File:Greek athletic sports and festivals (1910) (14790194833).jpg

Identifier: greekathleticspo00gard (find matches)
Title: Greek athletic sports and festivals
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: Gardiner, E. Norman (Edward Norman), 1864-1930
Subjects: Athletics Sports Olympics Fasts and feasts
Publisher: London : Macmillan and Co.
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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buted to the same result. Therewere-no rounds in Greek boxing. The opponents fought to afinish. It might happen that both were too exhausted and bymutual consent paused to take breath; but usually the fightwent on until one of the two was incapable of fighting anymore, or acknowledged himself defeated (aTretTrea) by holding-up his hand. This signal of defeat is often depicted on vasepaintings. A good example of it occurs on the amphora in the 1 xxii. 93. 416 GREEK ATHLETIC SPORTS AND FESTIVALS CHAP. British Museum, reproduced in Fig. 141. In such fights forcingtactics do not pay, the boxer who makes the pace too fastexhausts himself to no purpose; in the descriptions of fightswhich we possess it is usually the clumsy, untrained boxer whoforces the pace and tries to rush his opponent, with disastrouseffects to himself. Caution was therefore the rule of the Greekboxer; and the fighting was therefore usually slow. We shallsee to what absurd lengths this caution was carried in latertimes.
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Fig. 141.—B.-f. aiiipliorn, in Britisli Museum, B. 271. Lastly, classification by weights was unknown to the Greeks.Their competitions were open to all comers whatever theirweight, and under the conditions described, w^eight had perhapseven greater advantage than it has to-day. Consequentlyboxing became more and more the monopoly of heavy weightsand became less and less scientific. These conditions were not unlike those existing in the earlydays of the English prize-ring, except that in the latter barefists were used and wrestling was allowed. The use of gloves XIX THE CONDITIONS OF GREEK BOXING 417 or thongs renders wrestling impracticable, and it appears,therefore, never to have been allowed in Greek boxing. Butthere is an element of artificiality about all fighting withcovered hands. Modern boxers tell us that the use of gloveshas corrupted the true art of self-defence because the boxerwith gloves may expose himself to blows which would effectuallyend the fight with bare fists. I

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