. Greek athletic sports and festivals . ld and to accept Jiithners view that a fall on theknee did not count. What happened if both wrestlers fell together ? The onlyevidence for this is the wrestling match in the Iliad, describedin our second chapter. There it will be remembered that inthe first bout Odysseus fell on the top of Ajax, in the secondthey both fell sideways, after which Achilles declared the con-test drawn. From this we inferred that if both wrestlers felltogether no fall was counted. The accounts of wrestling inlater Writers are merely literary imitations of Homer, and oflittle
. Greek athletic sports and festivals . ld and to accept Jiithners view that a fall on theknee did not count. What happened if both wrestlers fell together ? The onlyevidence for this is the wrestling match in the Iliad, describedin our second chapter. There it will be remembered that inthe first bout Odysseus fell on the top of Ajax, in the secondthey both fell sideways, after which Achilles declared the con-test drawn. From this we inferred that if both wrestlers felltogether no fall was counted. The accounts of wrestling inlater Writers are merely literary imitations of Homer, and oflittle independent value. One fall did not decide the victory; three falls werenecessary. There are numerous allusions in literature to thethree throws.^ The technical word for winning a victory inwrestling was rpidu-a-eiv, * to treble, and the victor was called 1 Anth. Pal. xi. 316. ^ Agamemnon 63 ; Persae 914 ; Anth. Plan. iii. 24. ^ Collected in my article on the Pentathlon, xxiii. p. 63 ; cp. 26. Jiithner, Philostratus, FiG. llu.—One of a pair of bronze wrestling-boys, generally known as (Photograph by Brogi.) 379 380 GREEK ATHLETIC SPORTS AND FESTIVALS chap. TpiaKT-qp. At first sight it seems uncertain whether thereference is to three bouts or three falls. But the latter in-terpretation is the only one which suits every passage, and isrendered certain by the categorical statement of Seneca that awrestler thrice thrown lost the prize.^ So much for the actual throw and the number of throwsnecessary for victory. We pass on to the question of themeans employed by the Greek wrestler to throw his particular, was tripping allowed, and were leg-holds allowed ?In the artificial Graeco-Eomau style of to-day tripping isforbidden and no holds are allowed below the waist. Trippingis seldom represented in art; but the frequent references to itin literature from the time of Homer to that of Lucian leaveno doubt that it played an important par
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