos of Messina, in Sicily, also
+practiced wrestling in this manner and gained his victory by breaking
+his opponent’s fingers.
+
+In ground wrestling the athlete even attempted to break his opponent’s
+toes. Another special scheme which belonged to the standing wrestling
+was as follows: the contestant made a circle around himself and
+challenged his opponent to force him from his position. If the latter
+failed to do this, the victory belonged to the former. Especially
+noted in this style of wrestling was Milo of Crotona, the most famous
+wrestler of antiquity. When a mere boy he was victorious in the
+Olympic and Pythian games. Six times his head was crowned with the
+sacred olive of Olympia. Young men of the noblest families engaged in
+these wrestling contests. Plato, when a youth, is said to have been
+victorious in the Pythian and Isthmian games, probably in the wrestling
+match.
+
+
+
+
+     IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE ANCIENT HELLENES.
+
+
+We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of professional
+athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily have
+influenced the more widespread practices whereby the young developed
+their bodies, just as today the system of professional athletics is
+a model for college training and exerts an influence upon the sports
+of even young children. But professional athletics, even in ancient
+Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct from that important phase of
+Hellenic education called γυμναστική.
+
+In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no means
+be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of education.
+But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were held in least
+favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves; being thoroughly
+in earnest to produce a race that was hardy and valiant to the last
+degree, and regarding physical culture as a serious and all-engrossing
+business rather than an exciting amusement, they quickly discerned that
+the specialism of professional athletics was detrimental to this end.
+
+The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby all
+Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever uppermost
+in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither deluded themselves in
+their estimate of these needs, nor did they even dream of a compassion
+that would deter them from establishing and executing regulations
+whereby these needs would be met. In Sparta the unfortunate individual
+who did not conform in promise or attainment to the criterion of a
+Spartan citizen found no pity.
+
+And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the man,
+without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle outward
+show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely fearless,
+who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing pain; it was the
+man whose powers of endurance were very great, who could march long
+distances over a rough country without fatigue, who could then halt
+and await the onset of an enemy with a glad and confident heart, and
+who could engage his enemy and be victorious; it was the man who loved
+combat.
+
+The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
+through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
+was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens should
+marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage. If at the
+present day we exercised the same care to bring sound children into the
+world there would be little need of being “born again.” Spartan infants
+were subjected to the judgment of a body of selected citizens, and if
+approved by the latter became thenceforth the objects of the care and
+direction of the state, but if condemned as not promising health and
+vigor they were killed. According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were
+exposed in the apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (Ταΰγετος) and
+left to die.
+
+Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care of their
+parents, but even during this early period they received a foretaste
+of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very plain and
+limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the little fears of
+childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the dark or when left
+alone.
+
+Many interesting little sports were in vogue among Hellenic children,
+and it may well be believed that in Sparta they were practised with a
+peculiar earnestness. Most of the amusements of modern children were
+also the delight of Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the
+latter are no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (πλαταγή) was
+a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
+Then there were hoops (τροχοί or κρίκοι). The childish game of rolling
+the hoop was called κρικηλασία. The κρίκος corresponded to the Roman
+trochus described by Horace (_Ode_ 3; 24, 57) and Ovid, as well as by
+Propertius, Martialis, and other writers. The κρίκος was a large hoop
+probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its diameter was
+less than the height of a man, reaching probably to his chest. The
+implement used in rolling it is said to have been a crooked-necked iron
+with a wooden handle, called ἐλατήρ (Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as
+with us, the hoop was set round with small metal rings or bells which
+when in motion caused a jingling sound very pleasing to a child’s ears.
+Some regarded these rings as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them
+on the ground that the sound they produced added much to the child’s
+happiness and engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also
+considered this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and
+advised that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating.
+The familiar top (βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος), old as the
+days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
+times--“στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη” (_Il._ xiv,
+413).
+
+The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and made to revolve
+by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil in the following
+lines:
+
+    “Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,
+    Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum
+    Intenti ludo exercent.”
+                               _Æneid_ vii, 378-380.
+
+Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children. Stilts
+(καλόβαθρα) were much used by children and also by adults in certain
+mimic dances. The girls had dolls (κόραι) of wax or clay, and the usual
+paraphernalia connected with this ever popular plaything. Many of
+these, which still survive, show that they were painted and that the
+arms and legs were so fastened with strings as to be easily movable.
+The word κόρη literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek
+girls dedicated their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus.
+If they died unwedded, their dolls were buried with them. The terms
+δάγυνον, δαγύς and πλαγγών were often applied by the Greeks to the wax
+doll.
+
+The swing αἰώρα occupied the same position in Greece as in our
+nurseries. Then there were clappers (πλῆκτρα), toy-carts (ἁμαξίδες),
+hobby-horses (ἱππίδια ξύλινα), toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.
+
+In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned. From
+the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy of
+consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in sport,
+then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
+character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
+be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
+and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental powers
+and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise. The
+Spartan children were superior to the other Greek children in the
+power of expression, although they were not so highly educated. This
+is no doubt due to the fact that at a very early age the Spartan
+children were forced into a free life in the open air and to systematic
+gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also though they did not consider
+gymnastics of so much importance as did the Hellenes, did not neglect
+them. Being a warlike people, they began to develop and strengthen
+the body of the child at an early age. The sports of childhood are as
+important to the boy as work is to the man, and demand as much of his
+strength and intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as
+a real victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games
+are imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause
+the child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
+Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He claimed
+that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work, should
+be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first training
+should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction should
+be followed by that based on theory and science. Experience has often
+corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic life itself furnishes
+the best illustration of it. According to the legend, Achilles, attired
+in the garb of a girl among the daughters of the king, betrayed himself
+to the keen eye of Odysseus, by handling the weapons, placed by the
+latter among the ornaments which he offered for sale. Strepsiades,
+hard pressed by his creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness
+for horses and chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates
+with pride how as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts,
+moulded houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind.
+(Aristophanes, _Nub._ 877.) Cato the Younger also, says Plutarch,
+gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
+youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
+chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
+circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
+heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
+represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
+was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
+young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
+often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
+Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.
+
+The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment was
+detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea was most
+beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of body and soul.
+Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system of the Hellenes,
+were developed many gymnastic games which did not require any special
+apparatus and which were not intended for tests of superior strength,
+but merely to furnish pleasant and suitable physical exercise.
+
+A game called ὀστράκου περιστροφή was often played. The boys arranged
+themselves in two divisions on either side of a line. One of them
+then held up a piece of broken crockery, or an oyster shell, one side
+of which was blackened with tar. One division chose the black side,
+the other the white. A boy then threw the fragment, with the words,
+νύξ, ἡμέρα. The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared
+uppermost after the throw; this division then pursued the other; those
+who were captured were called donkeys and were debarred from further
+participation in the game.
+
+The ἐποστρακισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 119), a more informal game, was played
+by boys on the beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted
+in “skipping” smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the
+water. The boy who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance,
+or, perhaps, made it cut the water the greatest number of times, was
+victor. This pastime, known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor
+with boys.
+
+There were two games for testing bodily strength, the διελκυστίνδα and
+the σκαπέρδα. In the διελκυστίνδα a party of children separated into
+two divisions, each of which faced the other in a row, so as to give
+every member an opponent. Probably a line of some kind lay between the
+two divisions, and the game consisted in each boy’s striving to pull
+his opponent across it by means of a rope. The victory was decided when
+all members of one side had been forced to the other.
+
+The σκαπέρδα was a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made
+in a tree-trunk or rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two
+contestants then took their places on opposite sides of the pillar,
+with their backs to each other and each holding an end of the rope.
+If one of them could succeed in lifting the other from the ground he
+was declared victor, but so difficult was the feat that the phrase
+σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable
+to very difficult tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the
+Attic Dionysia.
+
+“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the name
+χαλκῆ μυῖα, or “brazen fly,” very prettily described by _Pollux_ ix,
+122. ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ
+μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι,
+θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν αὐτόν, ἕως τινὸς
+αὐτῶν λήψεται. One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture
+one of the rest. With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating
+the words χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω, “I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others
+responded θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, “you will hunt, but you will not
+catch,” and at the same time struck him more or less lightly with whips
+or threads of papyrus. When one of them was caught, he was blindfolded
+in place of the other, and the game repeated.
+
+A game called χυτρίνδα (_Pollux_ ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity
+on the part of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
+χύτρα. The others ran round him, pinching or striking him until by a
+quick movement he managed to catch one of them, who was obliged to take
+his place and be the χύτρα in turn. Sometimes the child ran about in a
+circle, carrying on his head a jar which he held with his left hand.
+His companions would strike him while asking him the question, τίς
+τὴν χύτραν; (who has the jar?), to which he answered, ἐγὼ, Μίδας (I,
+Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that child had
+to take his place.
+
+The term χυνδαλισμός (_Pollux_ ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play,
+which somewhat resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging
+short, pointed poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first
+child holds his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to
+leave it standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to
+throw his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his
+own standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and
+so on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is
+still played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground
+is soft.
+
+A game especially suited to develop attention was the following. The
+players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a cord which he
+tried to place beside another child without being detected in the act.
+If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside whom the cord was found
+had to run round the ring amid the blows of his playfellows; if, on the
+other hand, he had noticed the other when putting the cord there, that
+one would have been obliged to run round the ring himself.
+
+A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles were
+flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm in falling,
+was played under the name of πεντάλιθος. This game was much in favor
+with Hellenic women, as well as with children, and was said to be the
+favorite amusement of the famous beauty, Phryne of Athens.
+
+The game of king (βασιλίνδα) consisted of feats, done by one child at
+the bidding of another, as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be
+king and who soldier was decided by lot.
+
+A favorite pastime with children was the game called ἀρτιασμός or “Odd
+and Even” (_Pollux_ ix, 101), in which they guessed whether the number
+of objects one held concealed in his hand was odd or even. Dice, nuts,
+coins, etc., were used for this purpose. The amount won or lost was
+either the articles themselves or a sum of money staked upon the guess.
+Horace also in the Satires alludes to this game under the name _ludere
+par impar_ (_Satires_ 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
+κολλαβισμός, in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
+him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking him.
+
+Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
+(σχοινοφιλίνδα), a piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The
+modern “hide and seek” was the Greek ἀποδιδρασκίνδα. “Kiss in the ring”
+(κυνητίνδα) is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no
+correct details. “Ride a cock horse” (κάλαμου περιβῆναι) was also an
+amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in Greece and
+in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this sport in the
+following words: _equitare in arundine longa_.
+
+The Greek and Roman children played several games of skill with nuts,
+which resembled very closely our modern game of marbles. Nuts played
+so important a part in childish sports that _nuces relinquere_ became
+a proverbial expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts
+were pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called ὤμιλλα (_Pollux_
+ix, 102-3) or into a hole βόθρος dug in the ground. Those that fell
+outside the circle were forfeited. The name delta was given to a
+certain game with nuts in which a triangle was chalked on the ground,
+and marked across with lines or bars running parallel to the base. The
+player then flipped nuts into the triangle, winning as many nuts as
+he crossed bars, provided, of course, that they did not roll outside
+the triangle, in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most
+skilful play consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the
+triangle.
+
+The ball (σφαῖρα) was not only a favorite toy among children, but it
+also played an important part in the physical exercises of youths and
+adults. No other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks
+and Romans of different periods as the ball games, though regarded
+less as a game than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and
+cultivating grace and symmetry of body.
+
+They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes as well
+as in later times when Greece was at the height of its glory. The
+Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of the emperors,
+also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued favor which
+ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its benefit to the body.
+The earliest mention of ball-playing is found in two passages of the
+Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare _Athen._ i, 15, c. Plutarch,
+_Alex._ c. 73). In the second passage, Homer represents ball-tossing as
+an adjunct to the dance. The game was accompanied by music and Odysseus
+was surprised at the marvelous dexterity of the players.
+
+“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance alone, for
+with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a goodly purple
+ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one, bending backward,
+flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other, leaping upward from the
+earth, easily caught the ball before his feet touched ground again.
+Then after they had tried the ball straight in the air, they danced
+upon the bounteous earth with tossings to and fro. Other young men beat
+time for them, standing round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping
+arose. Then to Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned
+of all, you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is
+proved true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
+ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (_Athenaios_ i, 246), and long
+survived.
+
+The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (_Od._ vi, 100), and her companions
+accompanied their game by singing, and the women of Corcyra at a later
+period are said to have followed this ancient custom. (_Athen._ i. 24
+_b_.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing was also accompanied by music.
+
+The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed the
+right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected pillars
+in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a player. The
+Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did the Athenians, and
+to them is attributed the invention of ball games. Among the kings of
+Greece, Alexander is mentioned as favoring ball-playing.
+
+In one of his plays, Πλυντρίαι, which was received with great favor,
+Sophocles introduced Nausicaä at play with a ball. Only the Milesians,
+who were devoted to agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as
+it did not tend to increase athletic ability and was of no value in
+helping them to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved
+on ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians, as
+ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a foundation
+for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was not considered
+complete without having a special room, called the σφαιριστήριον,
+devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor (σφαιριστικός) who
+had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
+this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
+become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.
+
+The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered it a
+pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the Elder enjoyed
+a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same day that he received
+the refusal of the consulate (_Oratio pro Archia Poeta_ _c._ 6, §6).
+Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried ball-playing along with
+banquets and games of dice. The emperor, Augustus, enjoyed a game of
+ball. Pliny, the younger, relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with
+old age by indulging in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a
+game at ball was the most common exercise practised immediately before
+bathing in the σφαιριστήριον (ball-court) connected with the bath.
+
+The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
+undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during the game,
+except in the σφαιριστήριον and probably not always even there.
+
+There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
+descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others we know
+simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios consider
+the game called οὐρανία to be identical with that practised by the
+Phæacians, as in this, according to Homer’s description, the body
+was bent backward and the ball was thrown high up into the air. The
+players then tried to catch the ball before it touched the ground.
+
+The game called ἐπίσκυρος (_Pollux_ ix, 104) at first peculiar to
+Sparta, was very popular and took its name from the line σκῦρος which
+separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and parallel
+with it were drawn two base lines (γραμμαὶ κατόπιν) beyond which the
+players could not go in catching the ball. The latter was placed
+upon the σκῦρος (whence the name ἐπίσκυρος) and the players started
+simultaneously from their respective base lines. Whoever seized the
+ball first, threw it as far as he could toward the enemies’ base
+line. The object, of course, was to force the line of enemies back,
+by constantly returning the ball further and further over their heads
+until they were driven over their own base lines. In this case a swift
+runner must have had a great advantage over the others, by securing the
+first throw.
+
+A favorite game is described by the term (φαινίνδα). The peculiar
+feature of this game was that the player who held the ball appeared
+to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an entirely
+different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and surprising
+another. This game is said to have demanded the utmost dexterity of a
+flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a skilful player to display
+a fine carriage and much grace, as may be seen in the description of
+Damoxenos by Athenaios (_Athen._ i, 15, 7).
+
+Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις,
+ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς, ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.
+
+ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ λέγειν
+ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν οὔθ’ ἑώρακα
+τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς, καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
+φιλόσοφος.
+
+The ἁρπαστόν was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with
+the Greeks and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It
+required skill in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating
+distance, as well as great care in catching the ball. The name of
+the game indicates that each player tried to prevent the other from
+catching it. This game is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and
+according to him it was also played by women.
+
+The term ἀπόῤῥαξις was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which
+the ball was thrown to the ground with great force and continually
+struck back with the hand, as it rebounded. The number of times the
+ball was forced to the ground was counted. The victor was called king
+and could order the others about. The loser was called donkey (ὄνος).
+In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
+into the air as long as possible with the open hand.
+
+According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
+to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four divisions
+according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he described
+in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball games, which he
+considered of great importance on account of the benefit which they
+imparted to the mental and physical powers.
+
+In connection with these various ball games, they practised a peculiar
+gymnastic exercise with the κώρυκος, a leathern sack that must have
+resembled the modern punching bag on which pugilists try their fists.
+In form it resembled a ball, but in size and weight far surpassed the
+largest and heaviest ball. The κώρυκος was filled with fig seeds, meal
+or sand, and its size varied according to the age and strength of the
+individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach to about the middle
+of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in increasingly rapid
+motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast and hands. The game is
+alluded to by Plautus (_Rud._ iii, 4, 16). This sport cannot properly
+be styled a ball game, although it resembled one in some respects.
+Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient physicians regarded
+this exercise as very beneficial, because it not only strengthened the
+muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent corpulency.
+
+There are no records in classical literature to show that the Greeks
+and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.
+
+At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
+disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
+under the charge of the παιδονόμος; this official was, in conformance
+with the direction of Lykourgos, one of the best citizens; he was
+expected to discipline the youth in all the exercises that were so
+nicely adapted to develop the Spartan citizen, and to teach him all the
+cunning and courage that would afterwards be required in his service of
+the state.
+
+In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself. When
+children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and nurses
+was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were conducted each
+day by the παιδαγωγός, a special slave whose duty it was not only to
+conduct the children to and from school, but also to supervise their
+deportment.
+
+In the Athenian school, gymnastics (γυμναστική) was not by any means
+the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included three
+distinct courses:
+  (1) γραμματική.
+  (2) μουσική.
+  (3) γυμναστική.
+Under γραμματική were included reading and writing, to which were added
+after the 4th century B. C. elementary geometry, arithmetic and drawing.
+
+When the child was able to read and write with facility, he entered
+on the course called μουσική, which embraced the study of poetry and
+music. Passages from Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon,
+and from many lyric poets, were read and committed to memory. Xenophon
+mentions in his Symposium (_Symp._ iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who
+had committed to memory the whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey.
+The boys were also taught to chant the poems they had learned to the
+accompaniment of the lyre. Much stress was laid on the moral effects of
+music.
+
+But from no system of Greek education was γυμναστική, the careful
+and systematic development of the young body excluded. Nor did this
+training cease in mature years; when young men left the palæstra, they
+found awaiting them the gymnasium,--an institution that was adapted to
+social as well as athletic purposes.
+
+Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected, ever
+dream of dropping γυμναστική from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of
+Plato there is a detailed discussion of the education of children, and
+the plan is therein advocated of restricting the education of boys to
+gymnastics until their tenth year; the regular study of letters was
+not to begin until after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also
+maintained that gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany
+that of the mind.
+
+Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood was
+not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked athlete with
+firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted that the mass of
+their young men reached during the best age of Greek history a stage
+of physical perfection which has never been attained in any other age
+or country. This is attested by thousands of statues of victorious
+athletes, not only in Olympia but throughout Greece. Although the
+Greeks had no cricket or football they had on the other hand a far
+greater variety of games than we have, and this variety made for the
+symmetrical development of the body. The athletic sports of Greece
+remained great and respected until excessive training and extreme
+specialization brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted
+all his time to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of
+a harmonious development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
+games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
+will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal of a sound
+body for a sound mind.
+
+
+
+
+                          Transcriber’s Notes
+
+
+The following inconsistencies and typos were corrected:
+
+  Changed +accidently+ to +accidentally+ in “he accidentally killed by
+    an unlucky throw”.
+
+  Changed +greeves+ to +greaves+ in “helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves
+    and shield”.
+
+  Changed +greeves+ to +greaves+ in “The greaves, which were made of
+    flexible metal plates”.
+
+  Changed +ox hide+ to +oxhide+ in “layers of tough oxhide”.
+
+  Changed +Mycenæn+ to +Mycenæan+ in “pictured on Mycenæan gems”.
+
+  Changed +subtile+ to +subtle+ in “Only by subtle inferences”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “old Greek traveller Pausanias”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias claims to have seen”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “according to Pausanias died”.
+
+  Changed +Phæcians+ to +Phæacians+ in “the Phæacians, a light-hearted
+    people”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias describes them”.
+
+  Changed +Pausanius+ to +Pausanias+ in “Pausanias especially mentions”.
+
+  Changed +Phayllos+ to +Phaÿllos+ in “Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said”.
+
+  Changed +Hippodrom+ to +Hippodrome+ in “a separate race-course,
+    called the Hippodrome”.
+
+  Changed +Mycenean+ to +Mycenæan+ in “the prowess of Mycenæan boxers”.
+
+  Changed +ox-hide+ to +oxhide+ in “strips of undressed oxhide”.
+
+  Changed +ἁγραύλοιο+ to +ἀγραύλοιο+ in “ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς
+    ἀγραύλοιο”.
+
+  Changed +ox-hide+ to +oxhide+ in “made of raw oxhide”.
+
+  Changed +ὠθιομοί+ to +ὠθισμοί+ in “The following Greek words,
+    ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί”.
+
+  Changed +advsied+ to +advised+ in “and advised that it be practised”.
+
+  Changed +ρόμβος+ to +ῥόμβος+ in “βέμβηξ, βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος”.
+
+  Changed +Plutrach+ to +Plutarch+ in “Cato the Younger also, says
+    Plutarch”.
+
+  Changed +ἔλκειν+ to +ἕλκειν+ in “the phrase σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν”.
+
+  Changed +ταινία+ to +ταινίᾳ+ in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες
+    ἑνὸς παιδός”.
+
+  Changed +ἐνὸς+ to +ἑνὸς+ in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς
+    παιδός”.
+
+  Changed +ἔως+ to +ἕως+ in “ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται”.
+
+  Changed +περιβήναι+ to +περιβῆναι+ in “κάλαμου περιβῆναι”.
+
+  Changed +ὥμιλλα+ to +ὤμιλλα+ in “a circle drawn on the ground called
+    ὤμιλλα”.
+
+  Changed +Nausicaa+ to +Nausicaä+ in “introduced Nausicaä at play with
+    a ball”.
+
+  Changed +recieved+ to +received+ in “he received the refusal of the
+    consulate”.
+
+  Changed +ἐσφαίριζειν+ to +ἐσφαίριζεν+ in “Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν
+    εἷς”.
+
+  Changed +ἀνδῶς+ to +ἀηδῶς+ in “δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς”.
+
+  Changed +κτησίβιος+ to +Κτησίβιος+ in “καὶ Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς
+    φιλόσοφος”.
+
+  Changed +ὄνοξ+ to +ὄνος+ in “was called donkey (ὄνος)”.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT
+GREEKS ***
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks, by Edward Marwick Plummer</div>
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+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Edward Marwick Plummer</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 25, 2021 [eBook #64627]</div>
+
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+
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS ***</div>
+
+<h1>ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS.</h1>
+
+<p class="xlarge p4 centre">EDWARD M. PLUMMER, M.D.,</p>
+
+<p class="p2 centre">AURAL SURGEON TO THE CARNEY HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT AURAL SURGEON
+TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CHARITABLE EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY;
+INSTRUCTOR, BOSTON POLYCLINIC; FELLOW OF THE
+MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL SOCIETY, <span class="smcap">Etc</span>.</p>
+
+
+<p class="smaller p4 centre">Reprinted from the <i>American Physical Education Review</i>, 1898.</p>
+
+
+<p class="p4 centre">CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,<br />
+<span class="smcap">Lombard &amp; Caustic, Printers, 26a Brattle St.</span><br />
+1898.</p>
+
+<p class="p6 centre">Copyrighted<br />
+By <span class="smcap">Edward M. Plummer</span>, M.D.<br />
+Boston, 1898.</p>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2 class="p4 p0a nobreak">I. ATHLETIC GAMES AMONG THE HOMERIC HEROES.</h2>
+
+<p class="p1a small centre">BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner.
+This is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter
+and the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and
+arms, but small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending
+over his work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity
+of body, and often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects
+result from the more primitive forms of labor, it is not at all
+strange that the laborers of the modern industrial world show
+bodily peculiarities and variations that correspond, in a marked
+degree, to their respective trades. A well-known teacher of gymnastics
+in a New England college has declared himself able to
+designate the various occupations of laborers in a Boston Labor
+Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner, merely by
+inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may, therefore,
+be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion, if
+performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions essential
+to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete respiration,
+and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only rarely, if
+ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the
+design to produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is
+not deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical
+development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be
+such, is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts
+and powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing
+not only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in
+other words, of developing what the Greeks called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="eurythmia">εὐρυθμία</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks
+alone made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not
+so much because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy
+to be a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[Pg 6]</span>
+discerned the advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor
+of a powerful and graceful body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally
+turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that
+these poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of
+the Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization
+in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one
+hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once
+learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now
+we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe
+as uncivilized;&mdash;this art of literature is, nevertheless, only
+one phase of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today
+the lives of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations,
+outside the sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a
+people that has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be
+versed in simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet
+civilized; and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary
+records of that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception
+would be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the
+Homeric poems as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition
+of this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric
+athletics especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development.
+Hellenic legend strengthens this inference. According to
+a myth, Apollo enjoyed the diskos no less than music. He practiced
+for amusement with his favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is
+related, he <a name="TN004_1" id="TN004_1"></a>accidentally killed by
+an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged
+Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of
+Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of
+a very select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours
+and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to
+them. French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years
+of the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for
+the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not
+sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes.
+There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime,
+described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification,
+as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must
+be remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class
+whose deeds they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[Pg 7]</span>
+which the scenes of this high life were adorned, would add to the
+credit of the poet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to
+our subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The
+Homeric poems give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band
+of Greek nobles who, with their followers, had left their native
+land, to besiege a foreign and hostile city.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line
+that throws light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable
+classes. Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the
+Iliad, where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial
+occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement
+from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. <i>Il.</i> ii,
+773-775. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laoi de para, rhêgmini thalassês diskoisin terponto kai aiganeêsin hientes, toxoisin th’">λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laos">λαός</span>, here
+used, is usually considered as denoting the people or multitude. The
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="laos">λαός</span> before Troy, however, was
+undoubtedly of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of
+the Greeks were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples.
+And so the “folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with
+the diskos, spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the
+diskos alone was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear,
+in this case at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was
+used both in the chase and in war.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports
+was, to a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those
+qualities required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means
+to an end, but they were also an end in themselves. Bodily
+exercise was not an irksome task, but an agreeable pastime. The
+ancient Hellenes were therefore a very happy people, the ends
+that they sought to attain prescribed tasks that were congenial
+with their national temperament. Accordingly, we find, in a well-established
+condition, a system of athletic sports that were not
+directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport was diskos
+throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a cylinder,
+and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who hurled
+the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless
+the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by
+the skilled diskobolos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well
+as of military training, is shown by the fact that when for any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[Pg 8]</span>
+reason the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their
+followers resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors
+with years of experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they
+exercised, because to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual
+fighting will not alone explain this temperament. With the
+Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost synonymous with life itself.
+When they desired to escape from the chilling effect of a hero’s
+death, they instituted games, and thereby reasserted life. Perhaps
+the sufficient cause of this predilection for athletic exercise was the
+climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear, serene sky over
+Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity but did not
+dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled by the sea,
+and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains and
+valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must necessarily
+have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a free
+life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed to
+the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In order to understand Homeric athletics&mdash;the
+substantial basis of all subsequent athletics&mdash;one must become
+interested in the method and details of Greek warfare. For to the
+Greek the road to distinction lay in the acquisition of the qualities
+required of the successful warrior, and it was only natural that
+pleasure and expediency should combine to make a pastime of the
+feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is achieved largely by
+the use of superior machines and by advantage of position. Until
+the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks, depended on the
+muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual warriors. The
+central and principal feature of early Greek warfare was a personal
+hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in preparing for
+war that each separate soldier should be made as active and vigorous
+as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until a late date,
+may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the victory
+of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra, <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span>
+371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of
+physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the
+weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered
+by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man.
+But, throughout all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has
+existed that could not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or
+wrestling. And it is certain that those who have survived the risks of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[Pg 9]</span>
+these sports&mdash;the fittest&mdash;had developed bodies far superior in
+agility, and attained far greater command over the muscular system,
+as a whole, than would have been possible from practicing sports
+that do not involve risk.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants
+quickly into each other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot
+or from the ground, they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing
+spears (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichoskia enchea">δολιχόσκια ἔγχεα</span>)
+<i>Il.</i> iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both came
+closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each other
+again.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted
+to their swords or to any other available implement of offense.
+Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to
+conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric
+combat. In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the
+two heroes, after using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them
+at each other (<i>Il.</i> vii, 264-270).</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as
+could be handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according
+to the strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons,
+in the hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it
+was but natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing
+the strength requisite for adopting them.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet,
+girdle, <a name="TN007_2" id="TN007_2"></a>greaves and shield. The
+Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap, covering the head in front
+above the eyes, and extending down in the back, to the nape of the neck
+from ear to ear. Some forms show that the lower part was prolonged and
+carried round so as to cover all above the shoulders. The corselet
+consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate and a back-plate, which were
+laced together by cords passed through eyelet holes made in the sides,
+below the bottom of which the body was protected by metal girdle.
+The <a name="TN007_3" id="TN007_3"></a>greaves, which were made of
+flexible metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front
+part of the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield
+consisted of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough
+<a name="TN007_4" id="TN007_4"></a>oxhide, and reached from the neck
+to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is pictured on
+<a name="TN007_1" id="TN007_1"></a>Mycenæan gems.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare,
+the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain
+that the attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient.
+Nestor is deemed happy because his sons were “wise-minded and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span>
+mighty with the spear.” The poet frequently makes sly fun of
+Telamonian Aias, who, although gigantic in size and of immense
+strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat dull of intellect. To train the
+senses, and above all the eye, to make the body alert and immediately
+responsive to the perceptions, was considered quite as requisite
+as to train the muscles. For, in the exigencies of battle, a certain
+quickness of intellect was often more effective than brute strength.
+Agility was, therefore, prized and cultivated above all other qualities.
+When the ponderous spear of Menelaos smote and pierced
+the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and escaped black death.”
+(<i>Il.</i> iii, 392.) To fight successfully from the chariot, to dismount
+and grapple with the adversary, necessitated not only muscular
+strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an ability to
+seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or fend
+instantly the deadly thrust.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially
+notable way on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a
+hero, yet it should not be supposed that such contests were at all
+uncommon. On the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and
+sentences that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of
+competitive games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podarkês">ποδάρκης</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podas ôkys">πόδας ὠκὺς</span>) <i>Il.</i>
+ix, 307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="pyx agathos">πὺξ ἀγαθός</span>) <i>Il.</i>
+iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being shown at the
+more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited, had there not
+been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again, Homer often
+speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain lines of athletics
+was well known, and had been often sustained against challengers. When
+Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he asks for the two
+who are best (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hôper aristô">ὥπερ ἀρίστω</span>),
+<i>Il.</i> xxiii, 659, to come forward, as if it were well known who
+the skilful boxers were. When Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor
+in the foot-race, he is called the champion of foot-racers among the youth
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ho gar aute neous posi pantas enika">ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ πάντας ἐνίκα</span>).
+<i>Il.</i> xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to the fact
+that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize. Athletic
+skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice. We may
+conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of which Homer
+wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,&mdash;so frequent that they
+were taken as a matter of course,&mdash;and that on special occasions,
+such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or
+the anniversary of some god’s benefaction,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[Pg 11]</span>
+the games were conducted in a more public and ceremonious manner;
+and that on such occasions prizes were offered and intense
+excitement prevailed.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when
+an old man, tells of competing in his youth in the various games
+held in honor of Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion,
+Nestor was in his prime and was victor in the boxing-match, the
+foot-race, and the spear-throwing contest; being surpassed only
+in the chariot-races. Certain recorded myths sustain the scholar in
+referring the origin of funeral games to a time much preceding the
+age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of the funeral games
+in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato, as the most
+ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral contest
+in honor of Androgeos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable
+minuteness the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend,
+whom Hector slew in battle.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of
+racing was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic
+legend assigns the origin of the races far back of Homeric times,
+in the dark heroic age of mythology. While the site of stately
+Thebes was still covered with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen
+in Poseidon’s grove, horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from
+the race. When Apollo thought of building a temple for himself
+at the sacred spring of the nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded
+him, declaring that the god would be disturbed by the incessant
+noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of horses, and that every one
+would prefer to see the beautifully-built chariots and the swift-footed
+horses, and so fail to appreciate the temple with its treasures.
+Oinomaos is said to have offered to her suitors his daughter,
+Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a chariot-race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes,
+and called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos,
+Antilochos, and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of
+swift horses to his war-chariot. The competitors were directed
+to round a goal in the distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising
+his son, Antilochos: “A fathom’s height above the ground
+standeth a withered stump, whether of oak or pine; it decayeth
+not in the rain, and two white stones, on either side thereof, are
+fixed at the joining of the track, and all around it is smooth driving
+ground. Whether it be a monument of some man dead long ago,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[Pg 12]</span>
+or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient men, this
+now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is easy
+to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of
+the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round
+this goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mêtis">μῆτις</span>) the principal factor of
+victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of charioteer. For
+whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth heedlessly and
+wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course, and he keepeth
+them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though he drive worse
+horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth closely by it,
+neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses by the oxhide
+reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the leader in the
+race.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the
+advantage that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched
+horses. Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed
+the best horses of those that were gathered before Troy;
+they were very swift, and were classified and paired with regard to
+speed, color, age, and stature; they were “matched to the measure
+of a levelling-line across their backs.” <i>Il.</i> ii, 763-765.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of
+Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race,
+although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios&mdash;the
+immortal steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon&mdash;would undoubtedly
+have won for him the victory. Through skill and cunning,
+Antilochos quickly overtook Menelaos, left him behind and won
+the race, although his horses were much inferior to those of the
+latter.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile
+combat, the Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood
+alone in his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil
+of battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hêniochos">ἡνίοχος</span>). This was
+beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work
+of art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century
+<span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered
+two prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the
+loser. He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of
+first-class reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly
+claimed the first prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting
+this claim, gave voice to the following prediction: “I will
+utterly bruise mine adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span>
+his friends abide together here to bear him forth when vanquished
+by my hands.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists
+cast about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of
+raw oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all
+their limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek,
+and Euryalos collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s
+ripple a fish leapeth on a tangled-covered beach, and then the
+black wave hideth it, so leapt up Euryalos at that blow.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again
+Achilles offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the
+loser. Only Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and
+Telamonian Aias, the representative of bodily size and brute force,
+essayed to struggle. After they had girt themselves they went
+into the midst of the ring. Here they stood locked in each other’s
+arms, like two gable rafters joined by a builder. Their backs
+were gripped with such force that they creaked; the sweat ran
+down their bodies in streams; blood-colored welts appeared on
+their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with the advantage
+on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary. At
+last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful
+of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias
+fell backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was
+not bought with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After
+Odysseus had tried futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell
+together in the dust. They rose and would have wrestled the
+third time had not Achilles restrained them by declaring the contest
+a draw.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes
+practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished
+from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the
+antagonists struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and
+struggled again. When an antagonist had been thrown three
+times the contest was decided in favor of the other. In the latter
+variety the contestants continued the struggle on the ground, after
+they had fallen. At a later period standing wrestling was practiced
+at all the great games. Plato, who was always alive to the
+value of these contests, as a preparation for war, greatly preferred
+standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles of the upper
+part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders, and neck.
+Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a fine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[Pg 14]</span>
+carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the
+resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the
+most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle
+entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after
+the bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic
+exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor
+and unimportant things, does not mention oil in this connection.
+He certainly would not have passed over in complete silence, the
+use of oil in these contests had he been familiar with the custom.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was
+ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors
+were three,&mdash;Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos,
+son of Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes
+the duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the
+contest with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been
+pronounced, on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation.
+It should accordingly be considered as data for an account of the
+athletics of later times.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of
+javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete,
+Achilles at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his
+well-known excellence in this feat.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell
+upon the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of
+the poem, after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a
+thought given to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race,
+the descriptions are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the
+poet would dispose of them as quickly as possible, and as if he
+would say: “This is not my theme.” Achilles superintends the
+games with a lofty indifference, and even cuts some of them short,
+as if other things were on his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a
+greater inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more
+in harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades
+the Odyssey; the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s
+imagination, and have been replaced by those of festivity and
+pleasure. A new generation is described. Athletics have become
+less violent and the scenes are embellished by the interspersion of
+music, dancing, and poetry.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[Pg 15]</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of
+things among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island
+on the western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed
+Odysseus, the representative of the older generation. The
+shipwrecked stranger does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an
+escort that may guide him homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">“Say from what city, from what regions tossed,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">And what inhabitants those regions boast?</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Like man intelligent they plow the tides,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Conscious of every coast and every bay</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”</div>
+    <div class="verse indent25"><i>Odyssey</i>, Book viii.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="p0">But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal
+entertainment has been provided.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the
+Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes
+and of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare
+for the games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger
+their skill in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued
+forth from the palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian
+athletes exhibited themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling
+match, at leaping, throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these
+games, except leaping, are mentioned also in the Iliad.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive
+body, invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no
+greater glory for a man in all his life than what he wins with his
+own feet and hands,” says Laodamas.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos
+he decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak
+still on, he sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and
+thick, heavier by not a little than those which the Phæacians were
+using for themselves. This with a twist he sent from his stout
+hand. The stone hummed as it went. Past all the marks it flew,
+swift speeding from his hands.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and
+he challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to
+contend with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,&mdash;it
+matters not to him.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[Pg 16]</span>”
+athlete. “Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I
+understand full well handling the polished bow. None except
+Philoktetes excelled me with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans
+tried the bow. I send the spear farther than other men an arrow.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the
+stern mood of the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the
+king, “no, nor wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in
+our ships excel. Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance,
+changes of clothes, warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers
+the best among you make us sport, that so the stranger on returning
+home may tell his friends how we surpass all other men in sailing,
+running, in the dance and song.”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1"
+class="fnanchor">[*]</a></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires
+(the mention of whom shows how important athletics have become),
+clear the ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious
+lyre,” Demodokos, the blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring,
+and is surrounded by youthful men skilled in dancing. “They
+struck the splendid dance-ground with their feet; Odysseus
+watched their twinkling feet, and was astonished.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric
+aristocracy, but activity of the most virile type. And, although
+Homer’s two epics grew into form long after the splendid Achæan
+civilization of which he wrote existed only in legend, yet he
+artfully excludes any references to contemporary facts. Only by
+<a name="TN014_1" id="TN014_1"></a>subtle inferences can information
+about the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works
+of art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes
+them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is
+therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made an
+admission with regard to his own times,&mdash;times, which, in fact
+were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have
+demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric
+epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan
+civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the
+Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility
+practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in
+addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as
+if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is
+recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral
+games in honor of Amphidamos.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p class="p4a"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[*]</a> Palmer’s Translation.</p>
+</div>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[Pg 17]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">II. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.</h2>
+
+<p class="tp">In historic times the great national festivals were already established.
+They had undoubtedly grown out of local athletic festivals of very
+ancient origin. Of these Panhellenic festivals, that celebrated once in
+every four years at Olympia in Elis was the oldest and the greatest.
+The nationalization of this festival is assigned traditionally to the
+year 776 <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> This date depends
+on a list of Olympic victors, compiled in the last part of the fifth
+century by the sophist Hippias of Elis, and handed down by Eusebios.
+Modern historians are not unanimous in accepting the early part of this
+register, and the minority have supported their charge of spuriousness
+by adducing unharmonious facts. In itself the date 776 <span
+class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> is not unreasonable. And when it
+is considered how comparatively easy and common travel was in Hellas,
+it is not rash to suppose that the festival, when once it had become
+celebrated as a local affair was resorted to by travellers, if not as
+participants, at least as spectators. Certain it is that the Olympic
+festival was already a Panhellenic institution, when the other three
+festivals were established early in the sixth century, and that to the
+close of Greek history it continued the most glorious.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Pythian games were celebrated on the Krissean Plain in
+Phokis in honor of Apollo. These games were held for several
+days in January in the third year of each Olympiad. The prize
+was a wreath of laurel and a palm.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Nemean games were held in the groves of Nemea, near
+Kleonai in Argolis, in the winter and summer alternately of the
+second and fourth years of each Olympiad. The prize was a
+wreath of parsley.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Isthmian games, instituted in honor of Poseidon, took place at
+Corinth in the spring and summer alternately of the first and third
+years of each Olympiad. This alternation was arranged to avoid interference
+with the Olympian and Pythian festivals. The victor’s
+prize at the Isthmia was a wreath of pine native to the spot.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">Beside the four national festivals, minor games of more frequent
+recurrence existed all over Hellas. How eagerly the victor in a
+local exhibition must have turned his eyes towards Nemea, the
+Isthmus, Pytho, and perhaps even to Olympia may be imagined.
+Each of the four great festivals had peculiar features of its own.
+Thus, the Pythian games, probably next to the Olympian in importance,
+were characterized by competitions in music and poetry in
+addition to the athletic contests. The Isthmian games were distinguished
+by the addition of boat-racing and swimming contests.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">But all were essentially alike. All were designed as
+glorifications of the strong and agile body. All were marked with
+patriotism. All were embellished with the greatest products of Hellenic
+art. All were held in honor of gods. And a fitting tribute and worship
+they furnished, not the mumbled prayers of a sallow-visaged, stunted
+race, but the exultant feats of proud, self-reliant men. All were
+attended by the most studied and artistic pomp. The greatest lyric
+poets of Hellas, Simonides and Pindar, for instance, celebrated the
+victors. Of Pindar’s <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="epinikia">ἐπινίκια</span>
+or “Odes of Victory,” we possess fourteen <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Olympionikai">Ὀλυμπιονῖκαι</span>
+for winners in the Olympian games. Twelve <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Pythionikai">Πυθιονῖκαι</span>
+for the Pythian games, seven <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Nemeonikai">Νεμεονῖκαι</span>
+for the Nemean games, and eleven <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Isthmeonikai">Ἰσθμεονῖκαι</span>
+for the Isthmian games. Even the wise men and famous bards of Greece
+could not resist the desire to be present. It is said that the Spartan
+Chilon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, died while witnessing
+these games, being overcome with joy at his son’s victory. Sages like
+Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Sokrates, Plato, Aristippos, Diogenes and
+Thales came, lured not only by the desire of beholding athletic feats,
+but also eager to engage in debate, or perhaps to explain some new
+theory of the universe. Statesmen like Themistokles and Kimon resorted
+to the games and there met the rulers of distant states. Orators and
+sophists like Gorgias, Lysias and Demosthenes, were present at the
+Olympian games. The first two made great panegyric speeches. The games
+on the Isthmus were attended by the great dramatists Aischylos and
+Ion. Historians like Herodotos carried their scrolls to read before
+assembled Hellas. Artists came to exhibit their works of art, and
+perhaps to obtain new customers. Sculptors showed models of their
+skill, and potters exhibited vases. These games, like the Schwingfest
+and the shooting-matches of Switzerland, served not only as pleasant
+occasions of reunion, but tended to the diffusion of national ideas. In
+the language of John Fiske, “young men<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[Pg 19]</span> of the noblest families and
+from the farthest Greek colonies came to them, and wrestled and ran,
+undraped, before countless multitudes of admiring spectators.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The victor in the foot-race at Olympia was regarded as an honor
+to his country, and gave his name to the current Olympiad, and
+on reaching home entered his native city to the notes of a triumphal
+song written by a Pindar or Simonides. Another significant
+fact is that the Greek era began with the Olympic games; every
+period of four years was called an Olympiad.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">About twenty miles above the mouth of the Alpheios, in a long,
+narrow valley surrounded by well-wooded hills, it is joined by
+the ancient Kladeos, coming from the north. At the angle
+formed by the junction of the two rivers is the area known as Olympia,
+the scene of the greatest athletic festival that the world has
+ever witnessed.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To the north of this plain was a range of rocky hills, the nearest
+of which was the famous Kronion, conical in shape and about 400
+feet in height. As its name signifies, this hill was sacred to Kronos,
+the father of Zeus. Another low range bounded the valley on the
+south. The western boundary was the Kladeos. Eastward was
+the hill of Pisa, and further in the distance were visible the snow-crowned
+summits of Erymanthos and Kyllene.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">During the long centuries that succeeded the extinction of Greek
+civilization, the precinct of the games, and the equipments, buildings
+and statues that remained, were gradually covered by a stratum
+of alluvium from the Alpheios, mixed with a deposit of clay from
+Kronion. The rest of the world was not interested enough to record
+the process, and when in modern times scholars saw no trace
+of the original scene, it was supposed that the Alpheios by its overflowings
+had destroyed all monuments. Recent excavations, however,
+have revealed a very precious remnant at the bottom of the
+alluvium. It was indeed not really a misfortune that during periods
+when the products of old civilizations were treated with fanaticism
+on the one hand, and rapacity on the other, the Olympian scene
+was covered with earth rather than left exposed to the hand of
+Middle Age barbarians.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The systematic excavation of Olympia was undertaken in 1875
+by the German government. The work involved great expense,
+and the willingness of the Germans to undertake and execute the
+task has brought them much praise from the scholars of other
+countries. The excavations were completed on the 20th of March,
+1881.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[Pg 20]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">During these six years a space in the form of a square, measuring
+1,000 feet on each side, was stripped of the accumulated deposit
+of twelve centuries; the average depth of this covering was
+estimated to be over sixteen feet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Archæologically, this excavation involved expert care and much
+labor. Neither the care nor the labor was withheld. The result
+may best be described in the language of an eminent professor of
+classical archæology:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“The result of these excavations, carried on there at great cost
+and with supreme disinterestedness by the German people, has been
+to enable the traveller at Olympia not only to study the scene of the
+greatest of Greek athletic festivals, but to trace the celebration
+from hour to hour and from point to point. He not only sees the
+hill of Cronion, where the spectators crowded, wades through Olympic
+dust, and feels the sun of Olympia beat on his head, but he can
+wander on the threshold of the temple of Zeus, pass from building
+to building in the sacred enclosure of the Altis, and stand at the
+starting-point of the runners in the Stadium. Taking the guidebook
+of the old Greek traveller <a name="TN018_1" id="TN018_1"></a>Pausanias
+in our hand, we can follow in his steps, and out of broken pillars,
+truncated pedestals and the foundations of demolished buildings, we
+can conjure forth the beautiful Olympia of old, with its glorious
+temples, its rows of altars, its statues of gods and godlike men who
+conquered in the games, its treasuries full of the noblest works of art
+and the richest spoils of war. And we can people the solitude with the
+combatants and with the spectators, a crowd filled with the enthusiasm
+of the place and with delight in manly contests; a crowd over whom
+emotions swept as rapidly as chariots through the hippodrome, and who
+were ever breaking out into wild cries of delight, or loud shouts of
+scorn and derision. We can see the bestowal of the crowns of wild
+olive, and can hear the heralds recite the names of those who have been
+victorious.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Here, then, in the summer time was held the great athletic festival
+in honor of Olympian Zeus. At the beginning of authentic
+history it was already a venerable institution. We have already
+learned that early in the sixth century the other three Panhellenic
+festivals were modeled upon it. Many myths very early sprang
+into existence to explain its origin. Pindar, it is well known, in
+one of his Olympian odes makes the Dorian Herakles the founder.
+Of course, the myths do not agree, and if they did would establish
+nothing directly; indirectly, however, they show that at the time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[Pg 21]</span>
+of their first promulgation the festival had attained so approved a
+system, so wide a celebrity, and so great a prestige as to need accounting
+for and to be compatible with an exalted origin. And as
+a matter of fact, system, celebrity and prestige do not fall to the lot
+of an institution in the period of a single generation.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The festival was from the first under the charge of the Eleians.
+But so liberal a policy did this nation adopt and pursue that people
+from neighboring states were glad to send competitors. Rapidly
+the custom of resorting to the games spread to more distant states.
+From an Eleian event, the festival became Peloponnesian, and
+finally Panhellenic. The Athenians and Thebans at a very early
+date achieved splendid victories in these games. The Theban
+Pagondas was crowned victor in the four-horse chariot race in the
+25th Olympiad, when for the first time this was a feature of the
+festival. Thus one state after another turned its attention to the
+venerable celebration, and if it happened that a citizen of one state
+was crowned victor in a contest, interest in the games was sure to
+be increased in that locality.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Even in the absence of positive evidence it would
+be contrary to reason to suppose that the games were originally
+established as they existed at the time of Pindar. In fact,
+the different features were added successively. According to a
+fairly reliable tradition, there was originally and for twelve
+following Olympiads only one contest: the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span>,
+a foot-race consisting of a single lap of a stadion of two hundred
+yards. About 720 <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span>, according
+to the tradition, was added the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>,
+a race in which the stadion was traversed twice. Soon afterward was added
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>, or long race,
+consisting of seven, then of twelve and perhaps twenty-four laps.
+The next contest to be introduced was the wrestling-match. In the
+same year that wrestling was introduced, about the 18th Olympiad, the
+pentathlon made its appearance. This feature, though consisting of five
+contests&mdash;leaping, spear-throwing, diskos-pitching, running and
+wrestling&mdash;was nevertheless a single event, inasmuch as victory in
+one contest alone was not rewarded; an athlete to be crowned victor in
+the pentathlon must win at least three of the contests. Boxing and the
+chariot race are said to have been added in the 23d Olympiad. Thus the
+games grew more elaborate, and the time over which they extended was
+increased from a single day to five or six.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The festival was conducted by judges, called Hellanodikai, elected
+by the people of Elis a year beforehand. The number of these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[Pg 22]</span>
+judges was about ten; they were expected to give close attention to
+their duties. Thirty days before the festival, candidates for the
+various contests presented themselves before the Hellanodikai for
+examination. In order that the name of a candidate could be considered,
+he must prove himself to be of pure Hellenic stock, and
+must give evidence of having practised in a gymnasium for ten
+months previously; finally, the candidate must practise for thirty
+days in the great gymnasium of Elis, under the supervision of the
+Hellanodikai. The names of those who were able to satisfy the
+judges were placed on a white board which was exposed to view at
+Olympia. After an athlete had been entered for a contest, it was
+considered the greatest ignominy for him to withdraw for any reason;
+indeed, for so doing he was heavily fined. Theagenes, an
+athlete of wide fame, was unable to enter the pankration because he
+had been disabled in the boxing-match; but inasmuch as he had
+had his name entered for both events, he was fined.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Eleven days before the festival, the Hellanodikai caused to be
+proclaimed by heralds throughout all the cities of Hellas the truce,
+sacred to Olympian Zeus, which was to last a month. It was this
+truce that made the Olympia possible as a Panhellenic institution.
+During the month that followed the proclamations of the heralds,
+all wars between Hellenic states were held in abeyance, and travellers
+were allowed to journey through them unmolested. The
+awful name of Zeus coupled with the decrees of rulers made this
+truce effective.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">During the eleven days pilgrims from all over Hellas were approaching
+Olympia. Some of the scenes may be imagined. In the
+language of Professor Percy Gardner: “From all the shores of the
+Mediterranean and the Euxine seas the Greek colonies sent deputations
+to represent them at the games, to bear offerings to the temple,
+and to perform sacrifices on their behalf. And the Greeks
+readily took a tinge from the land wherein they dwelt. There were
+dwellers on the northern shore of the Black Sea, to whom continual
+intercourse and frequent intermarriage with their Scythian neighbors
+gave almost the aspect of nomads; and colonists from Massilia,
+who in dress and blood were half Gauls. There were people from
+Cyrene, with the hot blood and dark complexions of Africa, and
+oriental Ionians, with trailing robes and effeminate airs. There
+were rude pirates from Acarnania, and delicate sensualists from
+Cyprus.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To give a detailed account of the competitions at each of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[Pg 23]</span>
+great festivals would involve much unnecessary repetition. That
+held at Olympia, therefore, may be taken as the type and the ideal
+of the others. But even at Olympia, the celebrations of which
+have been most widely written of both by ancient and modern
+scholars, it is not always easy to determine the exact order of the
+various contests.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There is hardly a doubt that at the Olympic festival as
+well as at the others the foot-races were the initial competitions.
+Plato says that at his time when a contest took place the herald first
+called on the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="stadiodromos">σταδιοδρόμος</span>
+to do his part. The reason for beginning with the foot-race was
+probably an historical one; as has been said, it was originally the
+sole competition at the Olympic celebration. According to the old
+Eleian priest legends, the Idaian Herakles, one of the Cretan Kouretes,
+came to Elis in the reign of Kronos, in the golden age, and arranged a
+foot-race in which the victor was crowned with wild olive. The legends
+further state that the place thus honored by the priest of Olympian
+Zeus was afterward called Olympia, and that in time the celebration
+was repeated at intervals of four years. Of course the foregoing is a
+tale invented to explain the priority of the foot-race as well as the
+founding of the festival. Another legend recounts that at one of these
+subsequent celebrations Endymion, son of Æthlios, offered the kingdom
+of Klymenos, whom he had conquered, as a prize to that one of his sons
+who should be first in the foot-race. Such are some of the myths that
+helped to sanction and endear an inviolable Olympic custom. It is
+noteworthy in this connection that in the Odyssey the Phæacians had
+opened their games with the foot-race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The technique of foot-racing, the style of running most advantageous,
+and the training and qualities necessary for it, differ considerably
+with the distance covered. Accordingly very early in the
+history of the Olympic festival races of varying length were one by
+one introduced, and the variety doubtless tended to attract a larger
+number of competitors and to make the occasion more interesting.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">For thirteen Olympiads, however, the race called
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span> was the only
+feature. In this race the stadion was traversed but once. As the
+course of the stadion was about 200 yards, the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dromos">δρόμος</span>
+was what we call a sprint, and required that a runner exert himself to
+the utmost from start to finish. This simple race remained a favorite
+mode of competition among the Greeks until a late time&mdash;being
+practised by Alexander.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>, or
+double course of the stadion, was introduced in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[Pg 24]</span>
+the 14th Olympiad. This race required that the runner, after having
+traversed the 200 yards and reached the goal, should return to
+the point of starting. As he rounded the goal he described an arc,
+and on his way back took the opposite side of the track in order
+that he might not collide with other runners.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Very soon after the introduction of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippios dromos">ἵππιος δρόμος</span> and
+then the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span> were instituted.
+The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippios dromos">ἵππιος δρόμος</span>, which
+implies a horse-race, was in reality a foot-race, the contestant running the
+distance generally covered in a horse-race&mdash;namely, four times the
+length of the stadion, or 800 yards.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>
+was added to the Olympic games in the 15th Olympiad, and was,
+like our long runs, a test primarily of endurance and lung-power.
+The distance covered varied from seven to twenty-four laps of the
+stadion, or from less than a mile to about three miles. At Olympia,
+however, the distance was twelve stadia. As the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>
+was run on the same track on which the single and double races took
+place, it was really only a series of double races.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the 65th Olympiad, the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hoplitôn dromos">ὁπλίτων δρόμος</span>
+was introduced. In this race the competitors wore helmets and greaves,
+and carried shields on their left arms. <a name="TN022_1" id="TN022_1"></a>Pausanias
+claims to have seen the statue of Demaratos equipped with a round
+shield, helmet and antique greaves. At a later period, however,
+the helmet and greaves were discarded at Olympia, and the race was
+run with shields alone. The distance covered in this race was two
+stadia&mdash;the length of the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span>. Pindar,
+the poet laureate of the Olympians, mentions the race with shields,
+and with poetic privilege ascribes its origin to heroic times. Plato
+considered the exercise very valuable as war training, and prescribed
+it as a part of the athletics of his ideal commonwealth. Plato devised
+two other races involving armor: in one the competitor should be
+equipped as a heavy-armed hoplite, and should cover a distance of sixty
+stadia on a level plain; in the other the competitor should wear the
+light equipments of an archer, and should cover one hundred stadia over
+hills and valleys.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The running contests at the great games were governed by certain
+established rules. No fraud or guile was allowed to be used
+by the contestant on the track for the purpose of impeding his companions.
+They were very particular that all should start at the
+same time and from the same line, so that no one might have the
+advantage over the others. It was also contrary to rule for an athlete
+voluntarily to slacken his speed and allow his fellow-contestants
+to win. The competitors were appointed by lot and arranged in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[Pg 25]</span>
+groups. These groups raced in heats of four, ranged in the places
+assigned them by lot. The first group was followed by the second, the
+second by the third, etc. When all groups had finished, the victors of
+each again entered the contest and strove for the prize; so that every
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="stadiodromos">σταδιοδρόμος</span> had to win
+twice before he was crowned victor.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The physicians of olden times mentioned two other foot-races
+which in their opinion afforded excellent gymnastic exercise. The
+first of these was practised in the sixth division of the stadion and
+consisted of running first forward and then backward. In this race
+the body was not turned once, but the distance that was run forward
+was continually shortened by backward running until the
+contestant finally stood at the starting-point. In the second race
+the contestant ran on tiptoe with outstretched arms which he swung
+violently to and fro. It was practised along a wall so that, should
+the balance be lost, the runner could hold and support himself
+against it.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Among the less important foot-races were two that had
+their origin in certain local celebrations, namely, the torch race
+and the race of the vintage festival, held at Athens. Similar races
+took place at Sparta during the great national festival of the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Karneia">Κάρνεια</span> held in honor of Apollo.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the preparation for these different kinds of foot-races everything
+was done in the way of training that would tend to make the
+body as light as possible and increase its rapidity, although the different
+cities of Greece varied to some extent as regards the question
+of diet, rubbing and baths.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In practising for the foot-race the contestant,
+having divested himself of every shred of clothing and anointed
+his body with oil, was made to exert himself as much as possible.
+The exertion was often increased by making the run in deep sand
+instead of on firm ground; the foot having a less firm support, the
+runner was obliged to work harder and more quickly. In this way
+these exercises gave to the body not only great power of endurance,
+but also increased speed, and as a result the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichodromoi">δολιχοδρόμοι</span>
+possessed strong and well-developed legs. The shoulders and upper part
+of the body, on the other hand, owing to insufficient exercise were
+small and narrow. On that account Sokrates did not favor the races
+because they did not produce a harmonious development of the body.
+The skilled runner naturally strove to preserve an erect carriage
+while running, and to conform to all established rules regarding the
+contest.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[Pg 26]</span> In
+this connection it may be interesting to mention the strange ideas
+entertained among the Greeks regarding the influence of the spleen over
+the powers of the body. This little organ, situated behind the stomach
+on the left side of the abdomen, and exercising some function which
+still remains unknown, would in their opinion if diseased prove a great
+hindrance to a contestant in the race. In order, therefore, to prevent
+such a catastrophe they resorted to extraordinary means, namely, the
+use of certain plants which they believed would dissolve or eat away
+the spleen; or even to surgical operations, such as cutting or burning
+it out. On the other hand, they believed that a diseased spleen was
+greatly benefited by exercise in running. Laomedon of Orchomenos is
+quoted as furnishing an example of this kind.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The attitude of the runners we learn from vases. Those
+who were contending in the short race or dash swung their arms backward
+and forward alternately. This is beautifully shown by a painting on
+a Panathenæan vase in the possession of Koller. It represents four
+athletes running, hardly touching the ground with one foot, while
+the other is raised and moved forward in order to cover the greatest
+possible distance with one step. The hands are wide open; the arms
+are moved about freely and appear to act as the wings of the body,
+and their motion is in harmony with that of the lower limbs. Another
+vase, discovered in the ancient tombs of Volci, also shows a similar
+method of running. The athletes are moving rapidly, and using their
+arms as wings. On the other hand, those who were running a long
+distance clenched their fists and held their arms close to their
+sides, as do our modern runners. A peculiar custom prevailed during
+the games. It is said the contestants kept up a loud shouting in
+order to retain their courage, while at the same time the admiring
+spectators cheered wildly as some favorite or friend neared the
+goal. As the Greeks did not possess the modern mechanical means
+of communication, they had to rely mostly upon messengers; hence
+the great necessity for expert runners. To this fact is due to a
+considerable degree the development of agonistic and running contests
+in Greece. It is said that after the battle of Platæa all the sacred
+fires which had been profaned by the Persians were extinguished, and
+that <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Enchidas">Ἐνχίδας</span>, a Platæan,
+covered in one day the distance of a thousand stadia from Platæa
+to Delphi and back again, and brought his fellow-citizens the pure
+fire from the altar of Apollo. As a result of this terrible strain
+he sank to the ground and died. The Cretans were especially noted in
+the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[Pg 27]</span> <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>.
+Sotades and Ergoteles were among the most famous. The Arcadian Dromeos
+was another celebrated runner, having been like the former twelve times
+victorious in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>.
+Ladas, the famous Spartan runner, was also victorious in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dolichos">δόλιχος</span>,
+but according to <a name="TN025_1" id="TN025_1"></a>Pausanias died
+at the goal on completing a race.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Comparison of the speed of Hellenic athletes with that of
+modern runners is exceedingly difficult, because the Hellenes had no
+means of measuring minutes of time; they did not say of an athlete that
+he ran the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diaulos">δίαυλος</span> in such a
+time, but that he won (<i>i. e.</i>, surpassed his competitors) in a certain
+Olympic celebration.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Probably the next event was the pentathlon. This
+competition was introduced into the festival at about the
+18th Olympiad. As the etymology of the word signifies, the
+pentathlon consisted of five distinct competitions, enumerated
+in a well-known pentameter ascribed to Simonides: leaping
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="halma">ἅλμα</span>), running
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="podôkeiên">ποδωκείην</span>),
+diskos-throwing (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="diskon">δίσκον</span>),
+spear-throwing (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="akonta">ἄκοντα</span>),
+wrestling (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="palên">πάλην</span>). That the
+poet arranged the events in this order cannot be taken as positive
+proof that this was the real order, as it is hard to see how these
+words could be arranged otherwise in a pentameter. It is probable,
+however, that wrestling was the final contest. There is some
+uncertainty as to what constituted a victory in the pentathlon, but it
+is evident that the purpose of this competition was to develop what we
+call “all-round athletes,” and the assertion that the victor must have
+won three out of the five contests cannot be far from the truth.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In such a combination of exercises it would certainly be good
+athletic policy to make leaping the first contest. It may be questioned
+whether an athlete could leap so well after having engaged
+in the more violent exercises, whereas leaping itself, instead of disqualifying
+for the other exercises, would on the contrary rouse the
+animal spirits without bringing on exhaustion, and thereby put the
+athletes at once in good condition. For the leap requires not only
+vigor and elasticity, but also courage and determination.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The beneficent results of this exercise were recognized at a very
+early period by the Hellenes, although in the heroic world the leap
+was not considered so important as the other modes of contest. In
+the games of Achilles the leap is not mentioned. In the Odyssey,
+however, the <a name="TN025_2" id="TN025_2"></a>Phæacians, a
+light-hearted people, more fond of amusement than of war, are said to
+be skilled in leaping. It is in historic times, however, that leaping,
+as an important event in the pentathlon of the public games, acquires
+its technique, and receives the careful attention of athletes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[Pg 28]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">What may be called the pure leap, that is the standing
+leap without accessory aids, was not practised at Olympia. The leaper
+held in his hands weights resembling our dumb-bells, and known as
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>. To determine the dynamic
+advantage of these weights is not easy, but it is certain that with
+them the exercise required more skill, and accordingly more practice,
+that it called into play more muscles, and that it was more attractive
+to athletes as a mode of competition.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While little information can be obtained
+from classic writers concerning the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>,
+much can be learned from archæological specimens.
+<a name="TN026_1" id="TN026_1"></a>Pausanias describes them as
+having the form of a semi-oval, or inaccurately-rounded ring that
+could be grasped by the fingers as a shield was grasped. This
+description corresponds with a drawing of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
+on a vase in Hamilton’s second collection. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Haltêres">Ἁλτῆρες</span>
+of another shape, however, resembling very closely the modern
+dumb-bells, are seen on many other vases and gems. These had
+both ends rounded, and were narrow in the middle in order that
+they might be easily held. In Hamilton’s first collection
+are vases giving representations of these <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>.
+In the Museo Borbonico may be seen on a patera a drawing in which the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span> have still another
+form: when the hand has grasped the handle of these, beyond the hand,
+on one side only, a club-shaped part protrudes. The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
+were usually made of lead.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the pentathla, leaping never took place without <span
+lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>, which the athlete usually
+held directly in front of him, and then, as he sprang, brought behind
+him, thus helping to propel his body forward.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In addition to the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>,
+professional athletes made use of another aid&mdash;the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="batêr">βατήρ</span>.
+The latter was a board on which they stood before taking the leap, and
+which may indeed have been provided with a spring.</p>
+
+<p class="tp"><a name="TN026_2" id="TN026_2"></a>Pausanias especially
+mentions the fact that the leaping of the pentathli in the Olympic
+festival was accompanied by airs on the flute. This music was probably
+to open the pentathlon, the most splendid and stirring of gymnastic
+contests, as well as to increase the courage of the leapers.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The only leap that belonged to the pentathlon was the
+standing long jump. There is no trace of anything like the hop,
+step and jump. The figures of athletes on vases are represented
+not as running, but as standing and swinging the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>.
+Then, too, it would seem that in the running jump the weights would be an
+impediment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[Pg 29]</span> rather than an aid.
+With the aid of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="haltêres">ἁλτῆρες</span>
+and the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="batêr">βατήρ</span> enormous distances
+were covered. Phaÿllos of Rhegium is said to have covered more than
+fifty-five feet at a leap. But the record is incredible. Some German
+professors, however, are inclined to credit the record on the ground
+that the ancients had studied the theory of leaping more scientifically
+than have the moderns. For the sake of comparison the modern records
+in jumping may be introduced. On May 28, 1890, J. Darby of England,
+without the aid of weights, made a standing long jump of 12½ feet. At
+Romeo, Mich., October 3, 1879, with 22-pound weights, G. W. Hamilton
+made a standing jump of 14 feet, 5½ inches. A record of 23 feet, 6½
+inches, in the running long jump has been made twice: by C. L. Reber at
+Detroit, July 4, 1891, and by C. B. Frye of England, March 4, 1893. A
+jump of 48 feet, 8 inches, without weights and preceded by a hop and a
+step, was made October 18, 1884, by T. Burrows of Worcester.</p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">In the palæstra and the gymnasium, leaping was practised in
+many different ways, as through a hoop, or over a rope. That the
+high jump also was practised is evident from the fact that the athletes
+leaped not only over pointed poles fixed in the ground, but
+also over one another’s heads, after the manner of modern circus
+performers. Leaping from a higher place to a lower was also practised.
+Leaping took place in dancing and in various other sports.
+A dance, consisting principally of leaping was practised at Sparta,
+particularly by young women and girls. In this the dancers aimed
+to hit their backs with their heels. Aristophanes alludes to this
+custom in the following dialogue between Lysistrata and Lampito:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Hail! Lampito, dearest of Lakonian women.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">How shines thy beauty, O, my sweetest friend!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">How fair thy colour, full of life thy frame!</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Why, thou couldst choke a bull.</div>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lampito</span>.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent25">Yes, by the twain;</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">For I do practise the gymnastic art,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">And, leaping, strike my backbone with my heels.</div>
+  </div>
+
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="name"><span class="smcap">Lysistrata</span>.</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">In sooth, thy bust is lovely to behold.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tp">It is probable that in the Olympic pentathlon leaping was followed
+by diskos-hurling,&mdash;a contest of great antiquity. An old
+myth represents Apollo as a diskos-thrower.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[Pg 30]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The diskos was circular in form with perhaps an average diameter
+of a little less than a foot, and was made of various materials
+at different periods and places. The heroic diskos, as has been
+said, was made of stone, while that of a later period was of metal,
+and even of wood. The diskos in common use at the Olympic
+festival was metallic, and resembled a small shield.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the local gymnasia the size and weight of the diskos varied
+in order that an athlete might select one in accord with his strength.
+But in the men’s pentathlon at the public games a standard diskos
+was required,&mdash;uniform in material, form, and weight, in order that
+the strength and skill of the competitors might be impartially tested
+and the victory correspondingly awarded. There is considerable
+doubt as to the dimensions and weight of this standard diskos. It
+is likely that the weight was between four and five pounds. A
+specimen found at Ægina and now preserved among the bronzes
+at Munich is about eight inches in diameter and slightly less than
+four pounds in weight. But another specimen at present in the
+British Museum weighs twelve pounds.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There is also doubt as to the distance to which a skilful athlete
+could hurl the diskos. An extravagant record of one hundred
+cubits is preserved in the writings of Philostratos. It is probable,
+however, that one hundred feet was an extraordinary throw and
+was exceeded only by the best athletes. While it is unlikely that
+the throws of renowned athletes were carelessly measured at the
+time, it is probable that many subsequent accounts were more or
+less exaggerated. It is well to bear in mind that the statue of
+<a name="TN028_1" id="TN028_1"></a>Phaÿllos was greatly admired
+among the Greeks because that athlete had thrown the diskos ninety-five
+feet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It is interesting in this connection to note that at the International
+Athletic Games, celebrated at Athens in 1896, the victor
+in the diskos-throwing competition made a record of 95.64 feet.
+The diskos used in this competition weighed 4¾ pounds. Although
+three skilful Greek athletes participated in this competition
+and exhibited a technique much superior to that of the foreign
+competitors, yet the victory was won by Mr. Garret, an American,
+who though never having handled the diskos before threw it to the
+above distance, thereby surpassing the best throw of M. Paraskevopoulos,
+the Greek champion, by .64 feet.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">To return to the ancient contests, the Homeric heroes practised
+diskos-throwing without completely disrobing,&mdash;the upper garment
+only being laid aside. But at Olympia after the 15th Olympiad<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[Pg 31]</span>
+all clothing was dispensed with, and the advantage of entire nudity
+in this sport came to be clearly recognized. Nudity characterized,
+of course, the diskoboloi of the other great athletic festivals.
+Again, while the Homeric heroes did not anoint the body with oil,
+the athlete of historic times did not consider his preparation complete
+without it.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">After roughening his hands and the diskos with earth, in order
+to grasp it more firmly and handle it more deftly, the diskobolos
+ascended an eminence, called the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="balbis">βαλβίς</span>.
+When about to throw, the body of the diskobolos was bent quite a little
+to the right and forward. At the same time the head was bent to the
+right so far that it was possible for him to see the upper left side
+of his body. The right arm was now moved from below, first backward to
+the height of the shoulders, and then with a rapid movement forward
+it described a semi-circle, giving the diskos at once velocity and
+direction. In throwing the diskos, the diskobolos rested first on the
+right foot and then on the left. At the moment of hurling the diskos
+the left knee was slightly bent, while the other was kept backward.
+As the diskos left his hand he took one or more steps forward, like a
+person throwing a ball in a bowling alley.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Again we are indebted to the archæologist who has brought to
+the light of day not only statues but also vases and gems with
+their elaborate scenes of the diskobolos in various attitudes, for
+they reveal to us many facts about which the ancient historians are
+silent.</p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">In classifying these works of art three different attitudes may be
+recognized:</p>
+
+<p class="p0 p0a tp">(1) The diskobolos preparing to throw.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 p0a tp">(2) The diskobolos in the act of throwing.</p>
+
+<p class="p0 tp">(3) The diskobolos having hurled the diskos and still following
+it with his eyes, or where he has already been declared victor.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the Museo Pio Clementino is a statue representing an athlete
+about to hurl the diskos. In his left hand he is testing the weight
+of the diskos, but holding the right ready to receive it and hurl it
+into space. This statue was supposed by Visconti to be a copy of
+a diskobolos by Naukydes, the pupil of Polykleitos. Many other
+copies are also seen on vases and gems. On one of Hamilton’s
+vases the diskobolos holds the diskos in his right hand, supporting
+its weight in his left.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of the statues representing the athlete in the act of throwing,
+we will consider only Myron’s Diskobolos, the beau ideal of athletic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span>
+motion, famous even in antiquity. Eight copies in a more or
+less mutilated condition have come down to us. That which was
+found in the Villa Palombara in 1781 on the Esquiline is the
+best reproduction of the original. This statue passed from the
+palace known as that of the <i>Massimi alle Colonne</i> to the <i>Lancelotti
+Palace</i>, Rome, where it still remains. The attitude of the diskobolos
+is very nearly that described by Lucian and Quintilian. In
+the <i>Philopseudes</i>&mdash;1, 8, Lucian gives the following description of
+Myron’s Diskobolos: “Thou speakest of the disk-thrower, who is
+bending forward for the throw, with his face turned away towards
+the hand that holds the disk, and with one foot slightly pointed, as
+if he would raise himself with the action of throwing.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The statue reveals probably the most approved attitude of a
+diskobolos just before making a throw. The centre of gravity falls
+upon the right foot, which, though the leg is bent in a slight curve,
+rests firmly on the ground; both legs are bent at the knees, but
+the left more acutely; the right fore-leg is perpendicular, while the
+left is thrust backward obliquely; the left foot, forming a noticeable
+curve, is upright and touches the ground only at the tips of
+the toes; the thighs, close together, slant upward, making an angle
+of over 45° with the ground; the upper part of the body is bent
+forward, and is steadied by the left arm whose hand rests against
+the right knee; the upper half of the body is twisted to the right;
+the right arm is extended backwards and is straight; the fingers
+of the right hand, which is somewhat above the level of the right
+shoulder, firmly grip the edge of the diskos; the head is turned so
+far to the right that the right side of the body is plainly visible;
+the eyes are fastened on the diskos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It is evident that the diskobolos must have swung the disk in a
+semi-circle, and have hurled it from below forward, and that the
+whole body must have relaxed and readjusted itself as the right
+arm moved forward and imparted the pent-up energy to the disk.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The pose of the large cast in the Boston Athenæum, as well as
+that of the cast in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is not in accordance
+with Lucian’s description. Both represent the head as
+not turned aside but directly forward, with the eyes looking straight
+ahead. There is, however, in the Fourth Greek Room, a cast of a
+small bronze statuette, which is preserved in the Antiquarium at
+Munich. This is in many respects an excellent copy of Myron’s
+diskobolos. In the catalogue of the casts in the Museum, this
+statuette is pronounced especially satisfactory from an æsthetic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[Pg 33]</span>
+point of view because the line of equilibrium falls perpendicularly
+through the centre from whatever point of view the statuette is
+seen.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Besides this copy of Myron’s statue, we find on many vases and
+gems the diskobolos in the act of hurling the diskos. For instance,
+on one of Hamilton’s vases we see a diskobolos with a diskos in
+his right hand, while the right arm is bent and held forward, showing
+that he is on the point of moving the arm backward, and then
+forcibly hurling the diskos from below, forward. The left arm is
+bent over the head, the eyes are fixed on the diskos, the right foot
+is placed forward, so that the centre of gravity falls on the left,
+which is obliquely bent at the knee.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">We will now consider the third class of statues, gems and vase-paintings
+representing the diskobolos as having thrown the diskos,
+and still following it with his eye, or where he has already been
+declared victor and adorned with the palm. In 1754 there was
+discovered at Herculaneum the bronze statue of a diskobolos from
+whose hand the diskos has just flown. He is still standing, however,
+with the upper portion of his body bent forward, the eyes
+looking sharply into space, the face full of expectation. The position
+of the right arm indicates that the hand is only just freed from
+the heavy diskos. Both feet are placed wide apart, as may be observed
+in several other instances, at the moment of throwing. In
+the <i>Galerie de Florence</i> is a gem which represents a diskobolos who
+has been declared victor. He holds the diskos in his left hand, the
+palm of victory in his right. At his right stands a prize cup, while
+at his left is a tripod upon which is a wreath and a palm. A painting
+from Herculaneum also represents a diskobolos after having
+thrown the diskos.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">If space permitted, many other statues, vase and gem pictures
+could be cited to show the different positions of the skilled diskobolos.
+But enough has been said to show that to hurl the diskos
+through the air at once gracefully and effectively required the
+greatest skill and dexterity, and was an art acquired only through
+long practice. In diskos-throwing, distance, not height, determined
+the victor. He who threw the farthest beyond the mark or σῆμα
+was awarded the prize.</p>
+
+<p class="p4a tp">Diskos-throwing was a good preparation for war, as it developed
+great skill in stone-throwing&mdash;a very important feature in the war
+practices of the ancients. This exercise must have developed to a
+remarkable degree the muscles of the upper part of the body,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span>
+shoulders, arms and hands&mdash;especially those of the right side of
+the body. At the same time the feet were trained in a firm and
+secure step, and, although the diskos was thrown at no fixed point,
+the eye was nevertheless used and trained. So beneficial was the
+exercise in certain cases that it was often ordered by the ancient
+physicians. Among the Spartans the diskos was especially loved,
+ostensibly on account of Apollo’s contest with Hyakinthos on Spartan
+soil.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[Pg 35]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">III. THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANCIENT TIMES.</h2>
+
+<p class="tp">The third event of the pentathlon was spear-throwing. In the
+athletic training of an Hellenic youth, spear-throwing came after
+the hand and arm had been strengthened by ball-playing and
+diskos-throwing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Spear-throwing, as has been shown, growing out of the very
+early necessity of war-training, was a primitive mode of exercise.
+The spear (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dory">δόρυ</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="lonchê">λόγχη</span>) used by the Homeric
+heroes was very large, and as heavy as they could handle effectively.
+None but that warrior himself could wield the spear of Achilles.
+Hector’s spear was 16 feet long; the shaft was made of ash. A socket
+was fitted to the upper end of the spear, in which was inserted a
+bronze spear point. But that used at the pentathlon, and denoted by the
+term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="akôn">ἄκων</span>, was smaller and lighter.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The attitude of the body, the movement of the arms and shoulders,
+and the carriage of the head were very different in spear-throwing
+from those in diskos-hurling. The athlete stood erect,
+and raised his right arm upward and slightly backward; his right
+foot was generally placed backward, while his left was advanced;
+his eye was fixed on a goal straight ahead. He grasped the spear
+in the middle and held it in a horizontal position on a level with
+his right ear; sometimes he moved it backward and forward before
+throwing, but as often omitted such preliminary exercise.
+Sometimes it was thrown by means of a strap attached to it, as is
+still the custom in many countries.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In the pentathlon, spear-throwing was a test rather of skill than
+of strength; an athlete who could win the victory with the diskos
+might suffer defeat with the spear, although diskos-throwing required
+more strength than spear-throwing. Spear-throwing
+trained the eye and made the arm deft in executing the eye’s
+direction.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It conferred upon the body other peculiar benefits; the organs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[Pg 36]</span>
+of respiration were stimulated; the chest was strengthened and
+enlarged; the right arm was strengthened; in order to throw the
+spear effectively the athlete must maintain a graceful poise and
+have command of his entire body; to do so with a weight held
+aloft, strengthened the lower limbs, made their muscles more
+facile, and the step more sure.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">By inserting this particular exercise into the pentathlon the
+early Olympians not only recognized the foregoing advantages,
+but they also honored the characteristic exercise of their ancestors,
+and subsequent Olympians followed their example. For the
+spear was the traditional sign of the freeman; as far back as myth
+and memory could go, it had been carried, even in peace, as an
+honorable and distinguishing token.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Plato, in his scheme of the ideal state, prescribed spear-throwing
+as a training for war, and directed that it should be
+practiced by women as well as by men.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">At Rome, during the time of the emperors, spear-throwing was
+included among the gymnastic exercises of that city. Instruction
+in this art was received from the Mauritanians. But it is said
+that the Emperor Commodus surpassed even the skill of his instructors;
+in the amphitheatre he killed, according to the story, a
+hundred lions with as many spears; at another time he astonished
+the spectators by the dexterity with which he hurled his spear at
+the Mauritanian ostriches, as they ran by the amphitheatre at full
+speed; with every throw he severed a bird’s head from its body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">We have no accounts to show as to how far a Greek athlete
+could hurl a spear, but we know that savages of today can hurl it
+to a great distance. It is said by travellers that a Kaffir who suddenly
+comes upon game will hit an antelope ten or fifteen yards
+away without raising his arm.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The three events that have been described, leaping, diskos-throwing
+and spear-throwing, were probably the essential features
+of the pentathlon; that is to say, an athlete who won in all three
+events was probably crowned victor. If, however, the victories
+in the three events were not secured by the same man, the competition
+was decided by additional contests in running and wrestling.
+But as at other stages of the festival these two exercises were
+distinct events, a description of their technique may be omitted
+in this place. Among those who distinguished themselves in the
+pentathlon, were included some of the most illustrious men of
+Greece.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The pentathlon was succeeded by horse and chariot races.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Chariot racing, even as far back as the heroic time, had attained
+a high rank in the domain of antagonistics; it was, indeed, the
+first contest in the funeral games of Patroklos. (Il. xxiii.
+262-650.) In the minute and vivid description of Homer, the
+nature of the contest and the arrangements are very clearly indicated.
+There was no artificially constructed hippodrome. A
+flat, open plain, with its natural irregularities and without buildings
+of any sort, served as the race-course. The point of starting
+was on the sea-coast, but the turning point was in the plain of
+Troy. The goal, which was the stump of a tree, could be seen in
+the far distance only by its having two white stones leaning
+against it on either side. On account of the great distance, the
+spectators were not able to distinguish between the approaching
+horses. (Il. 450 ff.) Hence rose an altercation between Idomeneus
+and Aias, as to whose chariot was leading in the race.
+Achilles advised both to wait quietly until the horses were nearer
+and the order of the chariots could be recognized by all.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">With a very few points of difference, this description of Homer
+gives a good idea of a chariot race at Olympia. The difference
+consisted, first, in running the length of the course several times
+instead of once, in order that a body of spectators might witness
+the entire race; second, in the greater number of chariots, and
+third, in the arrangements, whereby they might start without
+confusion. In the games of Achilles, the chariots were five in
+number, each with two horses and a single driver, who stood
+upright in the chariot. As we have already mentioned, the
+Homeric hero made use of two horses in the race as well as in
+hostile combat, while the Olympic contestant did not limit himself
+to two horses. In fact, the four-horse chariot-race, which
+was introduced in the twenty-fifth Olympiad, was the first in
+honor and in importance, and always remained the most popular.
+In this contest, only kings, nobles, and the wealthy could take
+part, on account of the great expense involved in rearing fine
+horses, and in maintaining costly chariots. Very often, the victor
+had his triumphs recorded on the state issues of coins.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Races on horseback date from the thirty-third Olympiad.
+Philip of Macedon won in this contest, and celebrated his victory
+by having an enormous horse, ridden by a diminutive jockey,
+placed on his coinage. As this victory took place in the same<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[Pg 38]</span>
+year in which Potidaea fell into his hands and his son Alexander
+was born, he regarded that year as especially auspicious.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While the race of the quadrigæ of horses was introduced as
+early as the twenty-fifth Olympiad, that of the bigæ of horses was
+not introduced until the ninety-third Olympiad. A quadriga
+consisted of four horses harnessed to a chariot; a biga, of two
+horses. In the seventieth Olympiad, bigæ of mules were admitted,
+but in the eighty-fourth Olympiad they were excluded; their
+exclusion may be ascribed to two reasons: first, they presented an
+unpleasing appearance; second, among the Eleians, according to
+Pausanias, a curse had rested on the animals from ancient times.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Prior to the twenty-fifth Olympiad, all athletic contests had
+taken place in the Stadion. As chariot-racing, however, demanded
+more room, a separate race-course, called the
+<a name="TN036_1" id="TN036_1"></a>Hippodrome, was established.
+The site of the Hippodrome cannot be exactly traced. This is because
+the Alpheios has washed away all certain indications of its limits.
+But from the account of Pausanias (V, 4; VI, 20, 7 foll.) it may be
+approximately located; it lay to the south of the Stadion and extended
+roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east.
+The German explorers who excavated Olympia inferred from the state
+of the ground that the Hippodrome was about 2526 feet in length. The
+Stadion and Hippodrome were closely connected, the rear part of the
+aphesis, or starting point, of the Hippodrome adjoining the end of the
+Stadion. At the farther end of the Hippodrome was the goal outside of
+which the chariots had to turn. To round this goal with advantage, that
+is, to keep as close to it as it was possible to do without upsetting
+his own chariot or colliding with another, required long practice
+and great dexterity on the part of the driver; it was indeed a very
+dangerous feat; at every race a large number of the chariots involved
+were wrecked, and in such accidents the charioteers rarely escaped
+without serious injuries. According to legend, Orestes had met his
+death at a Pythian festival; his chariot colliding with the goal, he
+fell to the ground, became entangled in the reins, and was dragged or
+trampled to death. After every turning of the goal, the chariots were
+greeted with the sound of trumpets in order that men and horses might
+attain new courage and vigor after so dangerous an ordeal.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The signal for the chariots to come out from the rooms allotted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[Pg 39]</span>
+to them in the aphesis and form in line for the race was given by
+an eagle which, by means of mechanism, rose into the air at the
+same moment that a dolphin fell to the ground. Such a signal
+was characteristic of the Greek; but in the Roman races, the
+chariots started at the waving of a white cloth by a person of
+distinction.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The equestrian contests at Olympia were succeeded by boxing.
+Boxing for men was introduced at the Olympic festival in the
+twenty-third Olympiad, and for boys in the thirty-seventh Olympiad.
+But the sport was already very old, and its introduction at
+Olympia was probably a recognition of its popularity and antiquity.
+In fact, as the fist is the simplest and most natural
+weapon of mankind, it is not surprising to find that boxing was
+one of the earliest athletic games among the Hellenes. Homer’s
+detailed description of the contest of the invincible Epeios with
+Euryalos has already been mentioned, and Homer had probably
+heard many similar tales of the prowess of <a name="TN037_1" id="TN037_1"></a>Mycenæan boxers.
+Polydeukes, the bravest boxer among the pre-Homeric heroes, is
+said to have defeated the strong Amykos. The latter was a
+teacher of the art, and allowed no stranger to depart from his
+country without challenging him to a pugilistic contest. Apollo
+himself, the gracious companion and leader of the Pierides, is
+described as engaging in a boxing contest at Olympus with Ares,
+the powerful god of war; perhaps in this myth there is a suggestion
+of the advantage which the nimble and quick-witted boxer
+sometimes has over a more bulky one. In the mythical founding
+of the Nemean games, Tydeus was victorious in a boxing contest.
+In the passage of Virgil’s Æneid (Book V, 401 ff.), which so
+closely resembles the twenty-third Book of the Iliad, the aged
+Entellus vanquishes the young and boastful Dares. This contest
+showed a complete system of striking and parrying.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">It is quite likely that these and many other similar legends
+augmented the natural interest in the sport, and hastened its
+introduction into the greatest of all athletic festivals. But at
+Olympia the sport was marked with variations. Whereas, for
+instance, the Homeric heroes, when boxing, had protected their
+bodies by means of a girdle around the loins (Il. XXIII, 683),
+the Olympian athletes, being already accustomed to nudity in the
+wrestling and racing contests, dispensed with such protection.
+Again, from the first, Olympian boxers oiled the body, contrary
+to the practice of Homeric athletes.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[Pg 40]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">Probably very few of the tactics of modern pugilists were unknown
+to the Greek athletes. Some of the accessories of a
+modern ring-fight, such as the “preliminary hand-shake,” tossing
+for corners, etc., were of course wanting; particularly noticeable
+was the absence of ropes and stakes; there was no referee to
+enforce so strict a code of ethics as the Marquis of Queensberry
+rules, fair play being secured by the voice of the people. Grasping
+or hugging the opponent was not permitted; it was in the
+elimination of such tactics that boxing differed from the pankration,
+a combination of boxing and wrestling. Kicking was likewise
+forbidden.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The set-to of Greek boxers probably resembled very closely
+that of modern pugilists. The ancient descriptions of the manner
+of giving and guarding or blocking blows are rather vague; but
+on antique vases may be seen representations of boxers facing
+one another in well-balanced attitudes, their heads thrown back,
+and their arms well advanced, in the manner of the best modern
+pugilism. In a famous Greek painting of boxers, one of the men
+stands with his left foot and hand advanced, his left arm slightly
+bent, and his right arm held across his lower chest, in fact, just as
+Fitzsimmons or Corbett would stand when expecting a blow. In
+the beginning of the contest, the boxer was sparing of his strength
+and preferred to assume the defensive position, and so wear out
+his opponent. It was, of course, considered a merit for a boxer to
+conquer without receiving wounds.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The principal differences between the technique of Olympian
+boxing and that of modern pugilism must be ascribed to the use
+at Olympia of that cruel boxing weapon known as the cæstus.
+This consisted of a heavy thong of dry, hardened leather, wound
+about the palm of the hand so as to form a formidable ridge of
+considerable circumference; it was even rendered more formidable
+by being loaded with lead, and studded with little metal
+projections. This nail-studded covering was called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphaira">σφαῖρα</span>,
+and was unknown to the ancient Greeks. That it was very dangerous is
+shown by the fact that when used in the practice gymnasia, it was
+itself covered, in order that young athletes might become accustomed
+to its use before subjecting themselves to its deadliness. But even
+more brutal than these were the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="myrmêkes">μύρμηκες</span>,
+called the breakers or crushers of limbs. One cannot conceive of a
+more formidable covering for the hand, unless it be the terrible<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[Pg 41]</span>
+cæstus of the Romans, to which Virgil alludes in the memorial games
+of Anchises (Æn. V, 401): “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Tantorum ingentia septem
+Terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.</span>” “So terrible was
+the seven-fold bullhide stiffened with patches of lead and iron.” An
+examination of the representations of hands armed with this covering
+makes it evident that the straight blow or counter would not only fail
+to make the weapon effective, but would, if forcible enough, crush the
+fingers of the boxer between the leather and the adversary’s body. The
+cæstus must, therefore, have been used for round blows, or for the old
+English blow called the “chopper”; these were delivered by the back of
+the hand in an outward and downward swing, and, to be given without
+injury to the one who dealt them, required considerable skill.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and
+the wounds inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and
+nose, were very severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth
+were often broken or injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the
+Cyrenean, that his teeth were knocked out by his adversary, but
+that he quietly swallowed them in order to conceal from him how
+much he was injured; his adversary, disheartened by the apparently
+small effect of his powerful blow, lost hope and allowed
+Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially, were exposed
+to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were usually
+so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear” became a
+stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="auphôtires">αὐφώτιρες</span>, were invented
+for gymnasium work, but they were not used in public games. Boxers, on
+account of the bruises and disfigurations that usually marked their
+features, were the subjects of numerous epigrammatic jests. Here is a
+sample from the pen of a comic poet:</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses
+was recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by
+his dog, Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four
+hours, hast been so altered, that neither dogs nor any person in
+the town could possibly recognize thee. And if thou lookest at
+thy face in a mirror, thou thyself wilt swear that thou art not
+Stratophon.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a
+beard, eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed
+his name among the pugilists he lost them all.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside
+from skill in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn
+by boxers at Olympia.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and
+modern boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the
+contest, as do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their
+blows with certain inarticulate sounds, believing that their force
+was thereby increased. Modern stone-masons frequently do the
+same.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants
+was rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue,
+wounds or despair to declare himself conquered, which he signified
+by lifting his right hand.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In this connection it is interesting to trace the evolution of
+boxing in Greece. At first, of course, the bare fist was used; but
+as time went on, boxers learned to cover their fists and wrists with
+strips of undressed <a name="TN040_1" id="TN040_1"></a>oxhide, the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="himantas eutmêtous boos agrauloio">ἱμάντας ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς <a name="TN040_3" id="TN040_3"></a>ἀγραύλοιο</span>
+in the contest of Epeios and Euryalos (Il. XXIII, 684).
+Homer mentions these <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="himantes">ἱμάντες</span>
+as if they were very common. The name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="meilichai">μειλίχαι</span>
+was given them by later writers, because they dealt a mild blow; they
+are described by Pausanias (VIII, 40, 3) as made of raw
+<a name="TN040_2" id="TN040_2"></a>oxhide, cut into thin strips and
+braided according to the custom of the ancients. The strips were wound
+round the palm, leaving the fingers uncovered, at least enough so that
+they could be bent to form a clenched fist. As the name indicates,
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="meilichai">μειλίχαι</span> were not cruel
+weapons; they served not only to moderate the force of the blow, but
+also to protect the hand from injury. They were used at the Nemean
+games as late as the famous contest between Kreugas and Damoxenos.
+It is likely that with these soft coverings the technique of blows
+conformed more nearly with the modern technique. It has been already
+shown that the straight counter was rendered impracticable by the
+cæstus. But without the cæstus the Greek was very skillful with this
+blow. The Greek also understood the advantage of the cross-counter,
+a blow sometimes thought to be a comparatively recent discovery in
+pugilism. If the Homeric description of the bare-handed fight between
+Odysseus and the impudent ruffian and parasite, Iros, be analyzed, the
+blow will be found plainly involved. Iros, who is of gigantic size, has
+insulted Odysseus. A ring is formed and they begin to fight (Od. XVIII,
+73-231).</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[Pg 43]</span></p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">“On his right shoulder Iros laid his stroke,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">Odysseus struck him just beneath the ear,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">His jaw-bone broke, and made the blood appear,</div>
+    <div class="verse indent0">When straight he strewed the dust.”</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tp">The blow of Odysseus must have been a cross-counter. Iros
+leads with his left at Odysseus’ head, but the blow falls instead on
+his right shoulder. Odysseus avoids the blow just as a trained
+boxer would avoid a similar one today; that is to say, he moves
+his head to the left, and catches the blow on his right shoulder,
+at the same moment, “rising to the stroke.” He then crosses
+Iros’ arm with his right, strikes him beneath the ear, and breaks
+his jaw, thereby “knocking him out.”</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The introduction and use of the cæstus, brought about by the
+blood-thirstiness of the ancient mob, instead of being in the interest
+of further skill was decidedly a backward step. For not only
+did it improperly limit the technique of blows, as has been shown,
+but it was too sure a menace to the very source of human skill,
+the senses and consciousness itself.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Solon praised boxing from an educational point of view. Cato
+the elder must have entertained a high opinion of this art, for,
+according to Plutarch, he himself instructed his son, with whose
+education he took the greatest pains, in the art of boxing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that
+Greek boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic
+side. A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity
+were cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful
+grace and beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented
+as a boxer. Even from the medical point of view, boxing
+was highly esteemed. Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and
+chronic headache (De Morb. Dint. Cur. 1, 2).</p>
+
+<p class="tp">This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all
+parts of Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when
+a youth in a boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia
+and Elis were noted for producing skilled pugilists.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which
+were the final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one
+of the most popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of
+Homer. According to mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of
+Hermes, established the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="palê">πάλη</span>,
+while her brother, Autolykos,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[Pg 44]</span>
+is mentioned as the instructor of the young Herakles in this art.
+Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling to the earliest times and
+declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most ancient wrestlers.
+But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere desire to
+fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is said
+to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice it
+according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how
+Homer, in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian
+Aias and Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling
+matches were among the chief events in the famous games at
+Olympia and elsewhere. They were introduced earlier than
+boxing and were believed to show off the strength, activity and
+grace of the body to more advantage than any other contest. No
+other exercise required such perfect development of every muscle
+in the body, or an equal combination of strength and agility.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic
+sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern
+times. The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions
+and movements. Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to
+grasp his adversary in a certain place, but by a quick, cat-like
+movement would attack him in another which had been left exposed.
+Cunning was likewise practiced by the Homeric heroes.
+Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the hollow of the
+knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks, the observance
+of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking,
+kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing
+an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground
+that it involved grasping.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and
+symmetry as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their
+wrestlers were noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered
+advantageous for a wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased
+weight rendered it less easy for an opponent to lift him off the
+ground; second, it was easier for him, on the other hand, to overpower
+his adversary at the opportune moment. Nevertheless, a
+graceful style of wrestling, while less easy to attain under this
+condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes grace is the
+concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage over mere
+bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact
+was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[Pg 45]</span>
+in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere
+strength, the authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis
+not only his own statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says
+that Kratinos exhibited a more graceful style than any other
+wrestler of his time.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing
+and ground wrestling; the former, called the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="triagmos">τριαγμός</span>,
+was most common. The contestants stood upright, face to face, and after
+one had been thrown and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was
+the style practiced by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had
+thrown each other to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle.
+Victory was bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced
+in later times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers
+this style, as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms,
+shoulders, chest and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the
+combatants had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until
+one acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged
+especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown
+in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is
+of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so
+regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the
+Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this
+particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially
+advantageous.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the
+Greeks, the following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist
+endeavored to throw his opponent either by tripping him, or by
+grasping his foot with his hand. This latter style is differently
+illustrated on two vases. On the first vase the antagonist is represented
+as grasping with his right hand his opponent’s foot, which
+he has raised to a line with the middle of his body, while with the
+left arm he is further raising the thigh, thus forcing his opponent
+to the ground. On the second vase, the contestant has raised his
+opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the left hand, which is
+placed under the knee; both contestants are moving the right
+arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents the pankration,
+as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A
+similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist,
+whose foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms
+in order to drag him down if he should fall.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[Pg 46]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his
+opponent’s thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully
+illustrated by the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery,
+Florence, of which a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum
+of Fine Arts. Winckelmann considers these wrestlers to be the
+sons of Niobe, as they were found in 1583 at the same time and
+place as the Niobe group. According to the legend, they were
+engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s arrows.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The technical names of the various locks and holds which have
+come down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling.
+If one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts
+of the different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete
+list of movements, or if the most important parts of the literature
+bearing upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we
+might form a more definite conception of the wrestling match.
+To the student of athletics it may be interesting to mention a few
+expressions which have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature.
+The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="drassein">δράσσειν</span> which
+literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied to
+the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully
+illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases,
+gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers
+and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch
+designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the
+wrestlers by the terms <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="embolai">ἐμβολαί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="parembolai">παρεμβολαί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="systaseis">συστάσεις</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paratheseis">παραθέσεις</span>,
+from which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly
+clear imagery. The following Greek words,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ôthismoi"><a name="TN044_1" id="TN044_1"></a>ὠθισμοί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="periplokai">περιπλοκαί</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="lygismoi">λυγισμοί</span>, which literally
+mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by
+Lucian to express different styles of wrestling. The terms
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="synaphê">συναφή</span> and
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="katochê">κατοχή</span> used by Hesychios
+when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the wrestling
+match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced
+from his position is described by the term
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apagein">ἀπάγειν</span>, literally to lead
+away or carry off. <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Anchein">Ἄγχειν</span>
+and <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apopnigein">ἀποπνίγειν</span> describe
+the grasping of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration.
+This trick of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him
+until he acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning
+act. Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his
+elbow under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring
+the neck of the latter between his thighs<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[Pg 47]</span>
+and then exert such pressure as almost to strangle him. This occurred
+more frequently in the ground wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group
+of boy wrestlers, one of whom, while resting on his right knee, is
+firmly holding by the throat his opponent, who is on both knees; to the
+right stands a prize vase with a palm, to the left, an umpire with a
+rod.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hamma">ἅμμα</span> involved grasping
+the opponent in such a manner that he could be held in a position
+that would tire him and perhaps exhaust his energy. Herakles in his
+wrestling contest with the mighty giant, Antaios, was believed to have
+used this trick; but Herakles held his antagonist in the air. Running
+toward each other with lowered heads for the purpose of butting, after
+the manner of rams, also belonged to the province of wrestling, and was
+practiced by Lucian himself in the Lykeion at Athens.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Plato protests against right-handedness (Laws, 8-794). He
+demands that a trained wrestler, pankratiast and boxer should be
+able to use both hands equally, so that if his opponent should succeed
+in turning him around he could defend himself from the
+other side. The wrestler would sometimes endeavor to place
+himself behind his adversary by a quick movement, then wind his
+leg around his opponent’s body and throw him. If successful in
+this attempt he would choke him.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Besides these tricks there were others with the fingers. For
+instance, a wrestler would grasp his opponent’s finger-tips and disjoint
+or break them, not letting go until the pain compelled his victim
+to declare himself conquered. This finger contest sometimes
+preceded the actual contest, and was oftentimes the only feature.
+Sostratos of Sikyon was specially famed for this mode of contest;
+he was twelve times victorious in the Nemean and Isthmian, twice
+in the Pythian and three times in the Olympian games. Leontiskos
+of Messina, in Sicily, also practiced wrestling in this manner
+and gained his victory by breaking his opponent’s fingers.</p>
+
+<p class="p4a tp">In ground wrestling the athlete even attempted to break his
+opponent’s toes. Another special scheme which belonged to the
+standing wrestling was as follows: the contestant made a circle
+around himself and challenged his opponent to force him from
+his position. If the latter failed to do this, the victory belonged
+to the former. Especially noted in this style of wrestling was Milo
+of Crotona, the most famous wrestler of antiquity. When a mere
+boy he was victorious in the Olympic and Pythian games. Six<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[Pg 48]</span>
+times his head was crowned with the sacred olive of Olympia.
+Young men of the noblest families engaged in these wrestling
+contests. Plato, when a youth, is said to have been victorious in
+the Pythian and Isthmian games, probably in the wrestling
+match.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[Pg 49]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">IV. TOYS AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN AMONG THE
+ANCIENT HELLENES.</h2>
+
+<p class="tp">We have endeavored to describe at its height the system of
+professional athletics in ancient Hellas. Such a system must necessarily
+have influenced the more widespread practices whereby the
+young developed their bodies, just as today the system of professional
+athletics is a model for college training and exerts an influence
+upon the sports of even young children. But professional
+athletics, even in ancient Hellas, must be regarded as quite distinct
+from that important phase of Hellenic education called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In Sparta physical culture was a stern business and could by no
+means be styled a pastime; it was almost the sole requisite of
+education. But it was in Sparta that professional athletics were
+held in least favor. Spartan authorities did not delude themselves;
+being thoroughly in earnest to produce a race that was hardy
+and valiant to the last degree, and regarding physical culture as a
+serious and all-engrossing business rather than an exciting amusement,
+they quickly discerned that the specialism of professional
+athletics was detrimental to this end.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The greatness and welfare of the state was the standard whereby
+all Spartan life was regulated. The needs of the state were ever
+uppermost in the minds of Spartan authorities. They neither
+deluded themselves in their estimate of these needs, nor did they
+even dream of a compassion that would deter them from establishing
+and executing regulations whereby these needs would be met.
+In Sparta the unfortunate individual who did not conform in
+promise or attainment to the criterion of a Spartan citizen found no
+pity.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">And what was the criterion of the Spartan citizen? It was the
+man, without defect of body, who had learned not merely to stifle
+outward show of fear, but who had early learned to be absolutely
+fearless, who had learned to be calm while suffering agonizing
+pain; it was the man whose powers of endurance were very great,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[Pg 50]</span>
+who could march long distances over a rough country without
+fatigue, who could then halt and await the onset of an enemy with
+a glad and confident heart, and who could engage his enemy and
+be victorious; it was the man who loved combat.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Spartan state possessed absolute authority over its citizens
+through all stages of their lives. Even before birth that authority
+was exerted; for the state prescribed the age at which citizens
+should marry, and approved or vetoed all propositions of marriage.
+If at the present day we exercised the same care to bring sound
+children into the world there would be little need of being “born
+again.” Spartan infants were subjected to the judgment of a
+body of selected citizens, and if approved by the latter became
+thenceforth the objects of the care and direction of the state, but
+if condemned as not promising health and vigor they were killed.
+According to Plutarch unhealthy infants were exposed in the
+apothetæ, a sort of chasm under Taygetos (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Taugetos">Ταΰγετος</span>)
+and left to die.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Until the age of seven, Spartan children were left to the care
+of their parents, but even during this early period they received a
+foretaste of future deprivations and exercises. Their food was very
+plain and limited in quantity. Care was taken to eradicate the
+little fears of childhood. They were taught not to be afraid in the
+dark or when left alone.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Many interesting little sports were in vogue
+among Hellenic children, and it may well be believed that in
+Sparta they were practised with a peculiar earnestness. Most
+of the amusements of modern children were also the delight of
+Hellenic children, while some of the sports of the latter are
+no longer in use. Even the infant’s rattle (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="platagê">πλαταγή</span>)
+was a Greek toy ascribed to the invention of the philosopher, Archytas.
+Then there were hoops (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="trochoi">τροχοί</span>
+or <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikoi">κρίκοι</span>). The
+childish game of rolling the hoop was called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikêlasia">κρικηλασία</span>.
+The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikos">κρίκος</span> corresponded to the Roman
+<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">trochus</span> described by Horace (<i>Ode</i> 3; 24,
+57) and Ovid, as well as by Propertius, Martialis, and other
+writers. The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="krikos">κρίκος</span> was a
+large hoop probably of iron or copper. According to Antyllos, its
+diameter was less than the height of a man, reaching probably to
+his chest. The implement used in rolling it is said to have been a
+crooked-necked iron with a wooden handle, called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="elatêr">ἐλατήρ</span>
+(Mart. xiv, 169). Sometimes, as with us, the hoop was set round with
+small metal rings or bells which when in motion caused a jingling
+sound very pleasing to a child’s ears. Some regarded these rings<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[Pg 51]</span>
+as unnecessary, but Antyllos favored them on the ground that
+the sound they produced added much to the child’s happiness and
+engaged his attention in a pleasant way. Antyllos also considered
+this game to be a very healthful form of exercise and <a name="TN049_1" id="TN049_1"></a>advised
+that it be practised immediately before bathing and eating. The
+familiar top (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bembêx">βέμβηξ</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bembix">βέμβιξ</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="rhombos"><a name="TN049_2" id="TN049_2"></a>ῥόμβος</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="strobilos">στρόβιλος</span>), old as the
+days of Homer, was a common amusement with Greek boys, as in our own
+times&mdash;“<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="strombon d’ hôs esseue balôn, peri d’ edrame pantê">στρόμβον δ’ ὣς ἔσσευε βαλών, περὶ δ’ ἔδραμε πάντη</span>”
+(<i>Il.</i> xiv, 413).</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The humming top, used by Greek and Roman children and
+made to revolve by whipping, is also prettily alluded to by Virgil
+in the following lines:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poetry">
+  <div class="stanza">
+    <div class="verse indent0">“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,</span></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circum</span></div>
+    <div class="verse indent0"><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Intenti ludo exercent.</span>”</div>
+    <div class="verse indent25"><i>Æneid</i> vii, 378-380.</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tp">Kite-flying also seems to have been known to the Greek children.
+Stilts (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kalobathra">καλόβαθρα</span>) were much
+used by children and also by adults in certain mimic dances. The girls
+had dolls (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="korai">κόραι</span>) of wax or
+clay, and the usual paraphernalia connected with this ever popular
+plaything. Many of these, which still survive, show that they
+were painted and that the arms and legs were so fastened with
+strings as to be easily movable. The word <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="korê">κόρη</span>
+literally means a “little girl.” At marriage the Greek girls dedicated
+their dolls to Artemis, the Roman girls to Venus. If they died unwedded,
+their dolls were buried with them. The terms <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dagynon">δάγυνον</span>,
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dagys">δαγύς</span> and <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="plangôn">πλαγγών</span>
+were often applied by the Greeks to the wax doll.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The swing <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="aiôra">αἰώρα</span> occupied
+the same position in Greece as in our nurseries. Then there were clappers
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="plêktra">πλῆκτρα</span>), toy-carts
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hamaxides">ἁμαξίδες</span>), hobby-horses
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hippidia xylina">ἱππίδια ξύλινα</span>),
+toy soldiers and animals, made of clay.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In addition to these toys, many games may be mentioned.
+From the standpoint of education, games for children are worthy
+of consideration. For, if human nature is most plainly shown in
+sport, then from these games one can obtain a clear idea of a child’s
+character, inclination and intellect, the recognition of which should
+be of utmost importance to the educator. Games also furnish endless
+and varied material for the cultivation of the child’s mental
+powers and natural talents, which are developed by physical exercise.
+The Spartan children were superior to the other Greek
+children in the power of expression, although they were not so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[Pg 52]</span>
+highly educated. This is no doubt due to the fact that at a very
+early age the Spartan children were forced into a free life in the
+open air and to systematic gymnastic exercise. The Romans, also
+though they did not consider gymnastics of so much importance as
+did the Hellenes, did not neglect them. Being a warlike people,
+they began to develop and strengthen the body of the child at an
+early age. The sports of childhood are as important to the boy as
+work is to the man, and demand as much of his strength and
+intelligence. The victory in a game gratifies the child as a real
+victory in battle delights the conqueror. Besides, most games are
+imitations of the various occupations of adult life and cause the
+child to show a decided inclination for some particular branch.
+Plato, as well as other philosophers, recognized this fact. He
+claimed that a boy, in order to be skilled in a special line of work,
+should be trained to that work from childhood, and that his first
+training should be by means of his games. Such preliminary instruction
+should be followed by that based on theory and science.
+Experience has often corroborated this theory of Plato, and Hellenic
+life itself furnishes the best illustration of it. According to
+the legend, Achilles, attired in the garb of a girl among the
+daughters of the king, betrayed himself to the keen eye of Odysseus,
+by handling the weapons, placed by the latter among the ornaments
+which he offered for sale. Strepsiades, hard pressed by his
+creditors, says that his son’s extreme fondness for horses and
+chariots has ruined him, and continuing, he relates with pride how
+as a mere child his son had made tiny leather carts, moulded
+houses and ships, and carved frogs from pomegranate rind. (Aristophanes,
+<i>Nub.</i> 877.) Cato the Younger also, says <a name="TN050_1" id="TN050_1"></a>Plutarch,
+gave strong indications of his character by the games he played. The
+youthful Nero amused himself daily by playing with ivory four-horse
+chariots, thus indicating his future passion for chariot-racing in the
+circus. The distinguished men of antiquity, when at home, often entered
+heartily into the children’s games. The famous general, Agesilaos, is
+represented as riding the hobby-horse with his little boys. Alkibiades
+was surprised to see Sokrates doing the same thing while at play with
+young Lamprokles. The Romans, a more serious people than the Greeks,
+often sought recreation in ball-playing. Cato the Elder, and also
+Scævola, are mentioned as expert ball players.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Hellenes were thus well aware that uninterrupted employment
+was detrimental to both physical and mental life. This idea<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[Pg 53]</span>
+was most beautifully expressed by Pythagoras in his hygiene of
+body and soul. Therefore, in connection with the gymnastic system
+of the Hellenes, were developed many gymnastic games which
+did not require any special apparatus and which were not intended
+for tests of superior strength, but merely to furnish pleasant and
+suitable physical exercise.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ostrakou peristrophê">ὀστράκου περιστροφή</span>
+was often played. The boys arranged themselves in two divisions on
+either side of a line. One of them then held up a piece of broken
+crockery, or an oyster shell, one side of which was blackened with
+tar. One division chose the black side, the other the white. A boy then
+threw the fragment, with the words, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="nyx, hêmera">νύξ, ἡμέρα</span>.
+The advantage belonged to that side whose color appeared uppermost after
+the throw; this division then pursued the other; those who were captured
+were called donkeys and were debarred from further participation
+in the game.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="epostrakismos">ἐποστρακισμός</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 119), a more informal game, was played by boys on the
+beach, or on the shore of a pond. The sport consisted in “skipping”
+smooth, flat pebbles or shells over the surface of the water. The boy
+who “skipped” his pebble to the greatest distance, or, perhaps, made it
+cut the water the greatest number of times, was victor. This pastime,
+known as “Ducks and Drakes,” is still in favor with boys.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There were two games for testing bodily strength, the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dielkystinda">διελκυστίνδα</span>
+and the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperda">σκαπέρδα</span>. In the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="dielkystinda">διελκυστίνδα</span> a party of
+children separated into two divisions, each of which faced the other
+in a row, so as to give every member an opponent. Probably a line of
+some kind lay between the two divisions, and the game consisted in each
+boy’s striving to pull his opponent across it by means of a rope. The
+victory was decided when all members of one side had been forced to the
+other.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperda">σκαπέρδα</span> was
+a game in which a rope was passed through a hole made in a tree-trunk or
+rough pillar, at some distance from the ground. Two contestants then
+took their places on opposite sides of the pillar, with their backs
+to each other and each holding an end of the rope. If one of them could
+succeed in lifting the other from the ground he was declared victor, but
+so difficult was the feat that the phrase
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skaperdan helkein">σκαπέρδαν <a name="TN051_1" id="TN051_1"></a>ἕλκειν</span>
+came in time to be a proverbial expression applicable to very difficult
+tasks. This sport was one of the amusements at the Attic Dionysia.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“Blind man’s buff” was played with slight variations under the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[Pg 54]</span>
+name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chalkê myia">χαλκῆ μυῖα</span>, or “brazen fly,”
+very prettily described by <i>Pollux</i> ix, 122.
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="hê de chalkê myia, tainia tô ophthalmô perisphinxantes henos paidos, ho men peristrephetai kêryttôn: chalkên myian thêrasô: hoi de apokrinamenoi, thêraseis all’ ou lêpsei, skytesi biblinois paiousin auton, heôs tinos autôn lêpsetai">
+ἡ δὲ χαλκῆ μυῖα, <a name="TN052_1" id="TN052_1"></a>ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες
+<a name="TN052_2" id="TN052_2"></a>ἑνὸς παιδός, ὁ μὲν περιστρέφεται κηρύττων· χαλκῆν
+μυῖαν θηράσω· οἱ δὲ ἀποκρινάμενοι, θηράσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει, σκύτεσι βιβλίνοις παίουσιν
+αὐτόν, <a name="TN052_3" id="TN052_3"></a>ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν λήψεται</span>.
+One child was blindfolded and was obliged to capture one of the rest.
+With outstretched arms he groped about, repeating the words
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chalkên myian thrassô">χαλκῆν μυῖαν θράσσω</span>,
+“I will hunt a brazen fly.” The others responded
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="thrasseis all’ ou lêpsei">θράσσεις ἀλλ’ οὐ λήψει</span>,
+“you will hunt, but you will not catch,” and at the same time struck
+him more or less lightly with whips or threads of papyrus. When one of
+them was caught, he was blindfolded in place of the other, and the game
+repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytrinda">χυτρίνδα</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 110-113) demanded great dexterity on the part
+of the player. One child sat in the middle and was called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytra">χύτρα</span>. The others ran round
+him, pinching or striking him until by a quick movement he managed
+to catch one of them, who was obliged to take his place and be the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chytra">χύτρα</span> in turn. Sometimes the
+child ran about in a circle, carrying on his head a jar which he
+held with his left hand. His companions would strike him while asking him
+the question, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="tis tên chytran?">τίς τὴν χύτραν;</span>
+(who has the jar?), to which he answered, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="egô, Midas">ἐγὼ, Μίδας</span>
+(I, Midas). If he touched one of the children with his foot, that
+child had to take his place.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="chyndalismos">χυνδαλισμός</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 120) was applied to a juvenile play, which somewhat
+resembled our peg-top. The game consisted in flinging short, pointed
+poles into the earth, in the following manner. The first child holds
+his pole, directed downward, and then throws it so as to leave it
+standing upright in the ground. The second child then tries to throw
+his pole in such a way as to upset the first one and leave his own
+standing in its place. The former player then tries his skill, and so
+on. The arm and eye are especially trained in this game, which is still
+played in some countries, generally in the spring when the ground is
+soft.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game especially suited to develop attention was the following.
+The players formed a ring: One of them was provided with a
+cord which he tried to place beside another child without being
+detected in the act. If he succeeded in doing this, the one beside
+whom the cord was found had to run round the ring amid the
+blows of his playfellows; if, on the other hand, he had noticed the
+other when putting the cord there, that one would have been
+obliged to run round the ring himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[Pg 55]</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">A game resembling the modern jack-stones, in which five pebbles
+were flung from the back of the hand and caught in the palm
+in falling, was played under the name of
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="pentalithos">πεντάλιθος</span>. This game
+was much in favor with Hellenic women, as well as with children,
+and was said to be the favorite amusement of the famous beauty,
+Phryne of Athens.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The game of king (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="basilinda">βασιλίνδα</span>)
+consisted of feats, done by one child at the bidding of another,
+as a soldier would obey a king. Who should be king and who soldier
+was decided by lot.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A favorite pastime with children was the game called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="artiasmos">ἀρτιασμός</span> or
+“Odd and Even” (<i>Pollux</i> ix, 101), in which they guessed
+whether the number of objects one held concealed in his hand
+was odd or even. Dice, nuts, coins, etc., were used for this purpose.
+The amount won or lost was either the articles themselves
+or a sum of money staked upon the guess. Horace also in the
+Satires alludes to this game under the name <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ludere par impar</span></i>
+(<i>Satires</i> 2, 3; 248). Still another game of guessing was
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kollabismos">κολλαβισμός</span>,
+in which a child, with closed eyes, guessed who had given
+him a box on the ears, and also which hand he had used in striking
+him.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Greek children often played at the game called “hunt the slipper”
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="schoinophilinda">σχοινοφιλίνδα</span>), a
+piece of rope being used instead of the slipper. The modern “hide and seek”
+was the Greek <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="apodidraskinda">ἀποδιδρασκίνδα</span>.
+“Kiss in the ring” (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kynêtinda">κυνητίνδα</span>)
+is another ancient game of which, however, we possess no correct details.
+“Ride a cock horse”
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kalamou peribênai">κάλαμου <a name="TN053_1" id="TN053_1"></a>περιβῆναι</span>)
+was also an amusement of great antiquity, and was very popular both in
+Greece and in Rome. Horace in the Satires (2, 3: 248) refers to this
+sport in the following words: <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">equitare in arundine
+longa</span></i>.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Greek and Roman children played several games
+of skill with nuts, which resembled very closely our modern game
+of marbles. Nuts played so important a part in childish sports
+that <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">nuces relinquere</span></i> became a proverbial
+expression for “putting away childish things.” The nuts were
+pitched into a circle drawn on the ground called
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ômilla"><a name="TN053_2" id="TN053_2"></a>ὤμιλλα</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 102-3) or into a hole <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="bothros">βόθρος</span>
+dug in the ground. Those that fell outside the circle were forfeited.
+The name delta was given to a certain game with nuts in which a triangle
+was chalked on the ground, and marked across with lines or bars running
+parallel to the base. The player then flipped nuts into the triangle,
+winning as many nuts as he crossed bars, provided, of course, that
+they did not roll outside the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[Pg 56]</span> triangle,
+in which case they were forfeited. Therefore, the most skilful play
+consisted in driving the nut exactly to the apex of the triangle.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The ball (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphaira">σφαῖρα</span>)
+was not only a favorite toy among children, but it also played an
+important part in the physical exercises of youths and adults. No
+other gymnastic exercise was so popular among the Greeks and Romans of
+different periods as the ball games, though regarded less as a game
+than as an exercise for strengthening the muscles and cultivating grace
+and symmetry of body.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">They were a favorite pastime in the Heroic age of the Hellenes
+as well as in later times when Greece was at the height of its
+glory. The Romans of the old Republic, and even in the reign of
+the emperors, also sought recreation in ball-playing. The continued
+favor which ball-playing enjoyed is sufficient proof of its
+benefit to the body. The earliest mention of ball-playing is found
+in two passages of the Odyssey (vi, 100; viii, 370; compare <i>Athen.</i>
+i, 15, c. Plutarch, <i>Alex.</i> c. 73). In the second passage, Homer
+represents ball-tossing as an adjunct to the dance. The game was
+accompanied by music and Odysseus was surprised at the marvelous
+dexterity of the players.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">“And now Alcinoüs called on Halius and Laodamas to dance
+alone, for with them none could vie. So taking in their hands a
+goodly purple ball, which skilful Polybius had made them, one,
+bending backward, flung it toward the dusky clouds; the other,
+leaping upward from the earth, easily caught the ball before his
+feet touched ground again. Then after they had tried the ball
+straight in the air, they danced upon the bounteous earth with
+tossings to and fro. Other young men beat time for them, standing
+round the ring, and a loud sound of stamping arose. Then to
+Alcinoüs said royal Odysseus: ‘Mighty Alcinoüs, renowned of all,
+you boasted that your dancers were the best, and now it is proved
+true. I am amazed to see.’” (Palmer’s translation.) This choric
+ball-playing was very popular at Sparta (<i>Athenaios</i> i, 246), and
+long survived.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The beautiful princess, Nausicaä (<i>Od.</i> vi, 100), and her companions
+accompanied their game by singing, and the women of
+Corcyra at a later period are said to have followed this ancient
+custom. (<i>Athen.</i> i. 24 <i>b</i>.) At Sparta and Sicyonia ball-playing
+was also accompanied by music.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Athenians were so fond of ball-playing that they bestowed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span>
+the right of citizenship on Aristonikos of Karystos and erected
+pillars in his honor, because he was so skilled and graceful a
+player. The Spartans held this game in as high estimation as did
+the Athenians, and to them is attributed the invention of ball
+games. Among the kings of Greece, Alexander is mentioned as
+favoring ball-playing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In one of his plays, <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Plyntriai">Πλυντρίαι</span>,
+which was received with great favor, Sophocles introduced <a name="TN055_1" id="TN055_1"></a>Nausicaä
+at play with a ball. Only the Milesians, who were devoted to
+agonistic contests, disdained ball-playing, as it did not tend
+to increase athletic ability and was of no value in helping them
+to win prizes in the public games. Balls are found carved on
+ancient monuments and tombs, especially on those of physicians,
+as ball-playing was a form of gymnastics, and gymnastics as a
+foundation for dietetics was a part of medicine. A gymnasium was
+not considered complete without having a special room, called the
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>,
+devoted to the games of ball. A special instructor
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistikos">σφαιριστικός</span>) who
+had made a scientific study of the games was appointed to superintend
+this exercise, for it required much skill and practice for one to
+become an expert in this branch of gymnastics.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Romans were especially fond of ball-playing and considered
+it a pleasant pastime for men rather than for boys. Cato the
+Elder enjoyed a game of ball on the Field of Mars on the same
+day that he <a name="TN055_2" id="TN055_2"></a>received the
+refusal of the consulate (<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Oratio pro Archia
+Poeta</span></i> <i>c.</i> 6, §6). Cicero, however, in a public speech, decried
+ball-playing along with banquets and games of dice. The emperor,
+Augustus, enjoyed a game of ball. Pliny, the younger,
+relates that the aged Spurinna wrestled with old age by indulging
+in ball-playing. At the time of the emperors a game at ball was
+the most common exercise practised immediately before bathing in
+the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>
+(ball-court) connected with the bath.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The Hellenes practised this exercise entirely naked or in light
+undress. The Romans, on the other hand, never disrobed during
+the game, except in the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="sphairistêrion">σφαιριστήριον</span>
+and probably not always even there.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There were many different ways of playing at ball. Definite
+descriptions of some have been handed down to us, but of others
+we know simply by name. Pollux, Hesychios, Photios and Eustathios
+consider the game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ourania">οὐρανία</span>
+to be identical with that practised by the Phæacians, as in this,
+according to Homer’s description, the body was bent backward and the ball was thrown<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span>
+high up into the air. The players then tried to catch the ball
+before it touched the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The game called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="episkyros">ἐπίσκυρος</span>
+(<i>Pollux</i> ix, 104) at first peculiar to Sparta, was very popular
+and took its name from the line <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skyros">σκῦρος</span>
+which separated the two divisions. On either side of this line and
+parallel with it were drawn two base lines (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammai katopin">γραμμαὶ κατόπιν</span>)
+beyond which the players could not go in catching the ball. The latter
+was placed upon the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="skyros">σκῦρος</span>
+(whence the name <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="episkyros">ἐπίσκυρος</span>)
+and the players started simultaneously from their respective base
+lines. Whoever seized the ball first, threw it as far as he could
+toward the enemies’ base line. The object, of course, was to force the
+line of enemies back, by constantly returning the ball further and
+further over their heads until they were driven over their own base
+lines. In this case a swift runner must have had a great advantage over
+the others, by securing the first throw.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">A favorite game is described by the term
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="phaininda">φαινίνδα</span>). The peculiar
+feature of this game was that the player who held the ball
+appeared to aim it at a certain person, but really threw it in an
+entirely different direction, thus disappointing one contestant and
+surprising another. This game is said to have demanded the
+utmost dexterity of a flexible, elastic body. It also allowed a
+skilful player to display a fine carriage and much grace, as may be
+seen in the description of Damoxenos by Athenaios (<i>Athen.</i> i, 15, 7).</p>
+
+<p class="tp"><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="Neanias tis esphairizen heis ... hos epei pot’ emblepseie tois kathêmenois, hê lambanôn tên sphairan, hê didous, hama pantes eboômen">
+Νεανίας τις <a name="TN056_1" id="TN056_1"></a>ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς ... ὃς
+ἐπεί ποτ’ ἐμβλέψειε τοῖς καθημένοις, ἢ λαμβάνων τὴν σφαῖραν, ἢ διδοὺς,
+ἅμα πάντες ἐβοῶμεν.</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp"><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="ê t’ eurythmia, to t’ êthos, hê taxis th’ hosê en tô ti prattein hê legein ephaineto, peras ti kallous andres: out’ akêkoa emprosthen outh’ heôraka toiautên charin, esphairize d’ ouk aêdôs, kai Ktêsibios ho Chalkideus philosophos">
+ἤ τ’ εὐρυθμία, τό τ’ ἦθος, ἡ τάξις θ’ ὅση ἐν τῷ τι πράττειν ἢ
+λέγειν ἐφαίνετο, πέρας τι κάλλους ἄνδρες· οὔτ’ ἀκήκοα ἔμπροσθεν
+οὔθ’ ἑώρακα τοιαύτην χάριν, ἐσφαίριζε δ’ οὐκ <a name="TN056_2" id="TN056_2"></a>ἀηδῶς,
+καὶ <a name="TN056_3" id="TN056_3"></a>Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος.</span></p>
+
+<p class="tp">The <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="harpaston">ἁρπαστόν</span>
+was the name of a certain game at ball much in favor with the Greeks
+and also with the Romans of the time of the emperors. It required skill
+in throwing, rapidity of movement, power of estimating distance, as
+well as great care in catching the ball. The name of the game indicates
+that each player tried to prevent the other from catching it. This game
+is very frequently mentioned by Martialis, and according to him it was
+also played by women.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">The term <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="aporrhaxis">ἀπόῤῥαξις</span>
+was given to a certain ancient game at ball in which the ball was thrown
+to the ground with great force and continually struck back with the hand,
+as it rebounded. The number of times the ball was forced to the ground was
+counted. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[Pg 59]</span>
+victor was called king and could order the others about. The
+loser was called donkey (<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="onos"><a name="TN057_1" id="TN057_1"></a>ὄνος</span>).
+In another form of the game the point was to keep tossing the ball up
+into the air as long as possible with the open hand.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">According to Oribasios, Antyllos at a later period reduced ball-playing
+to a system, from a dietetic point of view. He made four
+divisions according to the size and kind of ball used, and which he
+described in detail. Galen also wrote exhaustively on the ball
+games, which he considered of great importance on account of the
+benefit which they imparted to the mental and physical powers.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In connection with these various ball games, they practised a
+peculiar gymnastic exercise with the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kôrykos">κώρυκος</span>,
+a leathern sack that must have resembled the modern punching bag on which
+pugilists try their fists. In form it resembled a ball, but in size
+and weight far surpassed the largest and heaviest ball. The
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="kôrykos">κώρυκος</span> was filled with fig
+seeds, meal or sand, and its size varied according to the age and
+strength of the individual. It hung from the ceiling so as to reach
+to about the middle of the player’s body. The bag was to be kept in
+increasingly rapid motion by swinging it to and fro with the breast
+and hands. The game is alluded to by Plautus (<i>Rud.</i> iii, 4, 16). This
+sport cannot properly be styled a ball game, although it resembled one
+in some respects. Athletes also engaged in this game, and the ancient
+physicians regarded this exercise as very beneficial, because it not
+only strengthened the muscles and nerves, but also tended to prevent
+corpulency.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">There are no records in classical literature to show that the
+Greeks and Romans used the bat or racquet in any of their games.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">At the early age of seven, the Spartan child was initiated into
+disciplinary exercises of a severe character. At that age he came
+under the charge of the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paidonomos">παιδονόμος</span>;
+this official was, in conformance with the direction of Lykourgos,
+one of the best citizens; he was expected to discipline the youth in
+all the exercises that were so nicely adapted to develop the Spartan
+citizen, and to teach him all the cunning and courage that would
+afterwards be required in his service of the state.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">In Attica a far different pedagogical scheme presents itself.
+When children reached a proper age, the training of mothers and
+nurses was succeeded by that of the school; hither they were
+conducted each day by the <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="paidagôgos">παιδαγωγός</span>,
+a special slave whose duty it was not only to conduct the children to
+and from school, but also to supervise their deportment.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[Pg 60]</span></p>
+
+<p class="p0a tp">In the Athenian school, gymnastics
+(<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>) was not by any
+means the sole course of training. The curriculum in fact included
+three distinct courses:</p>
+
+<p class="p0 p0a tl">(1) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammatikê">γραμματική</span>.</p>
+<p class="p0 p0a tl">(2) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mousikê">μουσική</span>.</p>
+<p class="p0 p0a tl">(3) <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="p0">Under <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="grammatikê">γραμματική</span>
+were included reading and writing, to which were added after the 4th
+century <span class="allsmcap">B.&nbsp;C.</span> elementary geometry,
+arithmetic and drawing.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">When the child was able to read and write with facility, he
+entered on the course called <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="mousikê">μουσική</span>,
+which embraced the study of poetry and music. Passages from Homer,
+Hesiod, Theognis, Phokylides, and Solon, and from many lyric poets,
+were read and committed to memory. Xenophon mentions in his Symposium
+(<i>Symp.</i> iii, 5) a certain Nikeratos who had committed to memory the
+whole of both the Iliad and the Odyssey. The boys were also taught to
+chant the poems they had learned to the accompaniment of the lyre. Much
+stress was laid on the moral effects of music.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">But from no system of Greek education was
+<span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>, the
+careful and systematic development of the young body excluded.
+Nor did this training cease in mature years; when young men left
+the palæstra, they found awaiting them the gymnasium,&mdash;an institution
+that was adapted to social as well as athletic purposes.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Nor did any Greek philosopher, as might, perhaps, be expected,
+ever dream of dropping <span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc" title="gymnastikê">γυμναστική</span>
+from his ideal scheme. In the Laws of Plato there is a detailed
+discussion of the education of children, and the plan is therein
+advocated of restricting the education of boys to gymnastics until
+their tenth year; the regular study of letters was not to begin until
+after the body had been made sound. Aristotle also maintained that
+gymnastic training should precede as well as accompany that of the
+mind.</p>
+
+<p class="tp">Enough has been said to show that the Hellenic ideal of manhood
+was not the mere scholar and subtle thinker, but the naked
+athlete with firm flesh and swelling muscle. It may be asserted
+that the mass of their young men reached during the best age of
+Greek history a stage of physical perfection which has never been
+attained in any other age or country. This is attested by thousands
+of statues of victorious athletes, not only in Olympia but
+throughout Greece. Although the Greeks had no cricket or football
+they had on the other hand a far greater variety of games
+than we have, and this variety made for the symmetrical development<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[Pg 61]</span>
+of the body. The athletic sports of Greece remained great
+and respected until excessive training and extreme specialization
+brought ruin to them; that is, when a boxer devoted all his time
+to boxing, and a wrestler to wrestling at the expense of a harmonious
+development of the body. The influence of the old Greek
+games upon sculpture, painting and poetry, as well as upon athletics,
+will continue to keep alive for centuries to come the ideal
+of a sound body for a sound mind.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<div class="chapter transnote">
+
+<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>
+
+<p>The following inconsistencies and typos were corrected:</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>accidently</b> to <b>accidentally</b>
+in “he accidentally killed by an unlucky throw” on page
+<a href="#TN004_1">6</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>greeves</b> to <b>greaves</b> in
+“helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves and shield” on page
+<a href="#TN007_2">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>greeves</b> to <b>greaves</b> in “The
+greaves, which were made of flexible metal plates” on page
+<a href="#TN007_3">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in
+“layers of tough oxhide” on page <a href="#TN007_4">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Mycenæn</b> to <b>Mycenæan</b> in “pictured on
+Mycenæan gems” on page <a href="#TN007_1">9</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>subtile</b> to <b>subtle</b> in “Only by
+subtle inferences” on page <a href="#TN014_1">16</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in “old
+Greek traveller Pausanias” on page <a href="#TN018_1">20</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“Pausanias claims to have seen” on page <a href="#TN022_1">24</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“according to Pausanias died” on page <a href="#TN025_1">27</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Phæcians</b> to <b>Phæacians</b>
+in “the Phæacians, a light-hearted people” on page
+<a href="#TN025_2">27</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“Pausanias describes them” on page <a href="#TN026_1">28</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Pausanius</b> to <b>Pausanias</b> in
+“Pausanias especially mentions” on page <a href="#TN026_2">28</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Phayllos</b> to <b>Phaÿllos</b> in “Phaÿllos
+of Rhegium is said” on page <a href="#TN028_1">30</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Hippodrom</b> to <b>Hippodrome</b>
+in “a separate race-course, called the Hippodrome” on page
+<a href="#TN036_1">38</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Mycenean</b> to <b>Mycenæan</b> in
+“the prowess of Mycenæan boxers” on page <a href="#TN037_1">39</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox-hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in “strips of
+undressed oxhide” on page <a href="#TN040_1">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἁγραύλοιο</b> to <b>ἀγραύλοιο</b> in “ἱμάντας
+ἐϋτμήτους βοὸς ἀγραύλοιο” on page <a href="#TN040_3">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ox-hide</b> to <b>oxhide</b> in “made of raw
+oxhide” on page <a href="#TN040_2">42</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὠθιομοί</b> to <b>ὠθισμοί</b> in “The
+following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί” on page
+<a href="#TN044_1">46</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>advsied</b> to <b>advised</b> in “and advised
+that it be practised” on page <a href="#TN049_1">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ρόμβος</b> to <b>ῥόμβος</b> in “βέμβηξ,
+βέμβιξ, ῥόμβος, στρόβιλος” on page <a href="#TN049_2">51</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Plutrach</b> to <b>Plutarch</b> in “Cato the
+Younger also, says Plutarch” on page <a href="#TN050_1">52</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἔλκειν</b> to <b>ἕλκειν</b> in “the phrase
+σκαπέρδαν ἕλκειν” on page <a href="#TN051_1">53</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ταινία</b> to <b>ταινίᾳ</b> in
+“ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός” on page
+<a href="#TN052_1">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἐνὸς</b> to <b>ἑνὸς</b> in “ταινίᾳ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ
+περισφίγξαντες ἑνὸς παιδός” on page <a href="#TN052_2">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἔως</b> to <b>ἕως</b> in “ἕως τινὸς αὐτῶν
+λήψεται” on page <a href="#TN052_3">54</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>περιβήναι</b> to <b>περιβῆναι</b> in “κάλαμου
+περιβῆναι” on page <a href="#TN053_1">55</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὥμιλλα</b> to <b>ὤμιλλα</b> in “a circle drawn
+on the ground called ὤμιλλα” on page <a href="#TN053_2">55</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>Nausicaa</b> to <b>Nausicaä</b> in “introduced
+Nausicaä at play with a ball” on page <a href="#TN055_1">57</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>recieved</b> to <b>received</b>
+in “he received the refusal of the consulate” on page
+<a href="#TN055_2">57</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἐσφαίριζειν</b> to <b>ἐσφαίριζεν</b> in
+“Νεανίας τις ἐσφαίριζεν εἷς” on page <a href="#TN056_1">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ἀνδῶς</b> to <b>ἀηδῶς</b> in “δ’ οὐκ ἀηδῶς” on
+page <a href="#TN056_2">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>κτησίβιος</b> to <b>Κτησίβιος</b> in “καὶ
+Κτησίβιος ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς φιλόσοφος” on page <a href="#TN056_3">58</a>.</p>
+
+<p class="tn">Changed <b>ὄνοξ</b> to <b>ὄνος</b> in “was called donkey
+(ὄνος)” on page <a href="#TN057_1">59</a>.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATHLETICS AND GAMES OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS ***</div>
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