Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art — John Shaqi
Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic ArtHyde, Walter Woodburn
History
Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art
Hyde, Walter Woodburn
Olympics; Sculpture, Greek; Sports -- Greece
excitement tied a ribbon on his charioteer with his own hands, thereby
showing that the horses belonged to him and not to Thebes. For this
infraction of the rules he, though an aged man, was punished by the
umpires by scourging.[323] A more disgraceful act was selling out, of
which we have two examples at Olympia. The Thessalian Eupolos bribed
his three adversaries in boxing to let him win. All four were fined
and from the money six bronze statues of Zeus, known as _Zanes_, were
erected at the entrance to the stadion, inscribed with elegiac verses
which warned future athletes against repeating such attempts.[324]
More than fifty years later Kallippos, a pentathlete of Athens, bribed
his opponents and, being detected, all were fined and from the money,
finally collected from the recalcitrant Athenians through the influence
of the oracle at Delphi, six more _Zanes_ were erected.[325] Straton
(or Stratonikos), of Alexandria, won in wrestling and the pankration on
the same day in Ol. 178 (= 68 B. C.). In the wrestling match he had two
adversaries, Eudelos and Philostratos of Rhodes. The latter had bribed
Eudelos to sell out and, being detected, had to pay a fine. Out of this
money another _Zan_ was set up and still another at the cost of the
Rhodians.[326] In Ol. 192 (= 12 B. C.) and in Ol. 226 (= 125 A. D.), we
hear of fines for such corruption out of which additional _Zanes_ were
erected.[327] In Ol. 201 (= 25 A. D.) Sarapion, a pancratiast from
Alexandria, became so afraid of his antagonist that he fled the day
before the contest and was fined—the only case recorded of an athlete
being fined for cowardice at Olympia.[328] In Ol. 218 (= 93 A. D.)
another Alexandrine, named Apollonios, was fined for arriving too late
for the games at Olympia. His excuse of being detained by winds was
found to be false, and it was discovered that he had been making money
on the games in Ionia.[329]
Cases of bribery were known at other games. A third-century B. C.
inscription from Epidauros records how three athletes were fined one
thousand staters each διὰ τὸ φθείρειν τοὺς ἀγῶνας.[330] The venality of
Isthmian victors is shown by the account of a competitor who promised
a rival three thousand drachmæ to let him win and then, on winning on
his merits, refused to pay, though the defeated contestant swore on
the altar of Poseidon that he had been promised the amount.[331] The
emperor Nero, in order to win in singing at the Isthmus, had to resort
to force. A certain Epeirote singer refused to withdraw unless he
received ten talents. Nero, to save himself from defeat, sent a band of
men who pummelled his antagonist so that he could not sing.[332]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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