The literary evidence agrees with that of the vases. The passages of Pindar referring to a mark, with the exception of the passage already quoted on the Olympic games, have no necessary connexion with any competition, certainly none with the pentathlon. They are metaphors borrowed from the practice of everyday life. One passage in Pindar certainly refers to the pentathlon, two others possibly; all three indicate a distance-throw.[[610]] Lastly, Lucian, in a passage referring to Olympia and therefore to the pentathlon, definitely states that in throwing the javelin athletes compete for distance.[[611]]
Fig. 105. R.-f. kylix. Berlin, 2728.
The conditions for throwing the javelin must have been similar to those for the diskos. The competitors threw from behind a line which they were not allowed to overstep. This line was perhaps the starting-line of the stadium; it is certainly the τέρμα of Pindar’s Seventh Nemean Ode. It appears probable from this ode that a competitor who overstepped the line was disqualified from taking any further part in the competition. On a kylix in Berlin the line is marked by a pillar in front of, or perhaps on a level with, the thrower (Fig. [105]). Further, common-sense and the safety of the spectators required that the throw should keep within certain limits as regards direction; and this is implied by Pindar when in the first Pythian he prays that his throw may not fall “outside the lists,” ἔξω ἀγῶνοσς, but that with a far throw he may surpass all his rivals.
The javelins which we see so frequently sticking in the ground in palaestra scenes have been adduced as an argument to prove that no throw counted unless the javelin stuck in the ground; clearly an impossible condition with blunt javelins on the hard-baked ground of Greece. How the throw was measured we know no more than in the case of the diskos. Nor do we know how many throws were allowed. Various scraps of evidence have been brought forward to prove that two or three throws were allowed, but the evidence is quite inconclusive.
We have seen that from an early date the javelin was employed by horsemen, both in war and in the chase. At Athens, especially, horsemanship, was the duty and also the recreation of the richer classes. Plato tells us that Themistocles himself taught his son Cleophantus not only to ride but to throw the javelin standing on horseback, and in the Laws he recommends javelin throwing on horseback as a useful accomplishment.[[612]] Xenophon,[[613]] in his treatise on the duties of a cavalry officer, urges the latter to encourage his men to practise the javelin and to stir up emulation among them by offering prizes. In his treatise on horsemanship he gives further instructions. Velocity and distance are the most important points for war. To secure these, he tells us, the thrower must advance the left side of the body and draw back the right, straightening himself from the thighs and holding the javelin pointed slightly upwards. If, however, the object is accuracy, the javelin must point straight at the mark. At Athens there were competitions in this sport as early as the fifth century. At the Panathenaea five amphorae of oil were given for the first prize, and one for the second. In the second century this competition is mentioned in inscriptions relating to the Thesea. The Larisa inscription already referred to makes it probable that it still existed in Thessaly in the time of Hadrian.
Fig. 106. Panathenaic amphora. British Museum.
Fortunately we are able to supplement these scanty details from the vases. A fifth-century aryballos from Eretria, now at Athens, a fourth-century krater in the Louvre,[[614]] and a Panathenaic amphora in the British Museum (Fig. [106]), give vivid pictures of the competition. The target is a shield with a crown forming a sort of bull’s-eye in the centre, raised on a post to a level with the horses’ heads. The competitors gallop past this target, hurling their javelins at it as they pass. The javelins are pointed, and are held a little above the shoulder with the point directed slightly downwards towards the target. The riders on the Panathenaic vase wear the typical dress of the Athenian ephebos, a flat, broad-brimmed hat called petasos, and a bright-bordered chiton fastened over the shoulder. On the Eretria vase they also wear high boots, and on the krater in the Louvre the hats are replaced by wreaths, and winged victories hover over the riders bearing wreaths.
The Panathenaic amphora of course refers to the Panathenaic festival, and the festal character of the other vases suggests a definite connexion with some other festival or festivals, but we can say no more. The sport was probably a common one in Attica, Thessaly, and other horse-breeding lands, and formed an attractive feature of other festivals besides the Thesea and Panathenaea. There is certainly no ground for connecting it with the Argive Heraea.