Fig. 48.—Statue of the Doryphoros, after Polykleitos. Vatican Museum, Rome. copy of the statue, the one in Naples, is surpassed in workmanship by the green basalt torso in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence[1603] and by the marble one formerly in the possession of Count Pourtalès in Berlin.[1604] A poorer copy is to be found in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican (Fig. [48]).[1605] In these copies we see a thick-set youth standing with the weight of the body on the right leg, the left one thrown back and touching the ground only with the toes, seemingly ready to advance, though the shoulders do not partake of the walking action. He is represented, therefore, at the moment of transition from walking to a rest position—in other words in a purely theoretical pose—at rest, indeed, but just ready again to advance.[1606] His left hand held a short akontion over the shoulder and not the long spear (δόρυ), whence the name Doryphoros or spear-bearer is derived.[1607] The head is turned to the same side as the advanced foot, which perhaps is an example of the monotony in the work of the master complained of by ancient critics; variety would have been attained by turning it in the opposite direction. In the carefully worked bronze original, which, however, must have had an insignificant intellectual aspect, the apparently simple problem—hitherto vainly attempted in Greek art—of representing a man standing almost motionless, but full of life, was for the first time solved. It is a long way from the motionless figures known as “Apollos,” with their arms glued to the sides and their legs close together, to this vigorous athlete. As we have already indicated, Greek art developed the first step beyond the “Apollos” by further advancing one leg of a statue and, it may be, extending one forearm horizontally. The next step was to place one foot slightly sidewise and thus relieve it of the weight of the body—the well-known scheme of the “free” and “rest” leg. At first the relaxation was slight, the “free” leg not being intended to move forward, nor the parts of the body to be much shifted. Polykleitos’ innovation consisted in having the legs so placed, one behind the other, that the figure, while apparently resting on one,[1608] seemed to be advancing. On the ground of the familiar passage in Pliny cited, it has been generally assumed that Polykleitos introduced the walking motive into sculpture. However, this motive was probably the invention of the earlier Argive school, borrowed by Polykleitos for his canon, as seen in the statue of the so-called Munich King (Zeus?), of the Glyptothek, which Furtwaengler has shown to be a work of about 460 B. C.[1609]
Does the Doryphoros represent a pentathlete victor? Since Quintilian says that it appears ready for war or for the exercises of the palæstra,[1610] Helbig and others have classed it as a warrior, perhaps one of the Achilleae mentioned by Pliny[1611] as set up in the Greek gymnasia. Furtwaengler stressed the incorrectness of calling an athlete a Doryphoros[1612]—a name originally given to an attendant bearing a lance (δόρυ), and so inapplicable to the statue of Polykleitos, which represented not a server, but an athlete carrying an akontion (witness the Berlin gem already mentioned)—but later[1613] concluded that an athlete statue with the akontion might have been vaguely described in late art jargon as a spear-bearer. Consequently he found probable the interpretation of the various doryphoroi mentioned by Pliny[1614] as victor statues, and thought that the original of the Doryphoros of Polykleitos might very well have represented an Olympic pentathlete, which was originally set up at Argos, where it was also adopted for a figure on the heroic grave-relief already mentioned, which represented the youth with a spear over his shoulder standing beside a horse. Bulle also thinks that the statue represented a victor athlete set up in some sacred spot.
For its interpretation as the statue of a pentathlete victor, an added proof is furnished by the discovery of a late Roman copy of it at Olympia.[1615] This may very well have been the dedication of an athlete of late date—of the first century B. C. or of the first A. D.—who preferred to be represented by a copy of the famous work of Polykleitos rather than by a new statue. Treu’s contention that the torso is too large for a victor statue,[1616] because Lucian says that the Hellanodikai did not allow statues of victors to be over life-size,[1617] falls to the ground, since we know that exceptions to the rule existed at Olympia.[1618] He agrees with Collignon[1619] in interpreting it as a decorative statue, which surely involves an anachronism in the middle of the fifth century B. C.; and his argument that its good preservation shows it to have been set up in an interior room, perhaps of the Bouleuterion, in whose ruins it was found, adducing this as additional evidence of its decorative character, is no proof, since victor statues at Olympia seem sometimes to have been housed.[1620] Thus the theory that the Doryphoros represents a pentathlete victor is well within the range of possibilities.
Two bronze statuettes in the Metropolitan Museum,[1621] New York, belonging to the second half of the fifth century B. C., may be representations on a small scale of pentathletes with the akontion. The first shows a youth standing with the weight of the body on the left foot, the right drawn slightly back. The left hand, held close to the side, may have carried an akontion, the right arm being extended. The other, more carelessly executed, represents a youth standing similarly with his weight on the left foot, the right being drawn back. Here again the left arm is hanging by the side, and probably held the same attribute as the first statuette. The right arm is also bent at the elbow. A patera may have been held in the outstretched hand of each. The square build, short thighs, flat abdomen, long skull, and oval face are all Polykleitan characteristics, and remind us of the series of kindred works already discussed, which, as Furtwaengler believed, went back to the original statue of the boy wrestler Xenokles at Olympia, the work of the younger Polykleitos.[1622]
Wrestlers.
Wrestling (πάλη) is perhaps the oldest, and in any case is the most universal, of athletic sports. Wall-paintings at Beni-Hasan on the Nile, dating from about 2000 B. C., show nearly all the grips and throws now known.[1623] Plato says that this sport was instituted in mythical times.[1624] In Greece its origin is lost in mythology.[1625] The very name palaistra, “wrestling school,” indicates the early importance of the contest. It was one of the most popular of Greek sports from the time of Homer down.[1626] This popularity is shown by the frequency with which it appears in mythology and art. Early b.-f. vases picture Herakles wrestling with giants and monsters. Here we see the same holds and throws as in the palæstra scenes on later r.-f. vases. The whole history of coins down to imperial days shows such scenes. No other exercise required so much strength and agility, and consequently wrestling matches early became a part of the great games. At Olympia wrestling was introduced in Ol. 18 ( = 708 B. C.), the same year in which the pentathlon was instituted.[1627] The boys’ match appeared there less than a century later in Ol. 37 ( = 632 B. C.).[1628] Pausanias mentions statues erected to 36 victors (for 45 victories), which makes this contest second only in importance to boxing there.
There were two sorts of wrestling in Greece, wrestling in the proper sense (ὀρθὴ πάλη), where each tried to throw his antagonist to the ground, making his shoulders touch three times, and ground wrestling (κύλισις, ἁλίνδησις), where the fight was continued on the ground by using every means, except biting and gouging, till one was exhausted. The first kind was the only one used in the event called πάλη at Olympia, as well as in the pentathlon; the other was used only in the pankration. In this section we shall discuss only the first.[1629] A recently discovered papyrus of the second century A. D., containing brief instructions for wrestling lessons intended to help the παιδοτρίβης, indicates that every movement in the contest was systematically taught.[1630] The various positions used—grips and throws—are shown by many monuments, vase-paintings, gems, coins,[1631] statuettes, and statues. The vases[1632] especially illustrate the various holds assumed by wrestlers during a bout—front (σύστασις), side (παράθεσις), wrist, arm, neck (τραχηλίζειν), and body holds. Still others illustrate the various throws—flying mare,[1633] heave,[1634] buttocks and cross-buttocks (ἕδραν στρέφειν), and tripping (ὑποσκελίζειν). We here reproduce two such paintings. The first, the obverse of a r.-f. amphora from Vulci, signed by Andokides and now in Berlin (Fig. [49]),[1635] shows two positions. In the central group the wrestler on the left side has grasped his opponent’s left wrist with his right hand. The latter, however, has rendered the grip useless by passing his own right hand behind his opponent’s back and grasping his right arm just below the elbow. In this way he keeps his opponent from turning round, which movement would not have been possible if the latter had grasped him by the upper arm. In the group of wrestlers to the right we see an illustration of a body hold. Here a youthful athlete has lifted his bearded antagonist clear off his feet preliminary to throwing him. However, the one lifted from the ground has caught his foot around his opponent’s leg, which is an illustration of tripping. On a r.-f. kylix in the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia (Fig. [50]a),[1636] we see a body hold preparatory to the heave; here to the right are two youths wrestling, and to the left stands a bearded trainer with his rod. One wrestler has already lost his balance and is supporting himself with both hands on the ground, while the other with his left hand holds the other’s right arm down, and with his right prepares to throw him over his head.
Fig. 49.—Wrestling Scenes. From Obverse of an Amphora, by Andokides. Museum of Berlin.