In justification of this praise, it must be remembered that Greek boxing, aside from its brutal features, had also its æsthetic side. A graceful carriage, dexterity, and promptness of activity were cultivated. We find Apollo, the embodiment of youthful grace and beauty, and the ideal of Hellenic æstheticism, represented as a boxer. Even from the medical point of view, boxing was highly esteemed. Aretaios recommends it for vertigo and chronic headache (De Morb. Dint. Cur. 1, 2). This sport engaged young men of the noblest families in all parts of Hellas. Pythagoras is said to have been victorious when a youth in a boxing contest at Olympia. Rhodes, Ægina, Arkadia and Elis were noted for producing skilled pugilists. Boxing was followed by wrestling and the pankration which were the final competitions. As is well known, wrestling was one of the most popular sports among the Greeks, from the days of Homer. According to mythology, Palaistra, the daughter of Hermes, established the πάλη, while her brother, Autolykos, is mentioned as the instructor of the young Herakles in this art. Plato also assigns the origin of wrestling to the earliest times and declares Antaios and Kerkyon to be the most ancient wrestlers. But the mode of wrestling was the result of a mere desire to fight, and so did not develop wrestling as an art. Theseus is said to have been the first to reduce it to a system and to practice it according to definite rules. We have already mentioned how Homer, in the games of Achilles, causes the powerful Telamonian Aias and Odysseus to engage in a wrestling bout. Wrestling matches were among the chief events in the famous games at Olympia and elsewhere. They were introduced earlier than boxing and were believed to show off the strength, activity and grace of the body to more advantage than any other contest. No other exercise required such perfect development of every muscle in the body, or an equal combination of strength and agility. Plutarch calls wrestling the most artistic and cunning of athletic sports. It was as full of tricks and feints as that of modern times. The opponent was often deceived by feigned positions and movements. Sometimes the wrestler would feint as if to grasp his adversary in a certain place, but by a quick, cat-like movement would attack him in another which had been left exposed. Cunning was likewise practiced by the Homeric heroes. Odysseus overpowered Aias by striking him in the hollow of the knee. But while wrestling was characterized by tricks, the observance of certain rules was insisted on at Olympia. Striking, kicking, and pushing were prohibited, but, strange to say, disjointing an opponent’s fingers was allowed, probably on the ground that it involved grasping.