Athletics and Games of the Ancient Greeks

by Edward M. Plummer

In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that Greek boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic side. A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity were cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful grace and beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented as a boxer. Even from the medical point of view, boxing was highly esteemed. Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and chronic headache (De Morb. Dint. Cur. 1, 2).

This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all parts of Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when a youth in a boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia and Elis were noted for producing skilled pugilists.

Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which were the final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one of the most popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of Homer. According to mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of Hermes, established the πάλη, while her brother, Autolykos, is mentioned as the instructor of the young Herakles in this art. Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling to the earliest times and declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most ancient wrestlers. But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere desire to fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is said to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice it according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how Homer, in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian Aias and Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling matches were among the chief events in the famous games at Olympia and elsewhere. They were introduced earlier than boxing and were believed to show off the strength, activity and grace of the body to more advantage than any other contest. No other exercise required such perfect development of every muscle in the body, or an equal combination of strength and agility.

Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern times. The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions and movements. Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to grasp his adversary in a certain place, but by a quick, cat-like movement would attack him in another which had been left exposed. Cunning was likewise practiced by the Homeric heroes. Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the hollow of the knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks, the observance of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking, kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground that it involved grasping.

While the Greeks in their athletic sports sought for grace and symmetry as well as strength, it is nevertheless true that their wrestlers were noted for their bulk. Corpulency was considered advantageous for a wrestler for two reasons: first, the increased weight rendered it less easy for an opponent to lift him off the ground; second, it was easier for him, on the other hand, to overpower his adversary at the opportune moment. Nevertheless, a graceful style of wrestling, while less easy to attain under this condition, was much sought after. And oftentimes grace is the concomitant of a skill that possesses a sure advantage over mere bulk. Very joyous were the Olympic spectators when this fact was demonstrated. When the boy Kratinos of Aigeira was victorious in a match in which skill was more apparent than mere strength, the authorities permitted him to have placed in the Altis not only his own statue, but that of his teacher. Pausanias says that Kratinos exhibited a more graceful style than any other wrestler of his time.

Two modes of wrestling were in vogue at Olympia, standing and ground wrestling; the former, called the τριαγμός, was most common. The contestants stood upright, face to face, and after one had been thrown and had risen, the contest was renewed. This was the style practiced by the Homeric heroes. After Aias and Odysseus had thrown each other to the ground, they rose and continued the struggle. Victory was bought with three throws. Standing wrestling was practiced in later times at all the great games. Plato, especially, prefers this style, as it develops the upper parts of the body, the arms, shoulders, chest and neck. In the latter, or ground wrestling, when the combatants had fallen they continued the struggle on the ground, until one acknowledged himself conquered. This kind of wrestling belonged especially to the pankration, and like that cruel contest was unknown in heroic times. Solon, according to Lucian, claims that this mode is of great value as a preparation for war. Plato, however, does not so regard it. Dion Cassius, in his description of a battle between the Romans and the Jazyges on the ice of the Danube, claimed that in this particular instance, familiarity with ground wrestling was especially advantageous.

Of the numerous tricks, feints and holds practiced by the Greeks, the following were the most noteworthy. The antagonist endeavored to throw his opponent either by tripping him, or by grasping his foot with his hand. This latter style is differently illustrated on two vases. On the first vase the antagonist is represented as grasping with his right hand his opponent’s foot, which he has raised to a line with the middle of his body, while with the left arm he is further raising the thigh, thus forcing his opponent to the ground. On the second vase, the contestant has raised his opponent’s foot and is holding it up with the left hand, which is placed under the knee; both contestants are moving the right arm as if preparing to strike. This probably represents the pankration, as striking was not allowed in the wrestling bout. A similar illustration is seen on a coin; but here the antagonist, whose foot is held by his opponent, holds the latter in his arms in order to drag him down if he should fall.

Another trick, in which the athlete wound his leg around his opponent’s thigh, was often practiced. This point is beautifully illustrated by the famous group of wrestlers in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, of which a fine cast may be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Winckelmann considers these wrestlers to be the sons of Niobe, as they were found in 1583 at the same time and place as the Niobe group. According to the legend, they were engaged in a wrestling match when slain by Apollo’s arrows.

The technical names of the various locks and holds which have come down to us do not give a clear and definite idea of wrestling. If one of the Hellenic gymnastes, who must have written accounts of the different modes of wrestling, had left behind a complete list of movements, or if the most important parts of the literature bearing upon gymnastics and agonistics had been preserved, we might form a more definite conception of the wrestling match. To the student of athletics it may be interesting to mention a few expressions which have come down to us from this ancient nomenclature. The word δράσσειν which literally means to seize or grasp the hand, was probably applied to the alternate grasping of the arms. This movement is beautifully illustrated on many antique works of Greek art, especially on vases, gems and coins. It was one of the chief manœuvres of the wrestlers and might have occurred at the beginning of the contest. Plutarch designates the different modes of attack, position and manœuvres of the wrestlers by the terms ἐμβολαί, παρεμβολαί, συστάσεις, παραθέσεις, from which general conceptions may be formed, but hardly clear imagery. The following Greek words, ὠθισμοί, περιπλοκαί, λυγισμοί, which literally mean pushing, grasping and twisting the limbs, were used by Lucian to express different styles of wrestling. The terms συναφή and κατοχή used by Hesychios when speaking of athletics, can apply only to the wrestling match itself. The movement whereby the antagonist is forced from his position is described by the term ἀπάγειν, literally to lead away or carry off. Ἄγχειν and ἀποπνίγειν describe the grasping of the neck and choking, in order to prevent respiration. This trick of grasping the opponent’s neck and then throttling him until he acknowledged himself conquered was considered a very cunning act. Sometimes the wrestler would obstruct respiration by forcing his elbow under the chin of his adversary, or he would attempt to bring the neck of the latter between his thighs and then exert such pressure as almost to strangle him. This occurred more frequently in the ground wrestling. On a gem is portrayed a group of boy wrestlers, one of whom, while resting on his right knee, is firmly holding by the throat his opponent, who is on both knees; to the right stands a prize vase with a palm, to the left, an umpire with a rod.