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BY EDWARD M. PLUMMER, OF BOSTON.

Few kinds of labor develop the body in a symmetrical manner. This is true even in an elementary division of labor. The carpenter and the blacksmith usually have strong, large shoulders and arms, but small and weak legs. The farmer, from excessive bending over his work, loses, in a greater or less degree, his elasticity of body, and often becomes stoop-shouldered. If such defects result from the more primitive forms of labor, it is not at all strange that the laborers of the modern industrial world show bodily peculiarities and variations that correspond, in a marked degree, to their respective trades. A well-known teacher of gymnastics in a New England college has declared himself able to designate the various occupations of laborers in a Boston Labor Day parade, without reference to any sign or banner, merely by inspecting their carriage and physical peculiarities. It may, therefore, be asserted that, while labor involving muscular exertion, if performed in healthful surroundings, supplies the conditions essential to good digestion and assimilation, to a more complete respiration, and to the maintenance of healthy nerves, yet, only rarely, if ever, does it tend to develop the ideal body.

Physical culture differs from labor. Labor, having the design to produce a change in the world of matter outside the body, is not deliberately modified to suit the requirements of perfect physical development. Physical culture, on the other hand, if it really be such, is a system of exercises that, taken together, bring all parts and powers of the body into play, with the sole purpose of producing not only a healthy, but also a symmetrical and graceful body; or, in other words, of developing what the Greeks called εὐρυθμία.

Of all the peoples, whose deeds have been recorded, the Greeks alone made physical culture a matter of study. They did this not so much because they considered it from the standpoint of philosophy to be a duty to perfect the body, as because they clearly discerned the advantages and prestige that accrued to the possessor of a powerful and graceful body.

For the earliest account of this phase of Hellenic life one naturally turns to the poems of Homer. Yet one must not presume that these poems, simply because they are the earliest literary records of the Greeks, exhibit this or any other feature of Hellenic civilization in its initial state. The art of literature, mechanical on the one hand and artistic on the other, though when its technique is once learned, it becomes inseparable from civilization, and though now we justly consider the nation that has nothing to transcribe as uncivilized;—this art of literature is, nevertheless, only one phase of the life of civilized man! If we reflect that even today the lives of the majority of persons are, in most of their relations, outside the sphere of literature, it becomes easy to conceive how a people that has not yet mastered this art could, notwithstanding, be versed in simpler arts that would fully entitle them to the epithet civilized; and if we should find portrayed in the earliest literary records of that people a very high and perfect social life, our conception would be corroborated. We must not, therefore, regard the Homeric poems as affording data concerning the origin and initial condition of this phase of Hellenic life. On the contrary, the Homeric athletics especially presuppose a long antecedent course of development. Hellenic legend strengthens this inference. According to a myth, Apollo enjoyed the diskos no less than music. He practiced for amusement with his favorite Hyakinthos, whom, as it is related, he accidentally killed by an unlucky throw. Other traditions inform us, that Orion challenged Artemis to a contest with the diskos, and that Autolykos, son of Hermes, instructed young Herakles in the art of wrestling.

It must be remembered, again, that Homer sang of the deeds of a very select aristocracy, just as in later times, the French Troubadours and Trouvères were to sing exclusively of the nobility and to them. French literature remained aristocratic until the closing years of the seventeenth century, when Molière made room on his stage for the Parisian bourgeois. For Homer, even the noblest men were not sufficient, and the gods themselves were made to act in his scenes. There is, accordingly, some room for doubt as to whether the régime, described in the Homeric poems, may be taken without modification, as the régime of the Hellenic race at large at that time. It must be remembered, too, that the poems were sung to the very class whose deeds they portrayed, so that any additional splendor, with which the scenes of this high life were adorned, would add to the credit of the poet.

Let us, therefore, rightly appraise the Iliad, with reference to our subject: “Athletic Games among the Homeric Heroes.” The Homeric poems give us the idealistic picture of the lives of a band of Greek nobles who, with their followers, had left their native land, to besiege a foreign and hostile city.

Occasionally, however, we find the poet dropping a line that throws light on the pleasures and employments of the less notable classes. Such a side reference are the lines in the second book of the Iliad, where the followers of Achilles, unable to engage in the martial occupations of the rest of the army, because of Achilles’ estrangement from Agamemnon, are described as contending in games. Il. ii, 773-775. λαοὶ δὲ παρὰ, ῥηγμῖνι θαλάσσης δίσκοισιν τέρποντο καὶ αἰγανέῃσιν ἱέντες, τόξοισίν θ’.

The word λαός, here used, is usually considered as denoting the people or multitude. The λαός before Troy, however, was undoubtedly of the minor nobility, since at this time the servants of the Greeks were, probably, the vanquished portions of other peoples. And so the “folk” regaled themselves along the shore of the sea with the diskos, spear-throwing, and archery. Of the three missiles, the diskos alone was originally invented for athletic purposes. The spear, in this case at least, was an implement of hunting, while the bow was used both in the chase and in war.

The training of the Homeric youth and heroes in athletic sports was, to a considerable extent, the result of the prestige of those qualities required in war and in hunting. Athletics were a means to an end, but they were also an end in themselves. Bodily exercise was not an irksome task, but an agreeable pastime. The ancient Hellenes were therefore a very happy people, the ends that they sought to attain prescribed tasks that were congenial with their national temperament. Accordingly, we find, in a well-established condition, a system of athletic sports that were not directly related to the feats of battle. Such a sport was diskos throwing. The diskos was in shape a transverse section of a cylinder, and in Homeric times was made of stone. The contestant who hurled the diskos farthest from him was victor in the game. Doubtless the advantageous positions and movements were well understood by the skilled diskobolos.

That athletics were regarded as a mode of enjoyment, as well as of military training, is shown by the fact that when for any reason the exercises of war were suspended, the heroes and their followers resorted to games. It was hardly necessary for warriors with years of experience, to train for the next day’s battle; they exercised, because to do so was a congenial pleasure. Habitual fighting will not alone explain this temperament. With the Hellenes, bodily exercise was almost synonymous with life itself. When they desired to escape from the chilling effect of a hero’s death, they instituted games, and thereby reasserted life. Perhaps the sufficient cause of this predilection for athletic exercise was the climate of the Grecian peninsula. The clear, serene sky over Hellas, the mild, bracing air which permitted nudity but did not dispose to indolence, the picturesque country, girdled by the sea, and presenting such a wonderful interchange of mountains and valleys, smiling plains, and beautifully winding rivers, must necessarily have aroused in the hearts of its people the desire for a free life full of activity in the open air, and thus have contributed to the formation of strong minds in vigorous bodies.

In order to understand Homeric athletics—the substantial basis of all subsequent athletics—one must become interested in the method and details of Greek warfare. For to the Greek the road to distinction lay in the acquisition of the qualities required of the successful warrior, and it was only natural that pleasure and expediency should combine to make a pastime of the feats of war. Victory in modern warfare is achieved largely by the use of superior machines and by advantage of position. Until the time of Alexander, victory among the Greeks, depended on the muscular power, endurance, and skill of the individual warriors. The central and principal feature of early Greek warfare was a personal hand-to-hand grapple. Therefore, it was essential in preparing for war that each separate soldier should be made as active and vigorous as possible. That this mode of warfare prevailed until a late date, may be seen from the fact that Plutarch attributed the victory of the Thebans over the Spartans at the battle of Leuktra, B.C. 371, to the superiority of the former in the art of wrestling.

Battle itself was an effective, even if a very perilous, mode of physical culture. It often involved, to be sure, the death of the weaker adversary, who was weak only comparatively, and who, considered by himself, was usually an admirable specimen of man. But, throughout all historic time, a branch of athletic sports has existed that could not be practiced without risk, as fencing, boxing, or wrestling. And it is certain that those who have survived the risks of these sports—the fittest—had developed bodies far superior in agility, and attained far greater command over the muscular system, as a whole, than would have been possible from practicing sports that do not involve risk.

Chariots drawn by swift horses drew the combatants quickly into each other’s presence. Hereupon, either from the chariot or from the ground, they hurled at each other, their far-shadowing spears (δολιχόσκια ἔγχεα) Il. iii, 346. If neither of the adversaries succumbed, both came closer together, and with the same or other spears thrust at each other again.

Failing to injure each other with spears, the adversaries resorted to their swords or to any other available implement of offense. Their object was to disable the opponent, rather than to conform to conventions of war. Any mode of attack was fair in the Homeric combat. In a battle between Hector and Telamonian Aias, the two heroes, after using their spears, seize huge stones and hurl them at each other (Il. vii, 264-270).

The weapons, employed by the Homeric heroes were as heavy as could be handled skilfully, and of course varied in weight according to the strength of the respective warriors. As the heavier weapons, in the hands of a man who could use them, were more effective, it was but natural that warriors should vie with one another in developing the strength requisite for adopting them.

Their defensive armor consisted of the helmet, corselet, girdle, greaves and shield. The Greek helmet was a close-fitting skull-cap, covering the head in front above the eyes, and extending down in the back, to the nape of the neck from ear to ear. Some forms show that the lower part was prolonged and carried round so as to cover all above the shoulders. The corselet consisted of two pieces, a breast-plate and a back-plate, which were laced together by cords passed through eyelet holes made in the sides, below the bottom of which the body was protected by metal girdle. The greaves, which were made of flexible metal plates, fastened behind with buckles, covered the front part of the legs from the ankles to just above the knees. The shield consisted of a frame of bronze and several layers of tough oxhide, and reached from the neck to the knee. The shield is described by Homer and is pictured on Mycenæan gems.

For the risks, exigencies, and regular feats of this kind of warfare, the Homeric youth trained himself, and Homer makes it plain that the attainment of brute strength alone was not sufficient. Nestor is deemed happy because his sons were “wise-minded and mighty with the spear.” The poet frequently makes sly fun of Telamonian Aias, who, although gigantic in size and of immense strength, was, nevertheless, somewhat dull of intellect. To train the senses, and above all the eye, to make the body alert and immediately responsive to the perceptions, was considered quite as requisite as to train the muscles. For, in the exigencies of battle, a certain quickness of intellect was often more effective than brute strength. Agility was, therefore, prized and cultivated above all other qualities. When the ponderous spear of Menelaos smote and pierced the shield of Paris the latter “swerved and escaped black death.” (Il. iii, 392.) To fight successfully from the chariot, to dismount and grapple with the adversary, necessitated not only muscular strength, but also unabating alertness of mind, an ability to seize instantly the advantageous opportunity, to dodge or fend instantly the deadly thrust.

While agonistic sports were practiced in an especially notable way on certain unique occasions, such as the death of a hero, yet it should not be supposed that such contests were at all uncommon. On the contrary, Homer is continually dropping epithets and sentences that presuppose the utmost frequency and universality of competitive games. Achilles is called fleet-footed (ποδάρκης, πόδας ὠκὺς) Il. ix, 307; Polydeukes, brother of Helen, is called the skilful boxer (πὺξ ἀγαθός) Il. iii, 237. Indeed, such skill as Homer depicts as being shown at the more notable gatherings, could not have been exhibited, had there not been incessant practice and continual emulation. Again, Homer often speaks of certain heroes as if their ability in certain lines of athletics was well known, and had been often sustained against challengers. When Achilles summons contestants for the boxing-match, he asks for the two who are best (ὥπερ ἀρίστω), Il. xxiii, 659, to come forward, as if it were well known who the skilful boxers were. When Antilochos is mentioned as a competitor in the foot-race, he is called the champion of foot-racers among the youth (ὁ γὰρ αὖτε νέους ποσὶ πάντας ἐνίκα). Il. xxiii, 756. Yet in this particular race, owing to the fact that his competitors were older than he, he took last prize. Athletic skill can be maintained only by dint of continuous practice. We may conclude, therefore, that agonistic contests, by the time of which Homer wrote, were of very frequent occurrence,—so frequent that they were taken as a matter of course,—and that on special occasions, such as the death of a hero, the arrival of a distinguished guest, or the anniversary of some god’s benefaction, the games were conducted in a more public and ceremonious manner; and that on such occasions prizes were offered and intense excitement prevailed.

Funeral games were customary in Homeric times. Nestor, when an old man, tells of competing in his youth in the various games held in honor of Amarynkes at Buprasion; on which occasion, Nestor was in his prime and was victor in the boxing-match, the foot-race, and the spear-throwing contest; being surpassed only in the chariot-races. Certain recorded myths sustain the scholar in referring the origin of funeral games to a time much preceding the age of the Homeric heroes. Pausanias speaks of the funeral games in honor of Azan, son of Arkas, and the nymph Erato, as the most ancient. Minos, according to Plutarch, celebrated a funeral contest in honor of Androgeos.

In the Twenty-Third Iliad, Homer describes with considerable minuteness the games held in honor of Patroklos, Achilles’ friend, whom Hector slew in battle.

The chariot-race was ordained as the first event. This mode of racing was not improvised before the walls of Troy. Hellenic legend assigns the origin of the races far back of Homeric times, in the dark heroic age of mythology. While the site of stately Thebes was still covered with forests, Onchestos is said to have seen in Poseidon’s grove, horses yoked to the chariot, and panting from the race. When Apollo thought of building a temple for himself at the sacred spring of the nymph, Telphoussa, she dissuaded him, declaring that the god would be disturbed by the incessant noise of chariots and the hoof-beats of horses, and that every one would prefer to see the beautifully-built chariots and the swift-footed horses, and so fail to appreciate the temple with its treasures. Oinomaos is said to have offered to her suitors his daughter, Hippodameia, as a prize for the victory in a chariot-race.

To the competitors in the race, Achilles offered five prizes, and called for five contestants. Eumelos, Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos, and Meriones sprang forward and yoked each a span of swift horses to his war-chariot. The competitors were directed to round a goal in the distance and return. Says Nestor, in advising his son, Antilochos: “A fathom’s height above the ground standeth a withered stump, whether of oak or pine; it decayeth not in the rain, and two white stones, on either side thereof, are fixed at the joining of the track, and all around it is smooth driving ground. Whether it be a monument of some man dead long ago, or hath been made their goal in the race by ancient men, this now is the mark fixed by fleet-footed goodly Achilles.” It is easy to see that victory depended largely on the skill and cunning of the charioteer in obtaining for himself the shortest course round this goal. Indeed, Nestor, in advising his son, makes cunning (μῆτις) the principal factor of victory: “By cunning hath charioteer the better of charioteer. For whoso, trusting in his horses and car alone, wheeleth heedlessly and wide at either end, his horses swerve on the course, and he keepeth them not in hand. But whoso is of crafty mind, though he drive worse horses, he ever keeping his eye upon the post turneth closely by it, neither is unaware how far at first to force his horses by the oxhide reins, but holdeth them safe in hand and watcheth the leader in the race.”

On the other hand the Homeric heroes were well aware of the advantage that lay in the possession of powerful and well-matched horses. Admetos, son of Pheres, is said by Homer to have possessed the best horses of those that were gathered before Troy; they were very swift, and were classified and paired with regard to speed, color, age, and stature; they were “matched to the measure of a levelling-line across their backs.” Il. ii, 763-765.

Achilles, being the distributor of prizes and the chief mourner of Patroklos, his beloved friend, did not contend in the chariot-race, although his own skill and his horses, Xanthos and Balios—the immortal steeds bestowed on Peleus by Poseidon—would undoubtedly have won for him the victory. Through skill and cunning, Antilochos quickly overtook Menelaos, left him behind and won the race, although his horses were much inferior to those of the latter.

It should be mentioned that in the race, as in hostile combat, the Homeric hero made use of two horses. In the race he stood alone in his chariot and managed his horses himself, but in the turmoil of battle, he was accompanied by a comrade as driver (ἡνίοχος). This was beautifully illustrated by scenes on the Cypseline chest, a work of art, which belonged, probably, to the seventh century B.C.

After the chariot-race came the boxing-match. Achilles offered two prizes to the antagonists, one to the winner and one to the loser. He stipulated that the two contestants should be men of first-class reputation. The well-known champion, Epeios, boldly claimed the first prize, and in order to deter any one from contesting this claim, gave voice to the following prediction: “I will utterly bruise mine adversary’s flesh and break his bones; so let his friends abide together here to bear him forth when vanquished by my hands.”

Euryalos alone dared to accept this challenge. The antagonists cast about themselves girdles and wound about their hand strips of raw oxhide. The struggle was violent, for “sweat flowed from all their limbs.” But finally, Epeios smote the other on the cheek, and Euryalos collapsed. “As when beneath the North wind’s ripple a fish leapeth on a tangled-covered beach, and then the black wave hideth it, so leapt up Euryalos at that blow.”

The wrestling-match was ordained as the next event. Again Achilles offered two prizes, one for the winner and one for the loser. Only Odysseus, the type of artfulness and trickery, and Telamonian Aias, the representative of bodily size and brute force, essayed to struggle. After they had girt themselves they went into the midst of the ring. Here they stood locked in each other’s arms, like two gable rafters joined by a builder. Their backs were gripped with such force that they creaked; the sweat ran down their bodies in streams; blood-colored welts appeared on their sides and shoulders. Thus they struggled with the advantage on neither side until the spectators began to grow weary. At last when Aias had lifted Odysseus off his feet, the latter mindful of his wiles, smote the former in the hollow of his knee, and Aias fell backward, and Odysseus fell upon his chest. But victory was not bought with one throw. So they rose again and locked. After Odysseus had tried futilely to lift Aias from the ground the two fell together in the dust. They rose and would have wrestled the third time had not Achilles restrained them by declaring the contest a draw.

From this detailed account it is evident that the Homeric athletes practiced what has been styled the standing wrestling, as distinguished from wrestling on the ground. In the former variety the antagonists struggled until they fell, whereupon they rose and struggled again. When an antagonist had been thrown three times the contest was decided in favor of the other. In the latter variety the contestants continued the struggle on the ground, after they had fallen. At a later period standing wrestling was practiced at all the great games. Plato, who was always alive to the value of these contests, as a preparation for war, greatly preferred standing wrestling, because it exercised the muscles of the upper part of the body as those of the arms, sides, shoulders, and neck. Wrestling insures not only health and strength, but also a fine carriage, and is an exercise well adapted to draw out all the resources of the athlete. Plutarch then rightly calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic exercises.

In heroic times, it should be noted that athletes did not wrestle entirely naked. The oil which the Homeric heroes employed after the bath and in anointing the dead, was never used in their gymnastic exercises. The poet, who often minutely describes minor and unimportant things, does not mention oil in this connection. He certainly would not have passed over in complete silence, the use of oil in these contests had he been familiar with the custom.

After the wrestling-match had been concluded, the foot-race was ordained, and prizes for it were offered by Achilles. The competitors were three,—Odysseus, Aias, son of Oileus, and Antilochos, son of Nestor. Odysseus was the victor in the race.

That portion of the twenty-third book of the Iliad, that describes the duel with spears, between Diomedes and Telamonian Aias, the contest with the iron diskos, and the contest of archery, has been pronounced, on good internal evidence, to be a late interpolation. It should accordingly be considered as data for an account of the athletics of later times.

The final contest at the funeral games for Patroklos was that of javelin-throwing. When Agamemnon and Meriones rose to compete, Achilles at once adjudged Agamemnon victor because of his well-known excellence in this feat.

The scenes of the Iliad are too serious to allow the poet to dwell upon the amusements of the common soldiery. Only at the close of the poem, after a lull in the tumultuous succession of events, is a thought given to sport. But even here, excepting the chariot race, the descriptions are made with a certain careless brevity, as if the poet would dispose of them as quickly as possible, and as if he would say: “This is not my theme.” Achilles superintends the games with a lofty indifference, and even cuts some of them short, as if other things were on his mind.

In the Odyssey, on the other hand, the poet seems to evince a greater inclination to linger over the scenes of sport, as being more in harmony with his theme. A certain voluptuousness pervades the Odyssey; the stern scenes of war, have vanished from the poet’s imagination, and have been replaced by those of festivity and pleasure. A new generation is described. Athletics have become less violent and the scenes are embellished by the interspersion of music, dancing, and poetry.

The poet, conscious of the change, portrays the new order of things among the Phæacians, a people inhabiting a blissful island on the western edge of the world. Hither he leads the ocean-tossed Odysseus, the representative of the older generation. The shipwrecked stranger does not ask in vain of King Alkinoös for an escort that may guide him homeward. Says Alkinoös to Odysseus:

“Say from what city, from what regions tossed,

And what inhabitants those regions boast?

So shalt thou quickly reach the realm assigned

In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;

No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;

Like man intelligent they plow the tides,

Conscious of every coast and every bay

That lies beneath the sun’s all-seeing ray.”

Odyssey, Book viii.

But the hospitable king will not allow him to depart until a royal entertainment has been provided.

First a feast was spread at the royal palace for Odysseus and the Phæacian nobles; the famous bard, Demodokos, sang tales of heroes and of gods. Then Alkinoös bade the Phæacian young men prepare for the games in order that they might exhibit to the stranger their skill in manly sports. Thereupon, the festive throng issued forth from the palace to the assembly-place, and the Phæacian athletes exhibited themselves in the foot-race and at the wrestling match, at leaping, throwing the diskos, and boxing. All of these games, except leaping, are mentioned also in the Iliad.

Then the son of Alkinoös, complimenting Odysseus on his massive body, invites him to show his athletic skill. “There is no greater glory for a man in all his life than what he wins with his own feet and hands,” says Laodamas.

At first Odysseus declines, but when stung by the taunt of Euryalos he decides to show his skill. “He spoke, and, with his cloak still on, he sprang and seized a diskos, larger than the rest and thick, heavier by not a little than those which the Phæacians were using for themselves. This with a twist he sent from his stout hand. The stone hummed as it went. Past all the marks it flew, swift speeding from his hands.”

Then Odysseus challenges the Phæacians to match his throw; and he challenges any of the Phæacians, except his host, Laodamas, to contend with him either in boxing, wrestling, or the foot-race,—it matters not to him.

Odysseus claims for himself the honor of being an “all-round” athlete. “Not at all weak am I, in any games men practice. I understand full well handling the polished bow. None except Philoktetes excelled me with the bow at Troy, when we Achæans tried the bow. I send the spear farther than other men an arrow.”

Then the benevolent Alkinoös endeavors to soften the stern mood of the visitor. “We are not faultless boxers,” says the king, “no, nor wrestlers; but in the foot-race we run swiftly, and in our ships excel. Dear to us ever is the feast, the harp, the dance, changes of clothes, warm baths, and bed. Come then, Phæacian dancers the best among you make us sport, that so the stranger on returning home may tell his friends how we surpass all other men in sailing, running, in the dance and song.”[*]

The scene that follows is one of exquisite grace. Nine umpires (the mention of whom shows how important athletics have become), clear the ring for the dance: A page brings the “melodious lyre,” Demodokos, the blind bard, steps into the centre of the ring, and is surrounded by youthful men skilled in dancing. “They struck the splendid dance-ground with their feet; Odysseus watched their twinkling feet, and was astonished.”

No languid ease was the delight of the Homeric aristocracy, but activity of the most virile type. And, although Homer’s two epics grew into form long after the splendid Achæan civilization of which he wrote existed only in legend, yet he artfully excludes any references to contemporary facts. Only by subtle inferences can information about the Dorian successors be extracted. For instance, although works of art were very common in the Achæan days, yet Homer rarely describes them and when he does so it is with astonishment and admiration. It is therefore held that in this passage the poet has inadvertently made an admission with regard to his own times,—times, which, in fact were characterized by a paucity of works of art. Archæologists have demonstrated, however, that the legends, of which the two Homeric epics are the poetic form, and that attested the vanished Achæan civilization, were in very many details faithful to the facts of the Mycenæan age. There is every reason to believe that the Achæan nobility practiced athletics as Homer represents them. But it must be said in addition that the authors of the Iliad and the Odyssey do not speak as if athletic sports were a spectacle unfamiliar to themselves. It is recorded by Plutarch that Hesiod won a tripod, as prize, in the funeral games in honor of Amphidamos.

[*] Palmer’s Translation.