Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals

by E. Norman Gardiner

Fig. 80. Interior of Fig. 66.

An examination of the second type with the diskos flat in the right hand confirms these conclusions. This type is an excellent illustration of differences due to artistic causes. The attitude of the body varies from the stiff upright pose of archaic bronzes and vases to the graceful curves of the stooping figure on a vase assigned to Euphronius (Fig. [80]). Sometimes the body is inclined forward, sometimes it is upright, sometimes it is thrown well back. The essential point, however, is the position of the arms, and this is always constant. The diskos rests against the right forearm, and the left hand is raised above the head or stretched to the front. There can be little doubt that in all these cases the moment represented is the backward swing of the diskos. The position of the right hand turned outward is necessary to prevent the diskos from slipping while the left arm is raised to balance the body as it swings. The best example of this type is a beautiful little bronze, exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1903 (Fig. [81]). Here the right foot is well advanced, the right knee bent, and the weight, as in Myron’s statue, rests entirely on the right leg, the left foot touching the ground only with the toes. This is the normal position of the right leg: but just as in the first type when the normal position was with the left foot forward we found numerous exceptions with the right foot advanced, so here the left foot is occasionally in front.[^[583]] This variation points to a variation in the style of throwing. A thrower who has advanced the left foot in the forward swing, must, as we have seen, either advance the right foot, or draw back the left to reach the position of Myron’s statue. If he draws back the left foot, he may let go the diskos with the left hand first, in which case we have the diskos swinging back in the right hand and the left leg still advanced. If, however, he draws back the left leg first, he will for a moment be still holding the diskos in both hands but the right leg will be still advanced, and it is noticeable that on vases which show this attitude, the left foot rests very lightly on the ground and the body is slightly inclined forward. The precise moment at which the change takes place is just one of those details in which we should expect to find a difference in style.

Fig. 81. Fifth-century bronze. (J.H.S. xxvii. p. 18.)

We see then that while the principle observed in Myron’s statue remained constant, considerable latitude was allowed as to the movements of the feet and the style of throwing. Bearing this in mind, we may proceed to reconstruct the method of throwing.

Fig. 75. The Standing Diskobolos. Vatican. Copy of fifth-century original. (From a photograph by Anderson.)

(a) The Stance and Preliminary Movements.—After first rubbing the diskos with sand to secure a firm grip as described by Statius, the thrower takes his stand on the balbis, which is marked out by a line in front, and possibly at the sides, but not behind, so that he may take as many steps as he pleases. He takes his stand a little behind the front line, carefully measuring with his eye the space which he requires, so as not to overstep the line before the diskos has quitted his hand. This is the precise moment represented in the Standing Diskobolos (Fig. [75]). The care with which the thrower is planting his right foot, the firm grip which the toes are taking of the ground, and the consequent contraction of the muscles of the calf, all indicate that though for the moment the weight may rest on the left leg, it will immediately be transferred to the right. The position is one of rest; but it is the rest which precedes action, and every line of the figure betokens the readiness for action. Particularly noticeable is the direction of the head and eyes. The head is inclined to the right and slightly downwards, and the eyes are fixed on the ground a few feet in front; he is, as I said, measuring his distance. The right forearm is said to be modern; if so, the restoration is particularly happy; the position of the arm is found in certain bronzes resembling the statue, and the nervous curl of the fingers appropriately suggests the alertness which characterises the whole figure.

Starting, then, in this position, the thrower swings the diskos forward. He may either keep the left leg stationary or bring it forward. In the latter case he will be in the position depicted on the exterior of the Panaetius kylix in Munich (Fig. [17]). The left leg is advanced and straight, the body leans forward, and the right hand is extended to the front, ready to grip the diskos as it swings to the front. The completion of the movement is shown on the interior of the same kylix where the thrower grasps the diskos in both hands, his body leaning backward with a pendulum-like movement preparatory to the swing backwards.

The position of the standing diskobolos is reproduced in certain bronzes but does not occur on the vases. The latter suggest an alternative method of starting, the diskos being swung forward not in the left hand but in both hands. Such is perhaps the explanation of the figure on a black-figured lekythos in the British Museum (Fig. [82]) and of certain other vases.