The only inference which we are justified in drawing from the story of Tisamenus is that victory in three out of the five events was sufficient. This is expressly stated by a scholiast to Aristides, and is implied in a highly metaphorical passage in Plutarch describing the different points in which the letter A is superior to all the other letters of the alphabet.[[629]] It has been further inferred that victory in three events was not only sufficient but necessary. The writers who have taken this view generally assume that with several competitors competing against one another it would be unusual for any individual to win three events, and various elaborate theories have been devised to get over this difficulty. Of these theories by far the most reasonable was that suggested by Professor Percy Gardner in the first volume of the Journal of Hellenic Studies. He supposed that the pentathlon was treated as a single event, and the competition was conducted as a tournament, the competitors being arranged in pairs, and each pair competing against each other in all five contests. The winner of each pair, and therefore the final winner, must necessarily have won three out of the five events. This plan has the conspicuous merit of fairness and simplicity, but it is open to several serious objections. In particular, the passage of Xenophon quoted above seems decisive against it, for Xenophon’s words naturally mean that all the events in the dromos took place before any of the wrestling. There are many practical objections. The length of such a competition would have made it tedious to spectators and competitors alike, and it must have degenerated into a mere test of endurance, in which the elements of skill, activity, and grace which made the pentathlon so popular would have been lost. I need not dwell on the hopelessly unpractical modifications of this theory proposed by Dr. Marquardt, nor on the ludicrously unfair systems suggested by Fedde, and more recently by Legrand in Daremberg and Saglio, the principle of which is the arrangement of all competitors in groups of three. It will be sufficient to examine the two assumptions on which these theories rest, viz. that in an open competition it would be unusual for any competitor to win three events, and that victory in three events was necessary. If these assumptions prove to be unfounded, the raison d’être of all these theories disappears at once; for they have no merit whatsoever except that they satisfy these supposed conditions.
In considering the first point we must remember that the pentathlete was not a specialist in any one exercise, but an all-round athlete who combined strength and activity. Among competitors of this sort it is not unusual to find one or two men surpassing their fellows not in one event but in several, especially if most of the events require much the same qualities and physique. This was undoubtedly the case with the pentathlon. It is obvious that the same man might often win the foot-race and the long jump, or the diskos and the spear. Though less obvious it is equally probable that the diskos and the long jump might fall to the same man. It is not uncommon to find a hammer-thrower who is also a good long-jumper. The reason is that weight-throwing and jumping both require a harmonious well-timed effort of every part of the body. The use of jumping weights increased the resemblance between the two exercises; for the swing of the weights was not unlike the swing of the diskos. The general development and complete control of the muscles necessary for these events would give an equal advantage in wrestling, especially with men of the same weight, for the heavy-weight wrestler would be excluded by the very nature of the pentathlon. These considerations make it probable that the five events would commonly be divided between two or at most three competitors, and the few details which we know of actual winners confirms this view. Phayllus of Croton must have won the jump, the diskos, and the foot-race, for he won the stade-race at Delphi. Hieronymus won the diskos, spear, and wrestling. So apparently did Automedes of Phlius.[[630]] Diophon, the subject of Simonides’ epigram, apparently won all five events. The only example to the contrary is the mythical pentathlon of Peleus, in which none of the heroes won more than one event.
The pentathlon of Peleus is fatal to the second assumption that victory in three events was necessary. We must either reject the evidence of the story, or abandon the assumption. And inasmuch as there is absolutely no proof of the assumption, the latter is the only course. The principal evidence on which the assumption is based has already been stated. The utmost that we can infer is that victory in three events was sufficient, and was by no means an unfamiliar result. We may further add the statement of Pollux that the term used for victory in the pentathlon was ἀποτριάξαι, “to win a treble,” a statement confirmed by a quite unintelligible scholion on the Agamemnon. The word τριάσσειν is properly a wrestling term, meaning “to win three falls,” “to win in wrestling,” and so generally “to win a victory” or “conquer.” The cognate words τριάκτηρ and ἀτρίακτος mean no more than “conqueror,” “unconquered.” There is no evidence of the connexion of the word in early times with the pentathlon; but the fact that wrestling was the last event in the pentathlon is itself sufficient explanation of the late use of the word ἀποτριίξαι to denote victory in the pentathlon, especially if, as was frequently the case, the final victory was decided by the wrestling. It is, of course, possible that the word contained some allusion to a victory in three events, but this supposition is unproved and unnecessary, and certainly does not warrant the assumption that victory in three events was necessary.[[631]] Such being the case we may reject all theories based upon this assumption. Above all, there is no longer any necessity for dividing competitors into heats of two or three.
A common feature in the systems proposed is the gradual reduction of the number of competitors at each stage of the competition, so that in the final wrestling only two or three competitors were left. The only evidence for the theory in this form is the rhetorical passage in Plutarch already noticed—evidence as untrustworthy as it is possible to conceive. There is, however, more evidence for a modified form of the theory, viz. that only those who had qualified in the first four competitions were allowed to compete in the wrestling. This appears to me now the only possible conclusion from the words of Xenophon already quoted:[[632]] “The events in the dromos were already finished, and those who had reached the wrestling were no longer in the dromos, etc.” Such a system would give an advantage to the all-round athlete, and exclude the specialised wrestler. But what constituted qualification? It certainly was not confined to the winners in the first four events, otherwise Peleus would have been excluded; nor does it seem to me probable that only the two or three who had obtained the best averages in the first four competitions were permitted to wrestle. Speculation is useless; we must be content for the present to accept Xenophon’s words, and hope that some inscription or papyrus may be discovered to enlighten us.
Much has been written by archaeologists about the bye (ἔφεδρος) in the pentathlon. It is not a little curious that there is absolutely no evidence for a bye in the pentathlon at all. We hear of a bye in wrestling, in boxing, and in the pankration, but in no other competitions. Of course, if all competitors competed in wrestling a bye was unavoidable. But a bye necessarily introduces an element of luck, especially in a long competition, and we may be sure that the Greeks avoided it as far as possible. If only a certain number of competitors were admitted to the wrestling, the necessity for a bye could be easily avoided. German archaeologists, with a strange perverseness, seem to delight in introducing compulsory byes at every turn.
So far, then, we have established the principle that victory in three events was sufficient but not necessary. If no competitor won three events, or two won two events, how was the victory decided? The pentathlon of Peleus supplies the answer. Each of the heroes won one event. Peleus, besides winning the wrestling, was second in the other four events. Only two explanations of the victory of Peleus are possible. Either wrestling counted more than other events, an assumption adopted by various writers, but contrary to the whole spirit of the pentathlon, or in case of a tie at least, account was taken of second or third places, i.e. the result was decided by marks. These two principles, that the result was decided in the first place by victories in the separate events, and in the case of a tie by some system of marks, are sufficient to explain all possible cases, though the details of their application are uncertain. Let us try to see how the competition would work out on these lines.
The pentathlon began with the foot-race. The distance was a stade. The race might be run in heats if necessary; but there is no evidence for them in the pentathlon. The starting lines at Olympia could accommodate twenty starters, and it does not seem probable that there were often so many entries. The competitions in jumping, throwing the diskos and the javelin, were conducted as in the present day, all competing against all. The jump was a long jump; the diskos and the javelin were thrown for distance, not at a mark. Wrestling was conducted on the tournament principle. “Upright wrestling” only was allowed, and three falls were required for victory. Only those who had qualified in the first four events took part in the wrestling. If there were only two competitors, one of them must have won three events. Suppose there were more, at least five, A, B, C, D, E; there is no evidence that it was possible to win the pentathlon without being first in at least one event, and, therefore, what holds good of five will hold good of any smaller or larger number. There are only four possible cases.
(1) A 3, B 2, or B 1, C 1.—A wins by the first principle.
(2) A 2, B 2, C 1.—The victory would depend on the result of the fifth event which C won. If this event were wrestling, it would be reasonable to suppose that other competitors would drop out, and A and B would be matched together. If the event won by C was one of the earlier events, the issue must have been decided by the performances of A and B in that event, or perhaps by marks, i.e. by their performances in all the events.
(3) A 2, B 1, C 1, D 1.—This is a very doubtful case: the victory might be awarded to A as having won more firsts than any of the others, or it might be decided by marks.