Both men rise on tiptoe and hammer each other as hard as they can. Entellus is the bigger man and for a long time acts on the defensive, keeping his more active opponent at a distance. At last, tired of such tactics, he makes a big effort; rising on tiptoe to his full height he ostentatiously lifts his arm on high, thus giving Dares full warning of what is coming. The latter is not slow to take advantage of the warning; he dodges the ponderous blow, and Entellus, unable to recover his balance, falls to the ground. Exasperated by his fall, he picks himself up and chases Dares all round the ring till Aeneas in mercy ends the fight. Baulked of his vengeance on Dares he vents his rage and exhibits his strength by killing with a single blow the ox which is his prize. What a contrast to the finish in the Iliad when the great-hearted Epeius picks up his fallen opponent and gently sets him on his feet! What a contrast even to the fight in Theocritus! There science is matched against strength and science deservedly wins. Here both men are as devoid of science as Vergil himself is devoid of all knowledge of boxing; if either of the two has any claim to skill it is the defeated Dares. Entellus owes his victory simply to brute strength. A still more absurd result occurs in Statius; the lighter and more skilful boxer is declared the victor, but is only saved from the fury and vengeance of his defeated opponent by the intervention of Adrastus, who separates them. But the brutalities and absurdities out of which these later fights are concocted need no discussion.
Little is known of the laws regulating Greek boxing. The competitions were conducted in the same manner as wrestling competitions, on the tournament system, and to obtain a bye must have been a very great advantage. We learn from Plutarch that no wrestling or clinching was allowed.[[730]] It appears from the vases that there was no rule against hitting a man who was down. The successful boxer is frequently depicted as preparing to hit his fallen opponent, who under the circumstances naturally gives in at once.[[731]] On the other hand, in Theocritus and Vergil the fallen boxer certainly manages to rise again, either by his own dexterity or his opponent’s forbearance. It appears also from the story of Creugas and Damoxenus[[732]] that when a fight had continued long without any result, the combatants sometimes agreed to exchange free hits without guarding. A similar practice in wrestling was called κλῖμαξ. It is further argued from this story that cases of fatal injury inflicted on an opponent were severely punished; but the evidence seems insufficient to justify a general statement. In the cases quoted in support of such a law the offence appears to have consisted in some unlawful and intentional act of violence.[[733]] Fatal accidents were certain to occur occasionally; but there is no evidence that they were at all frequent, nor do they seem to have been punished. It is not clear what the offence was for which Damoxenus was dishonoured and deprived of his victory. Pausanias seems to imply that because he hit Creugas with his fingers extended, he hit several blows at the same time. Was hitting with the hand open prohibited? It is certainly a reasonable prohibition. Or can it be that hitting in the stomach was prohibited? We have no evidence for deciding.
Fig. 149. Marble head of boxer, with ear-lappets.
Fig. 150. B.-f. hydria, in British Museum, B. 326.
We are not told how the Greeks taught boxing; perhaps it was in the same way as they taught wrestling, by a sort of drill. Boys in the palaestra had their ears and heads protected with ear-lappets (ἀμφωτίδες or ἐπωτίδες)[[734]] or caps. The former are represented on a marble head formerly in possession of Fabretti (Fig. [149]).[[735]] They closely resemble the ear-caps worn by modern football players, and were probably made of padded leather. On the vases a close-fitting cap is often represented (Fig. [17]). Such protection was used both in wrestling and boxing, but only, it seems, for practice and by boys, never in public competitions. Boxers kept themselves in training by light sparring with open hands, which was therefore known as ἀκροχειρισμός.[[736]] An example of such sparring may be seen on an early black-figured hydria in the British Museum (Fig. [150]), or on the kylix in Fig. [151]. In default of an opponent they practised “shadow-fighting” (σκιαμαχία),[[737]] just as a modern athlete will practise in front of a looking-glass. The statue of the famous Glaucus represented him “shadow-fighting” because of his skill in the use of his hands.[[738]] This form of practice was also known as χειρονομία, or hand drill. Sometimes a κώρυκος or punch-ball was employed (Fig. [179]).[[739]] An exercise much recommended for boxers was digging, and the pick (σκαπάνη) was therefore regarded as the badge of a boxer.[[740]]
CHAPTER XX
THE PANKRATION[[741]]
The combination of boxing and wrestling known as the pankration was a development of the primitive rough and tumble. To get his opponent down, and by throttling, pummelling, biting, and kicking, to reduce him to submission, is the natural instinct of the savage or the child. But this rough and tumble was too undisciplined for athletic competition. Competitions require law, and in the growth of law the simpler precedes the more complex. Hence it was only natural that particular forms of fighting such as boxing and wrestling should be systematized first, and so made suitable for competition, before any attempt was made to reduce to law the more complicated rough and tumble of which they both formed part. Wrestling and boxing were known to Homer, but not the pankration, and Greek tradition was following the natural order of development in assigning the introduction at Olympia of wrestling to the 18th, of boxing to the 23rd, and of the pankration to the 33rd Olympiad. In the pankration as in boxing the contest continued till one or other of the parties held up his hand in sign of defeat. At Sparta, where for this reason the laws of Lycurgus forbade citizens to compete in these events, the primitive rough and tumble unrestricted by law and unrefined by science was allowed and encouraged as a test of endurance and a training for war. The pankration at the great festivals was something quite different; it was governed by the law of the games (νόμος ἐναγώνιος), and was, at all events in the best period, a contest no less of skill than of strength.
