Greek Spectacles and Games a supplementary sourcebook on Greek sports Siobhán McElduff Table of Contents

Types of Greek athletics (an * indicates that this was an Olympic sport)`

1. 
   Heavy/combat sports
   

Heavy sports were so called because, as the Greeks did not always compete in age classes¹³ (in other words, youths might compete with mature men), they give a distinct advantage to the heavier, more mature man – there were also no weight classes in any of the events.


This vase shows a competitor in boxing signaling his surrender by raising a finger.

(Black figure Attic amphora; 510–500 BCE; found in Vulci in Italy)

Pairings in the heavy events were selected by lot, and if there was an uneven number the odd person out got a bye, which gave him a huge advantage. Lucian, a Greek satirist and philosopher of the 2^nd century CE, describes how competitors drew lots:

A silver urn consecrated to Zeus is produced and into it are thrown little lots about the size of a bean, with letters on them. Two are marked alpha, two beta, two more gamma,¹⁴ and so on, if the competitors run to more than that--two lots always to each letter. A competitor comes up, makes a prayer to Zeus, dips his hand into the urn, and pulls out one lot; then another does the same; there is an umpire who stands by whoever draws a lot, who holds his hand so that he cannot see what letter he has drawn. When all have drawn, the chief police officer, I think it is, or one of the stewards themselves--I cannot quite remember this detail--, goes round and examines the lots while they stand in a circle, and puts together the two alphas for the wrestling or pankration, and so for the two betas, and the rest. That is the procedure when the number of competitors is even, as eight, four, or twelve. If it is five, seven, nine, or other odd number, an odd letter is marked on one lot, which is put in with the others, not having a duplicate. Whoever draws this is a bye, and waits till the rest have finished their pairings; no duplicate turns up for him, you see; and it is a considerable advantage to an athlete, to know that he will come fresh against tired competitors.

Lucian, Hermotimos 43

Boxing

It’s hard to say what was the most brutal of the heavy sports, but boxing certainly came close. There were no rounds or breaks, unless your opponent agreed on it: you got up and boxed until one of you won, usually by the other collapsing or begging for mercy. Greeks originally wore thongs of leather around the hands and wrists. Eventually it evolved into this, the cestus:



The extent of the brutality of ancient boxing can be seen in this poem by the Roman poet Lucilius (fl. 60s CE) describing a statue of a boxer:

Olympicos here, who now looks so terrible, emperor, once had a nose, a chin, eyebrows, ears, and eyes. Then he entered a boxing contest and lost them all. He did not even receive his part of his father’s inheritance. His brother had a picture of him and showed it to the judge, who ruled that it was another man, who did not resemble him at all.

Greek Anthology 9.5
Pausanias, a 2^nd century CE travel writer, wrote an account of his travels through Greece. He often describes monuments set up to celebrate athletes (some of which were set up by themselves, others by their cities or communities). He has proven to be remarkably reliable by various finds from the sites he visited and is an invaluable source for many things, including Greek sports. In the following he describes a statue of Glaucus who suffered terribly in a boxing match at Olympia:

The ploughshare¹⁵ one day fell out of the plough, and Glaucus fitted it into its place, using his hand as a hammer. Demylus happened to see his son's performance, and after this brought him to Olympia to box. There, Glaucus, inexperienced in boxing, was wounded by his antagonists, and when he was boxing with the last of them he was thought to be fainting from the number of his wounds. Then they say that his father called out to him, “Son, the plough touch.” So he dealt his opponent a more violent blow which brought him the victory at once. 3 He is said to have won other crowns besides: two at the Pythian; eight at the Nemean; and eight at the Isthmian Games. The statue of Glaucus was set up by his son, while Glaucias of Aegina made it. The statue represents a figure sparring, as Glaucus was the best exponent of the art of all his contemporaries. When he died the Carystians,¹⁶ they say, buried him in the island still called the island of Glaucus.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.10.2-3

Boxing resulted in some vicious and deliberately deadly tactics, as Pausanias relates in a different part of his book:

I know that the people of Argos acted in the same way in the case of Creugas, a boxer from Epidamnus. For they gave Creugas the crown in the Nemean Games after his death, because his opponent Damoxenus of Syracuse broke their mutual agreement. For evening drew near as they were boxing, and they agreed within the hearing of witnesses that each should in turn allow the other to deal him a blow. At that time boxers did not yet wear a sharp thong on the wrist of each hand, but still boxed with the soft gloves, binding them in the hollow of the hand, so that their fingers were left bare. These soft gloves were thin thongs of raw ox-hide plaited together after an ancient manner. On the occasion to which I refer Creugas aimed his blow at the head of Damoxenus, and the latter ordered Creugas lift up his arm. On his doing so, Damoxenus struck his opponent under the ribs with straight fingers; and what with the sharpness of his nails and the force of the blow he drove his hand into the other's inside, caught his bowels, and tore them as he pulled them out. Creugas died on the spot and the people of Argos disallowed Damoxenus for breaking his agreement by dealing his opponent many blows instead of one. They gave the victory to the dead Creugas, and had a statue of him made in Argos. It still stood in my time in the sanctuary of Lycian Apollo.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.40.3-5.

Pankration*

Think boxing was bad? Pankration (which means all-powerful) was a brutal sport in which everything was legal, except biting and eye-gouging. Except in Sparta, where both of those were allowed. Arrhachion died during one bout, but still was crowned Olympic victor:

The Phigalians have in their marketplace a statue of the pankratiast Arrhachion; it is archaic, especially in its posture. The feet are close together, and the arms hang down by the side as far as the hips.¹⁷ The statue is made of stone, and it is said that an inscription was written upon it. This has disappeared with time, but Arrhachion won two Olympic victories at the games before the fifty-fourth, while at this games he won one due partly to the fairness of the judges and partly to his own manhood. For when he was competing for the wild olive¹⁸ with the last remaining competitor, whoever he was, the latter got a grip first, and held Arrhachion, hugging him with his legs, and at the same time he squeezed his neck with his hands. Arrhachion dislocated his opponent's toe, but died of suffocation; but the man who suffocated Arrhachion was forced to give in at the same time because of the pain in his toe. The Eleans crowned and proclaimed the corpse of Arrhachion the winner.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.40.1-2

In the following Philostratus (who was probably the son-in-law of the Philostratus who wrote on athletics) describes paintings in an imaginary gallery. One of them is of Arrhachion in his moment of triumph:

You have come to the Olympic Games themselves and to the noblest of the contests held at Olympia; for this is the men’s pankration. Arrhachion is being crowned for winning this event, having died just after his victory, and the Judge of the Games is crowning him – let him be called “the strict judge,” both because he sedulously strives for the truth and because he is indeed depicted like the Olympic judges. The land furnishes a stadium in a simple glen of sufficient length, from which issues the stream of the Alpheios, a light stream – that, you know, is why it alone of rivers flows on top of the sea^, and about it grow wild olive trees of green-grey colour, beautiful and curly like parsley leaves. Now after we have looked at the stadium, we will turn our attention to various other elements, and in particular let us take note of the deed of Arrhachion before it is ended. For he seems to have conquered not his antagonist alone, but all the Greeks; at any rate, the spectators jump up from their seats and shout, some wave their hands, some their garments, some leap from the ground, and some grapple with their neighbours for joy; for these really amazing deeds make it impossible for the spectators to contain themselves. Is anyone so without feeling as not to applaud this athlete? For after he had already achieved a great deed by winning two victories in the Olympic Games, a yet greater deed is depicted on this, in that, having won this victory at the cost of his life, he is being conducted to the realms of the blessed with the very dust of victory still upon him. Let not this be regarded as mere chance, since he very cleverly planned for the victory.

And as to the wrestling? Those who engage in the pankration, my boy, practice a form of wrestling that is dangerous; for they must meet blows on the face that are not safe for the wrestler, must clinch in struggles that one can only win by pretending to fall, and they need skill so they can choke an opponent in different ways at different times, and the same contestants are both wrestling with the ankle and twisting the opponent’s arm, to say nothing of dealing a blow and leaping upon the adversary; for these things are all permissible in the pankration – anything except biting and gouging. The Spartans, indeed, allow even these, because, I suppose, they are training themselves for battle, but the contests of Elis exclude them, though they do permit choking. Accordingly the antagonist of Arrhachion, having already clinched him around the middle, thought to kill him; already he had wound his forearm about the other’s throat to shut off his breathing, while, pressing his legs on the groins and winding his feet one inside each knee of his adversary, he stopped Arrhachion’s resistance by choking him till the sleep of death thus induced began to creep over his senses. But in relaxing the tension of his legs he failed to forestall the scheme of Arrhachion; for the latter kicked back with the sole of his right foot (as the result of which his right side was in danger since now his knee was hanging unsupported), then with his groin he holds his adversary tight till he can no longer resist, and, throwing his weight down toward the left while he locks the latter’s foot tightly inside his own knee, by this violent outward thrust he wrenches the ankle from its socket. Arrhachion’s soul, though it makes him feeble as it leaves his body, yet gives him strength to achieve that for which he strives. The one who is choking Arrhachion is painted so he looks like a corpse and as indicating with his hand that he gives up the struggle; but Arrhachion is painted as all victors are; for his blood is of rich colour, the perspiration is still fresh on his body and he smiles as do the living when they are conscious of victory.

Philostratus, Imagines, 2.6

Non-heavy sports

Running

There were a number of different lengths in the footraces, although on the whole the Greeks did not do long distance running – there was no marathon at the Olympics, where the longest race, the dolichos, was only 24 lengths of the stadium, some 5,000 metres.

The main races:

1. 
   Stadion: One length of the stadium, however long it was. The premier foot race: those who won this in the Olympics had the next Olympiad (four year period) named after them
   
2. 
   Diaulos: two lengths of the stadium
   
3. 
   Dolichos: a long distance race; the one at Olympia was 24 lengths of the stadium, about 5,000 metres.
   
4. 
   Hoplitodromos: a race in (partial) armour.
   
5. 
   Lampadedromia: a torch race, run in relays. Not an Olympic sport
   

The most celebrated race was a sprint, the stadion. Whoever won this event at Olympia had the Olympiad, the period of the next four years, named after him – a great honour and which ensured his reputation would live forever. As a result races were fiercely competitive and not without underhand methods:

The good runner, from the moment the barrier falls, simply makes the best of his way; his thoughts are on the winning-post, his hopes of victory in his feet; he leaves his neighbour alone and does not concern himself at all with his competitors. It is the ill qualified, with no prospect of winning by his speed, who resorts to foul play; his one pre-occupation is how he may how he may stop, impede, curb the real runner, because failing that his own victory is out of the question.

Lucian, On Slander 12

Some runners were a little slow off the mark, however:

Charmus in Arcadia came in (wonderful to say, but it is a fact) seventh of five runners in the long race. "As there were six," you will probably say, " how did he come in seventh?" A friend of his came in his cloak calling out " Go for it, Charmus," so that he came in seventh and if he had had five more friends, Zoilus, he would have come in twelfth.

Recently, the great earth made everything quake, but only the runner Erasistratus it did not move from his place.
Greek Anthology 4.82-3.

Pausanias describes the stadium at Olympia, where all foot races and athletic events took place:

There is within the Altis¹⁹ by the processional entrance the Hippodameium, as it is called, about a quarter of an acre of ground surrounded by a wall. Into it once every year the women who sacrifice to Hippodameia may enter this and do her honor in other ways. The story is that Hippodameia withdrew to Midea in Argolis, because Pelops was very angry with her over the death of Chrysippus. The Eleans declare that subsequently, because of an oracle, they brought the bones of Hippodameia to Olympia. At the end of the statues²⁰ which they made from the fines levied on athletes, there is the entrance called the Hidden Entrance. Through it judges and competitors uusally enter the stadium. Now the stadium is an embankment of earth, and on it is a seat for the presidents of the games. Opposite the judges is an altar of white marble; seated on this altar a woman looks on at the Olympic Games, the priestess of Demeter Chamyne, which office the Eleans bestow from time to time on different women. Maidens are not debarred from looking on at the games.²¹ At the end of the stadium, where is the starting-place for the runners, there is, the Eleans say, the tomb of Endymion.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.20.7-8

Philostratus, a rhetorician and a biographer of the early 3^rd century CE, wrote a book on gymnastics: here he describes the ideal bodily build for a runner (be aware, though, that Philostratus has some very strange ideas about idea bodily shapes for athletes)²²

To be an excellent dolichos-runner one should have shoulders and a neck about as strong as those of a pentathlete, but he should have slender and light legs as a stadion-runner. These bring their legs into a sprint with their hands, as if their hands give them wings. Dolichos-runners do this only in the final sprint, the rest of the time it is almost as if they stride, with their hands in a fist, for which they need strong shoulders…. As stadion runners - this is the lightest event - proportionate people are very well suited, but even better are tall people, not the very tall, but those who are just a little taller than the proportionate ones, for extraordinarily tall people lack stability, like overgrown plants. They should be build firmly, because the start of a good sprint is a good posture. The proportions of their body should be as follows: the legs should be in equipoise with the shoulders, the chest smaller than the average and with healthy organs, they should have swift knees, straight shins and hands bigger than the average. They should have proportionate muscles, for excessive muscles are like chains when speed is involved.

Philostratus, On Gymnastics 32-33

Race in Armour (Hoplitodromos)*


Vase showing a runner in the hoplitodromos in the starting position

(Attic red-figured amphora, c. 480–470 BCE)

One popular event was the race in armour: at the start runners worse a helmet, shield, and greaves, but as time went on many places had the runners race only carrying a shield. Pausanias describes the statue of Damaretos, one of the winners of the race at Olympia:

Damaretos of Heraea, his son and his grandson each won twice at Olympia. Damaretos won at the sixty-fifth Olympiad, when the race in armour was held for the first time, and also at the following Olympiad. His statue shows him with the shield that is also carried in our time, with a helmet on his head and greaves on his legs. These were removed from the race eventually both by the Eleans and by the other Greeks.

Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.10.4

The Roman satirist Lucilius wrote on one unfortunate competitor who was challenged in the speed category:

Marcus once went on running in armour until it was midnight, so that the course was closed on all sides; for the public slaves all thought that he was one of the honorary stone statues of men in armour set up there. What happened? Why next year they opened, and Marcus came in, but a whole stadion behind.

Greek Anthology 4.85


Torch Races



The vase above is an Athenian red-figure vase from the 4^th century BCE showing a torch relay race: it was most likely found in Italy, showing the wide appeal of Greek athletics. The torch was not an Olympic sport, but it was run in various other cities, including the Panathenaea. It was a relay race in which you could not let the torch die out. The race in Athens started at the shrine of Prometheus in the Academy, which was also a gymnasium:

In the Academy is an altar to Prometheus, and from it they run to the city carrying burning torches. While running they must keep the torch still alight; if the torch of the first runner goes out, he has no longer any claim to victory, but the second runner has. If his torch also goes out, then the third man is the victor. If all the torches go out, no one can be declared winner. There is an altar to the Muses, and another to Hermes, and one within to Athena, and they have built one to Heracles. There is also an olive tree, thought to be the second that appeared.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.30.2

Torch relay races could also be ran on horseback, though that was unusual, as the following passage shows:

 "Didn’t you know," said Adeimantos, "there is to be a torchlight race this evening on horseback in honour of the goddess?" "On horseback?" I said. "That is something new. Will they carry torches and pass them along to one another as they race with the horses, or how do you mean?" "That's it!" said Polemarchos.

Plato, Republic I 328 A

Pentathlon*



The long jump in ancient Greece: notice the weights used for increasing distance in the jump.
The pentathlon consisted of five sports: discus throwing, long jump, javelin throwing, stadion, and wrestling (only the last two were also competitive sports in their own right). Some people revered the athletes as the best all-round athletes:

For each age there is a different form of beauty. For a young man, beauty means that one has a body fit for all efforts, both running and the use of strength. He is pleasant to look upon, a pure delight. That is why the pentathlete are the most beautiful people, because they have a natural talent for both strength and swiftness. ...The athletic quality of a body lays in size, strength and swiftness, for who is swift, is also strong. Who is able to throw his legs about in a certain way and move with rapid and large paces, is a good runner. Who can hug and grapple, a wrestler. Who can hit with his fists? The boxer.. Who can do both? The pankratiast. Who can do everything? The pentathlete.

Aristotle, Rhetorica 1361b

Others thought of them, however, as not particularly good at anything.
None among the competitors was thrown quicker than myself and none ran the race slower. With the discus I never came near the rest, I never was able to lift my legs for a jump and a cripple could throw the javelin better than I, I am the first who out of the five events was proclaimed beaten in all five.

Lucilius, Greek Anthology 4.84

The Palombara Disco bolus, a Roman copy of the bronze original by Myron.

The Greek discus was not like the modern one: first they were made of stone and then after that of bronze or iron and sometimes lead. They were heavy and getting hit with one (as occasionally happened) was very likely to be fatal. They were not, however, of a consistent weight or size, varying from 1.3 to 6.6 kilos. Generally people seem to have brought their own to games, but the discuses for the Olympic Games were special and kept in the treasury of Sicyons there:

On the smaller of the chambers at Olympia are inscriptions, which inform us that the weight of the bronze is five hundred talents, and that the dedicators were Myron and the Sicyonian people. In this chamber are kept three discuses, which are used for the pentathlon. There is also a bronze-plated shield, adorned with paintings on the inner side, and along with the shield are a helmet and greaves.

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.19.4

Additionally, it seems as if you could not throw the discus outside the boundaries and still win, so the skill was to throw it as close to the boundary as possible without going outside. We are, however, not sure how far away this boundary was. This was also probably a measure to ensure you didn’t kill members of the audience and bystanders – which happened from time to time as the discus was a heavy object and potentially deadly object.

Halma²³ (long jump)

This was very different from our long jump. Weights called halteres were used to increase the distance a jumper could reach, while a flute player played to help them get their rhythm before they jumped:

The 'halter' was invented by the penathletes for the long jump, the sport after which it is also named. Because the rules consider the long jump as one of the more difficult events in the games, they stimulate the jumper with flute music and with the halter they make him light as a feather. It is a safe guide for the hands and leads the feet to the ground stably and with a clear print. The rules make clear how much this is worth, for they do not allow the jump to be measured if the footprint is not clean. The oblong halters train the shoulders and the hands, the spherical halters also train the fingers. Both light as heavy athletes should hold them during all exercises, except during breaks.

Philostratus, On Gymnastics 55

Additionally, Greek long jumpers jumped from a take off point (of wood or stone) into sand which increased the length they could jump – though they surely could not jump the 55 feet ascribed to the some athletes.