Why? The Science of Athletics

THE BUILD OF THE ATHLETE muscle was portrayed as slightly overhanging the crest of the pelvis. The limbs were symmetrical and strong, but unspoiled by masses of bulging muscles. - Age of Strength In considering this question it is neces– sary to take note of some divergence in Greek opinion. The sixth century B.c. was essentially the Age of Strength, in which the warlike conditions then obtaining produced the type best suited to the period ; this type, incidentally, was most nearly matched in modern times by the protagonists of the British prize ring. During the sixth century boxers and wrestlers, rather than runners and jumpers, filled the public eye, and inspired the production of such personi– fications of strength as the bearded Farnese Hercules, who was not unlike the prize fighters of the eighteenth century. By the beginning of the fifth century B.c. the Greeks had attained a degree of physical fitness that has seldom, if ever, been surpassed ; for the fashion of nudity in sport had the great advantage that the athlete, knowing he would be the cynosure of all eyes in the Stadium, feared to show flabby muscles and a pale skin, lest he should be the laughing-stock of the populace. The Age of Strength, however, was passing, imper– ceptibly, into the Age of Athletic Beauty, and Polyclitus had already produced, in the Doryphoros, a lighter type of fighting man. In future a youthful wrestler, Theseus, was to be preferred to the bearded Hercules, and the type that had been able to support the strain of competition at eight, and even nine, Olympiads was to give way to that union of strength and beauty which is essentially the possession of full-grown youth and early manhood. The extremes of type called for by the sixth century ideals are clearly shown in such statues as the Farnese Hercules as representing the very limit of strength, and the Doryphoros; or Spear-bearer, of Polyclitus, showing a much lighter type of fighting man. The fifth century conception of manly perfection is