Olympic Cavalcade

l l 16 OLYMPIC CAVALCADE Philostratus, and their purpose was, first and last, the production of out– standing strength and staying power through the employment of old ath– letes as teachers of athletic technique, especially boxing. The rules for rest, recreation, careful massage and the diet sheets introduced by later trainers were at that time unknown, yet the athletes produced in the sixth century were such hardy men that, in consequence of their healthy life, they main– tained their fitness and stamina through eight and even nine ·Olympiads, a period of thirty-two to thirty-six years. Swimming was then a favourite pastime and men improved their con– dition by swimming each day out to sea or bathing in a river. They slept in the open air on skins or piles of fodder, had healthy appetites and were not particular about their food. They liv~d on porridge, unleavened bread and as much meat as they could get, and they ate largely. Many of them gained distinction in war. As is shown by the male statues of the period the strength of the athlete lay more in the muscles of the trunk than in the limbs. . The bearded Hercules, a personification of strength and endurance., may be taken as a typical figure of the strong men of his century. Then, a hundred years later, came the age of Athletic Beauty. The sculptors' models were supplied by the gymnasium and the palaestra. The hero of the red-figured vase painters was not Heracles but Theseus, a youthful wrestler. The models were drawn from the youthful wrestlers, the discus and javelin throwers who took part in the pancration. . They showed the union of strength, skill and physical beauty which are the attributes oflate youth and earlymanhood. In the fifth century youths of between sixteen and eighteen years of age were enrolled in corps for two years of rigid military exercise and athletic training. For them diet was carefully planned, their massage was elaborate and their exercise was properly balanced by sleep periods. Their -training was mostly, centred in and around the gymnasia, which were recreation and sports grounds. There, under special trainers, they rode, ran, wrestled and practised ·such exercises as they wished. They hardened their bodies by patrols on the borders and by athletics and hunting. The old-time Olympic champions trained and competed in a state of nudity and used much oil and a strigil for self-massage and cleaning in their preparation. These customs brought both health and vigour to their bodies from the sun and the wind. There was also a strong psychological effect, for flabbiness, a pale skin and poor physical condition were regarded as unsightly and even indecent, so that an ill-developed youth was ashamed to bare his body to the critical public gaze. He became, indeed, a laughing-stock to his associates. The Age of Strength was developed to meet the prevailing conditions of life when all men were ready to put aside whatsoever sport or task of lesser importance upon which they were engaged and to snatch up arms in the defence of the state to which they belonged. It was the age of purest