The Olympics as They Were

[Renew Deal]

July 23, 2004
By GRACE GLUECK

If boxing and wrestling today seem a tad on the brutal
side, consider pankration, an ancient Olympic sport that
was a model of dirty fighting. A no-holds-barred
combination of the two, it allowed choking, scratching,
slapping, kicking, punching the genitals, leg tripping,
finger bending and flipping an opponent overhead. A judge
watched over the two opponents, ready with a stick to
strike the perpetrator of fouls like biting and
eye-gouging.

The sport, if such it can be called, was added to the
Olympic program about 75 years after the Games began,
according to historians, in 776 B.C. And it is vividly
depicted in sculptures and vase painting of the era, along
with more refined contests like running, chariot racing,
discus and javelin throwing, long jumping and others,
including the pentathlon, a combination of five events
performed in one day.

Three current museum displays, one tangential, are
presented in tune with next month's Olympics in Athens, the
first to which the Greek city has played host since the
Games were revived in the 19th century. The most
comprehensive, in terms of exhibits and catalog, is "Games
for the Gods: The Greek Athlete and the Olympic Spirit," a
splendid survey dealing with the spirit and substance of
the Olympics at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

On display are more than 180 objects ranging in date from
about 1350 B.C. to the end of the fourth century A.D., when
the Games were discontinued. (Their modern revival was
largely a result of the efforts of a Frenchman, Baron
Pierre de Coubertin, at the end of the 19th century, and
they have been held every four years since 1908 except
during the world wars.)
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/23/arts/design/23GLUE.html?ex=1091638430&ei=1&en=7695b20dd68a858f


Two weeks until I leave!!! :bounce:

[Spinzonner]

1. Sounds like Karl Rove's kind of Olympic event