Lucian of Samosata, Anacharsis, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 8

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[8] As for these forms of athletics, that one yonder in the mud is called wrestling, and the men in the dust are wrestling too. When they stand upright and strike one another, we call it the pancratium.¹. We have other such athletic exercises, too—boxing, throwing the discus, and jumping— in all of which we hold contests, and the winner is considered best in his class and carries off the prizes.

Anacharsis. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Anacharsis, or Athletics (English) (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Ἀνάχαρσις ἢ Περὶ Γυμνασίων Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 8 focus

Σόλων

τῶν γυμνασμάτων δὲ τούτων τὸ μὲν ἐν τῷ πηλῷ ἐκεῖνο πάλη καλεῖται, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῇ κόνει παλαίουσι καὶ αὐτοί, τὸ δὲ παίειν ἀλλήλους ὀρθοστάδην παγκρατιάζειν λέγομεν. καὶ ἄλλα δὲ ἡμῖν ἐστι γυμνάσια τοιαῦτα πυγμῆς καὶ δίσκου καὶ τοῦ ὑπεράλλεσθαι, ὧν ἁπάντων ἀγῶνας προτίθεμεν, καὶ ὁ κρατήσας ἄριστος εἶναι δοκεῖ τῶν καθʼ αὑτὸν καὶ ἀναιρεῖται τὰ ἆθλα.

Translations (1)

Anacharsis, a Discussion of Physical Training Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 3. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 8 focus

[8] Of the exercises here, that in the clay is called wrestling; the youths in the dust are also called wrestlers, and those who strike each other standing are engaged in what we call the pancratium. But we have other gymnasiums for boxing, quoitthrowing, and high-jumping; and in all these we hold contests, the winner in which is honoured above all his contemporaries, and receives prizes.

Notes on the current edition

Anacharsis, or Athletics

Solon’s statement is not quite full enough. The pancratium included not only boxing, but kicking and wrestling, and was practised not only upright but on the ground. fi was a rough and tumble affair, in which only gouging and biting were barred. Some, at least, of the wrestlers in the mud were engaged, strictly speaking, in the pancratium, as the choking and striking show.

Lucian of Samosata Anacharsis 8

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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