The blows were directed at the upper parts of the body, and the wounds inflicted on the head, the temples, ears, cheeks and nose, were very severe and frequently proved fatal. The teeth were often broken or injured. It is related of Eurydamas, the Cyrenean, that his teeth were knocked out by his adversary, but that he quietly swallowed them in order to conceal from him how much he was injured; his adversary, disheartened by the apparently small effect of his powerful blow, lost hope and allowed Eurydamas to win the victory. The ears, especially, were exposed to great danger, and those of regular pugilists were usually so mutilated and swollen that the phrase “fighter’s ear” became a stereotyped expression. Little covers for the ear, known as αὐφώτιρες, were invented for gymnasium work, but they were not used in public games. Boxers, on account of the bruises and disfigurations that usually marked their features, were the subjects of numerous epigrammatic jests. Here is a sample from the pen of a comic poet: “After twenty years,” says the author of the epigram, “Ulysses was recognized from his appearance returning to his home, by his dog, Argos. But thou, Stratophon, after boxing for four hours, hast been so altered, that neither dogs nor any person in the town could possibly recognize thee. And if thou lookest at thy face in a mirror, thou thyself wilt swear that thou art not Stratophon.” Of the boxer Olympikos, a poet says that he once had a nose, a beard, eyebrows, ears and eyelids, but that when he had inscribed his name among the pugilists he lost them all. The only protection against the wound-dealing cæstus, aside from skill in blocking blows, was a cap of bronze that was worn by boxers at Olympia. Another noteworthy point of difference between Olympian and modern boxing is that instead of maintaining silence during the contest, as do the moderns, the Olympians accompanied their blows with certain inarticulate sounds, believing that their force was thereby increased. Modern stone-masons frequently do the same. The contest at Olympia did not end until one of the combatants was rendered unconscious, or was compelled by fatigue, wounds or despair to declare himself conquered, which he signified by lifting his right hand.