The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

STRONG MEN AND THEIR FEATS OF STRENGTH. 17 lat once they musthave been a poor lot. Carrying off the gates lof Gaza depended on their size and weight, as to the strength Irequired, while no details are given by which we can estimate Ithe strength required to pull the pillars of the Philistines' temple loff their pedestals. Passing over HERCULES (whose chief feat of Istrength was strangling a lion) as being too mythical, we come Ito MILD of Crotona, a Greek town i the South of Italy, the most [celebrated athletein secular history, who flourished about 500 1b.c. In his case also we find no feat recorded by which we can Iform any accurate idea of his strength. He wasvictor sixtimes lat the Olympic games, asplendid record, seeingthey occurred lonly once in four years, and his defeat the seventh time he came jforward was chiefly owingto stiffness through age. Amongst •the feats attributed to him are the following :—Binding a cord jround his head, he could break it by retaining his breath and jswelling out his veins; with his elbow resting on his side, he [defied any oneto open his closed fist; tanding on an oiled quoit, le defied any one to push himoff it. This lastis nonsense, the [first two indefinite. The feat by whiche is best known is having [carried a four-year-old heifer through the Stadium at Olympia, [killed it with a blow of his fist, and afterwardseaten itall in one [day. Several men have been credited with power to kill an ox [with a blow of the fist. As regards the carrying and eating parts [of the performance, the following dilemma occurs. Unless it [was at least four times his own weight, it was no great featto [carry it; if it was four times his own weight, itwas impossible [he could have eatenit in a day, evenallowing awide margin for [offal. He issaid to havemet his death by attempting to rend a [tree which some woodcutters had left partly split by wedges. [Exerting his strength, he widened the fissure, the wedges dropped [out, the tree closed again on his hands, which he was unable to extricate, and in this position was devoured by wolves. All the recorded feats, however, stillleave us ignorant ofhow strong he ^AS. POLYDAMUS, who killed the lion with his bare hands,was native of Scotussa, in Thessaly, and, like Milo, a conqueror in