1. The diskobolos holds the diskos in front of him in both hands (Fig. [76]).
2. He holds the diskos flat in his right hand which is turned outwards so that the diskos rests against the forearm. The left hand is usually raised above the head.[[582]]
Fig. 77. B.-f. kelebe. British Museum, B. 361.
The first of these positions is the natural connecting link between the preliminary stance and Myron’s statue. If no movement of the feet took place, we should expect to find that the right foot was always advanced. In many cases this is so, but in the majority the left foot is advanced (Fig. [77]). This circumstance can hardly be due to accident, or carelessness, or even to the tendency general in Greek sculpture to put the left foot forward. The uniformity of other details is remarkable. The advanced leg is always straight or nearly so, the other leg more or less bent. The right hand always grasps the diskos, the left merely supports it. We are forced to conclude, therefore, either that the thrower took up his stand with the left foot forward, or that, as the diskos swung forward in the left hand, the left foot was advanced. How then did he pass from this position with the left foot forward to the position of Myron’s statue? The change of feet may be effected in two ways—either by making another step forward with the right foot, or by drawing back the left foot. The former was the method adopted by some of the competitors in the Olympic games of 1896. Starting with the left foot forward, the thrower raised the diskos in both hands to a level with the shoulders and at the moment of swinging it back advanced the right foot, stepping forward again with the left in making the actual throw. This method requires room for three steps, the impetus being helped by this forward movement. The other method requires room only for one step, and the pendulum-like swing of the left leg, first forward, then back, and finally forward again, seems at least equally effective as helping the swing of the body, like the preliminary waggle of a golf club. Both methods are effective and it seems probable from the vases that both were employed. The former method is suggested by Fig. [79], the latter by Fig. [78].
Fig. 78. R.-f. krater of Amasis. Corneto.
Fig. 79. R.-f. pelike, in British Museum, E. 395.
