Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art

by Walter Woodburn Hyde

The erection of a statue in the Altis at Olympia was an honor which the Elean officers in charge of the games[252] gave to victors to glorify their victory.[253] Pliny, in a well-known passage of the Historia Naturalis,[254] says it was customary for all victors to set up statues, while Pausanias[255] says not all athletes did this, for “some of those who specially distinguished themselves in the games ... have had no statues.” This apparent contradiction in the statements of the two writers is to be explained, as Dittenberger[256] and others have pointed out, on the ground that Pliny states the general privilege extended to the victor, while Pausanias states its practical working out, since the setting up of a statue was an undertaking which would be limited by the early death, poverty, or some other disability of the victorious athlete. The cost of making, transporting, and setting up a statue was considerable, and very often a victor must have been too poor to do it. In such a case he would often be contented to set up merely a statuette or small figure in bronze or marble. Several such bronze figures have been unearthed at Olympia,[257] one of which we reproduce in Fig. [2], and we have many examples found outside the Altis: e. g., a group of wrestlers,[258]

Fig. 2.—Bronze Statuette of a Victor, from Olympia. Museum of Olympia. a boxer,[259] and the arm of a quoit-thrower[260] from the Athenian Akropolis, an archaic girl runner from Dodona,[261] an archaic statuette from Delphi with a loin-cloth,[262] a bronze quoit-thrower dedicated in the Kabeirion,[263] the Tuebingen bronze hoplite runner[264] (Fig. [42]), and the statuette of a παῖς κέλης from Dodona.[265] We should also mention the great number of statuettes of diskos-throwers in modern museums.[266] Boy victors especially would use the less expensive marble for such statuettes and we have the remnants of many such found in the excavations of the Altis.[267] Pausanias mentions several monuments which were less than life-size, e. g., a horse among the offerings of Phormis, which he says was “much inferior in size and shape to all other statues of horses in the Altis,”[268] and the equestrian monuments already discussed. Even reliefs and paintings, in some cases, were offered in lieu of larger monuments, not only for reasons of economy, but also because they gave a better representation of the contest. This custom was common at the lesser games, especially at the Panathenaia.[269] Pausanias mentions painted iconic reliefs vowed by girl runners at the games in honor of Hera at Olympia.[270] On an Attic vase in Munich a victor is represented as holding an iconic votive pinax in his hands.[271] Pausanias speaks of a painting by Timainetos at Athens, which represented a boy carrying hydriæ,[272] and one of a wrestler by the same artist in the Pinakotheke on the Akropolis. Pliny mentions paintings, the works of great masters, representing victors: thus the currentes quadrigae by the elder Aristeides of Thebes,[273] a victor certamine gymnico palmam tenens by Eupompos,[274] an athlete by Zeuxis,[275] the victor Aratos with a trophy by Leontiskos,[276] an athlete by Protogenes,[277] two hoplite runners by Parrhasios,[278] a luctator tubicenque by Antidotos and a warrior by the same artist, in Athens,[279] which represented a man fighting with a shield, and a man anointing himself, the work of the painter Theoros.[280]

Apparently the Hellanodikai allowed but one statue for each victory. Aischines the Elean had two victories and two statues.[281] Dikon of Kaulonia and Syracuse had three victories and three statues.[282] The Spartan Lykinos had two victories and two statues by Myron, but we have already said that the second statue was probably that of his charioteer, the two forming part of an equestrian group.[283] Kapros of Elis won two victories and had as many statues.[284] On the other hand Troilos of Elis, who won in two events, had only one statue.[285] Similarly Arkesilaos of Sparta had two victories in the chariot-race and only one statue.[286] Xenombrotos of Cos, who appears to have won once only, had, however, two monuments, one mentioned by Pausanias and the other known to us from the recovered inscription.[287] But this last case seems to be the only known exception.

When the victor was unable to set up his monument, whether because of youth, poverty, early death, or other reason, sometimes the privilege was utilized by a relative, a friend, or by his native city. In any case it was a private affair with which the Elean officials had no concern. We have examples, consequently, of the statue being set up by the son,[288] father (especially in recovered inscriptions after the time of Augustus),[289] mother,[290] and brother;[291] also several examples of statues reared in honor of athletes by fellow citizens.[292] There are cases in which the trainer set up the statue.[293] Frequently the native city performed the duty, dedicating the statue either at Olympia or in the victor’s city. Thus Oibotas, who won the stade-race in Ol. 6 ( = 756 B. C.), had a statue at Olympia which was erected by the Achæan state out of deference to a command of the Delphian oracle in Ol. 80 ( = 460 B. C.).[294] The statue of Agenor, by Polykleitos the Younger, a boy wrestler from Thebes, was dedicated by the confederacy of Phokis, because his father was a public friend of the nation.[295] The boy runner Herodotos of Klazomenai had a statue erected by his native town at Olympia because he was the first victor from there.[296] Philinos of Kos had a statue set up by the people of Kos at Olympia “because of glory won,” for he was victor five times in running at Olympia, four at Delphi, four at Nemea, and eleven at the Isthmus.[297] Hermesianax of Kolophon had a statue at Olympia erected by his city.[298] The pancratiast Promachos of Pellene had two statues erected to him by his fellow citizens, one at Olympia, the other in Pellene.[299] We know of three state dedications of statues at Olympia from inscriptions, those of Aristophon of Athens,[300] of Epitherses of Erythrai,[301] and of Polyxenos by the people of Zakynthos.[302] Lichas of Sparta, at a date when the Spartans were excluded from the games, entered his chariot in the name of the Theban people, and Pausanias says that his victory was so entered on the Elean register.[303] We learn from the OxyrhynchusPapyri that the public horse of the Argives won at Olympia in Ol. 75 ( = 480 B. C.) and the public chariot in Ol. 77 ( = 472 B. C.).[304] In these latter two cases the public was directly interested, and had there been monuments erected to commemorate the victories they would naturally have been set up by the state.

It has been wrongly assumed that monuments of boy victors were dedicated in the name of their parents or relatives.[305] On the contrary, we have examples dating back to the fifth century B. C. of boys setting up statues at Olympia. Thus the inscription from the base of the statue of Tellon, who won in the boys’ boxing match in Ol. 77 ( = 472 B. C.), states that he dedicated his own statue.[306] Pausanias says that the Eleans allowed the boy wrestler Kratinos from Aigeira to erect a statue of his trainer.[307] Of course the boy might need assistance in the undertaking, but this again was no concern of the Elean officials, who granted the privilege to the victor and not to his relatives. Usually the statue of a victor was erected soon after the victory. We have some examples of the statue being erected immediately after the victory, especially in the case of men victors. Thus Pausanias says that the victor Eubotas of Kyrene, in consequence of a Libyan oracle foretelling his victory in the foot-race, had his statue made before coming to Olympia and erected it “the very day on which he was proclaimed victor.”[308] The famous Milo of Kroton spectacularly carried his statue into the Altis on his back before he entered the contest.[309] There are also examples of statues being erected long after the victory, sometimes centuries later. We have already mentioned that a statue was erected to Oibotas in Ol. 80, though his victory was won in Ol. 6. Chionis, who won in running races in Ols. 28–31 ( = 668–656 B. C.) had a statue by Myron erected to his memory Ol. 77 or 78 ( = 472 or 468 B. C.).[310] Cheilon of Patrai, twice victor in wrestling between Ols. (?) 103 and 115 ( = 368 and 320 B. C.), had his statue set up after his death.[311] Polydamas of Skotoussa won his victory in the pankration in Ol. 93 ( = 408 B. C.), but his statue by Lysippos could not have been erected until many years later.[312] Glaukos, who won the boys’ boxing-match in Ol. 65 ( = 520 B. C.), had a statue by the Aeginetan sculptor Glaukias much later.[313] In the case of boy victors, the time between boyhood and coming of age was often so short that in many cases we may assume that the statue was set up some time after the victory.[314]

HONORS PAID TO VICTORS BY THEIR NATIVE CITIES.

Since the victor was deemed the representative of the state, he often received a more substantial reward than a statue erected at the cost of his fellow citizens. The herald, in proclaiming his victory, proclaimed also the name of his town, which thus shared in his success. At Athens it was customary for a victor at the great games to receive a reward of money. To encourage an interest in athletics there, Solon established money prizes for victorious athletes. We have already said that 100 drachmæ were given to a victor at the Isthmus, while 500 were allotted to one at Olympia. Solon further ordained that victors should eat at the Prytaneion at the public expense.[315] Probably other Greek states followed the Athenian custom. We know from an inscription that the Panathenaic victors in the stade-race received 50 amphoræ of oil, the pancratiast 40, and others 30.[316] Later, in Rome, victors had special privileges granted them, including maintenance at the public expense, a privilege which Mæcenas advised the emperor Augustus to limit to victors at Olympia, Delphi, and Rome.[317] Augustus in other ways enlarged the privileges of athletes.[318] When we consider the intimate connection between religion and athletics and the Panhellenic fame of a victor at the great games, we can easily understand the indignation of the native town when its athletes did anything dishonorable. Sometimes a victor was bribed to appear as the citizen of some other state. Thus Astylos of Kroton, who won in running races in Ols. 73–76 ( = 488–476 B. C.), had himself proclaimed in his last two contests a Syracusan to please King Hiero. The citizens of his native town burned his house and pulled down his statue, which had been placed there in the temple of Hera.[319] The Cretan Sotades, who won the long running race in Ol. 99 ( = 384 B. C.), was bribed at the next Olympiad by the city of Ephesos to proclaim himself an Ephesian, and was in consequence exiled.[320] Dikon, a victor in running races at the beginning of the fourth century B. C., proclaimed himself first a citizen of Kaulonia, but later, “for a sum of money,” entered the men’s contest as a Syracusan.[321] Sometimes such attempts at bribery proved unsuccessful. Thus the father of the boy boxer Antipatros of Miletos, who won in Ol. 98 ( = 388 B. C.), accepted a bribe from some Syracusans, who were bringing an offering to Olympia from Dionysios, to let the boy be proclaimed a Syracusan. But the boy himself refused the bribe and had inscribed on his statue by the younger Polykleitos that he was a Milesian, the first Ionian to dedicate a statue at Olympia.[322] The Spartan chariot victor Lichas has already been mentioned as having entered his chariot in the name of Thebes. The reason was that at the time the Spartans were excluded from entering the games at Olympia. He won, and in his excitement tied a ribbon on his charioteer with his own hands, thereby showing that the horses belonged to him and not to Thebes. For this infraction of the rules he, though an aged man, was punished by the umpires by scourging.[323] A more disgraceful act was selling out, of which we have two examples at Olympia. The Thessalian Eupolos bribed his three adversaries in boxing to let him win. All four were fined and from the money six bronze statues of Zeus, known as Zanes, were erected at the entrance to the stadion, inscribed with elegiac verses which warned future athletes against repeating such attempts.[324] More than fifty years later Kallippos, a pentathlete of Athens, bribed his opponents and, being detected, all were fined and from the money, finally collected from the recalcitrant Athenians through the influence of the oracle at Delphi, six more Zanes were erected.[325] Straton (or Stratonikos), of Alexandria, won in wrestling and the pankration on the same day in Ol. 178 ( = 68 B. C.). In the wrestling match he had two adversaries, Eudelos and Philostratos of Rhodes. The latter had bribed Eudelos to sell out and, being detected, had to pay a fine. Out of this money another Zan was set up and still another at the cost of the Rhodians.[326] In Ol. 192 ( = 12 B. C.) and in Ol. 226 ( = 125 A. D.), we hear of fines for such corruption out of which additional Zanes were erected.[327] In Ol. 201 ( = 25 A. D.) Sarapion, a pancratiast from Alexandria, became so afraid of his antagonist that he fled the day before the contest and was fined—the only case recorded of an athlete being fined for cowardice at Olympia.[328] In Ol. 218 ( = 93 A. D.) another Alexandrine, named Apollonios, was fined for arriving too late for the games at Olympia. His excuse of being detained by winds was found to be false, and it was discovered that he had been making money on the games in Ionia.[329]

Cases of bribery were known at other games. A third-century B. C. inscription from Epidauros records how three athletes were fined one thousand staters each διὰ τὸ φθείρειν τοὺς ἀγῶνας.[330] The venality of Isthmian victors is shown by the account of a competitor who promised a rival three thousand drachmæ to let him win and then, on winning on his merits, refused to pay, though the defeated contestant swore on the altar of Poseidon that he had been promised the amount.[331] The emperor Nero, in order to win in singing at the Isthmus, had to resort to force. A certain Epeirote singer refused to withdraw unless he received ten talents. Nero, to save himself from defeat, sent a band of men who pummelled his antagonist so that he could not sing.[332]