Once Again the Brutality of Ancient Boxing: Lessons from the Getty Villa Museum

It's back to business and the main focus of this blog: interpreting the Apostle Paul in his Greco-Roman context. In the past, I had done a series of posts on athleticism in the Mediterranean world during the early imperial period of Rome. But when I was visiting the Getty Villa last summer, I came across a stunning mosaic from the Gallo-Roman period discovered in the archaeological ruins of a Roman villa in present-day Villelaure, France. I thought it worth discussing the boxing scene depicted in this mosaic floor made of stone and glass:

Roman Mosaic of two Boxers (ca. A.D. 175)
Photo by Max Lee © 2015 from the Getty Villa

In the above photo, we have the artist's depiction of the aged Sicilian boxing champ Entellus (left) and the younger Trojan hero Dares (right) who is bleeding from a wound inflicted by Entellus. In the background is the prize bull for the winner (no-brainer: Entellus won!) which, according to Virgil's Aeneid, was punched so hard by Entellus, he cracked the bull's skull and killed it as a sacrifice to the gods. 
    Even more interesting is how both boxers wear caesti or leather gloves, often wrapped with iron balls or lead around the boxers' hands to increase the force of the blows. It goes without saying that such blows could prove fatal in the ring.
    The mosaic is a shocking reminder that boxing was brutal in the ancient world, and the athlete who engages in it required focus, stamina, discipline, training and endurance. Ancient boxers made modern MMA fighters look like wimps. 
    Therefore it is all the more striking (pardon the pun!) how the Apostle Paul uses the boxing metaphor to describe the discipline and focus needed in ministry: 

25 Every competitor/athlete (ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος) exercises self-control over all things; they do this to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box (πυκτεύω) as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after I proclaim (κηρύξας) [the gospel] to others, I myself shall not become disqualified. (1 Cor 9:25-27)

The minister is the spiritual athlete. The one who proclaims the gospel to others and learns to become all things to all people so that by all means he or she might save some (cf. 9:22) requires the focus and precision of an expert boxer who disciplines one's own body and trains it, but also stays on mission without distraction. Everyone who preaches the gospel knows that ministry can be more brutal than boxing.

The Manic Christian and Lucian's Satire on Greco-Roman Athletics

   In the excerpts below, I quote the 2nd century AD satirist Lucian's parody of the pancratium, wrestling and boxing. It features a dialogue between the Greek Sidon and a visiting Scythian Anacharsis, the latter of whom is baffled by the brutality of athletic competitions. Sidon and Anacharsis both visit a gymnasium, and upon seeing how the athletes train, Anacharsis remarks how crazy the training program is:

• Anacharsis: They push one another about with lowered heads and butt their foreheads together like rams. And see there! That man picked the other one up by the legs and threw him to the ground, then fell down upon him and will not let him get up, shoving him all down into the mud; and now, after winding his legs about his middle and putting his forearm underneath his throat, he is choking the poor fellow, who is slapping him sidewise on the shoulder, by way of begging off, I take it, so that he may not be strangled completely (1)... Others, standing upright, themselves covered with dust, are attacking each other with blows and kicks. This one here looks as if he were going to spew out his teeth, unlucky man, his mouth is so full of blood and sand; he has had a blow on the jaw, as you see. But even the official there does not separate them and break up the fight—I assume from his purple cloak that he is one of the officials; on the contrary, he urges them on and praises the one who struck the blow (3) ... I want to know, therefore, what good it can be to do all this, because to me at least the thing looks more like madness (μανίᾳ) than anything else, and nobody can easily convince me that men who act in that way are not out of their minds (ὡς οὐ παραπαίουσιν). (5)

Athletes are maniacs! Why would anyone want to punish themselves this badly, wonders Anacharsis. The conversation gets even more ridiculous when Anacharsis asks what kind of prizes the athletes receive for their pain: 

• Anacharsis: And these prizes (τὰ ἄθλα) of yours, what are they?
• Sidon: At the Olympic games, a wreath (στέφανος) made of wild olive, at the Isthmian one of pine, and at the Nemean one of parsley, at the Pythian some of the apples sacred to Apollo, and with us at the Panathenaea, the oil from the holy olive. What made you laugh, Anacharsis. Because you think these prizes trivial? (9)

At this point, the conversation takes a serious turn. When seeing Anacharsis laughed at the ridiculousness of being choked, maimed and broken in two, all for a piece of parsley or crown of apple branches, Sidon explains why even just one of these wreath-crowns (in Greek στέφανος) were so coveted: 

• Sidon: But, my dear friend, it is not the bare gifts that we have in view! They are merely signs of the victory (σημεῖα τῆς νίκης) and marks to identify the winners (οἱ κρατήσαντες). But the glory (δόξα) that goes with them is worth everything to the victors (τοῖς νενικηκόσιν), and to attain it, even to be kicked is nothing to men who seek to capture glory through hardships... the one who wins is, in fact, counted equal to the gods (ἰσόθεον)    (10) [excerpts above taken from Lucian, Anacharsis 1, 3, 5, 9-10; Eng. trans. by Harmon, LCL, pp. 3-12]

So Sidon explains to the bewildered Anacharsis that the crown is the not the prize, but the glory, honor, praise and prestige that the athletes achieve for themselves and the cities which they represent. 

The goddess Nike presents a stephanos (wreath) to an athlete (ca. 5th cent. BC)
image credit: http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be

   The above excerpts make the remarks of Paul in 1 Cor 9:25 even more poignant:

• Every competitor/athlete (ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος) exercises self-control (ἐγκρατεύεται) over all things; they do this to receive a perishable wreath (στέφανον), but we an imperishable one.

While Greco-Roman athletes train to get a perishable crown, a symbol of fleeting glory and prestige for oneself and one's city, the Christian minister trains for an imperishable crown, a symbol of the eternal glory that is gained not for ourselves but for the God we seek to honor. Call it madness! Or call it the best and most worthwhile life a person can hope to experience! 

Gold's Gym or God's Gym?: Abstinence, Discipline, and Endurance for Godliness

Bronze boxer (ca. 2nd cent. BC) recovered from the ANTIKYTHERA shipwreck
Photo taken by Max Lee © 2014 Athens Museum

Continuing from the post on ancient athleticism and training regimes, I wanted to make a few remarks on the 1 Timothy 4:7-8 text: 

• "Make no room for worldly or superstitious myths (lit. worldly myths and myths told among elderly women) but train (Γύμναζε) yourself towards godliness (πρὸς εὐσέβειαν). For bodily training (σωμτικὴ γυμνασία) is beneficial for a few things, but godliness is valuable for all things because it holds the promise of life in the now and for the life to come."

   Mention abstinence, discipline from a strict coach, self-control, and pushing the limits on endurance for a physical workout at Gold's gym, and no one will think twice about how each training routine is vital to the growth of a competing athlete. Mention these same practices in the context of the Christian life, and people too often get offended or at least touchy that their freedom is being infringed upon. 
    Abstinence?! In this day and age. Yes, says Paul. Not only from immorality (cf. 1 Cor 9:25; 10:8), but in the case of the 1 Timothy text, Christians are called not to perpetuate, nor participate, but rather abstain from superstitious ideas and long-standing myths (e.g., the American dream that success is measured by material gain) that structure life outside the church but hopefully never within it. If an ancient athlete can abstain from desserts and sex, curb wine consumption, and diet to a strict regime, the Christian athlete pursuing godliness must learn to say "no" to the practices and lifestyles that cripple holiness.
    A spiritual coach? We pay physical trainers at gyms to help us go through a circuit of running and weight-lifting, but do we have a spiritual mentor whom we give permission to point out our sins and faults? Who tells me when I'm wrong and calls me, with grace, to repent? An athlete who listens to no one but "me, myself, and I" is doomed to failure.
   Self-control, discipline, and hard work, even pushing the limits so we pray, fast, and labor in ministry farther than we ever imagined is the kind of spiritual training we all need. Easy? No. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. But essential? Absolutely! Prayer, for example, is hard work. It takes the first 30 minutes of praying to stop babbling like a pagan and move from selfish prayer to a deeper, holier communion with God. When was the last time any of us were so caught up in prayer, it became - in the words of Thomas Merton - timeless? The Christian athlete in timeless prayer is unaware that hours have gone by because the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is that precious and sweet.  
   When I think about how hard ancient athletes train, it raises the bar for me to pursue godliness with greater zeal... and with greater humility.

About the bronze statue: the photo was taken from the Athens museum during my January 2014 Greece trip. The statue features a boxer posed to strike a punching bag (κώρυκος). The bronze boxer was part of a special exhibit on the cargo and remains of a Roman merchant ship which was recovered from the bottom of the Aegean Sea. It was called the ANTIKYTHERA exhibit because of the amazing recovery of a seafaring navigation device (called the ANTIKYTHERA mechanism; more on this much later when I finally get to post on ancient travel and Paul's missionary journeys). But the exhibit also featured statues, armory, glass bowls, ceramics, clay vessels, jewelry, coins, and other cargo. So glad I got a chance to see the exhibit right before it closed at the end of January. MJL

Ancient Athletic Training: Regimes, Dieting, and Sports Complexes

When athletes train, they usually enter a sports complex called the palaestra (Latin; Greek παλαίστρα), which in classical times often referred to the wrestling ring but by the Roman era came to designate a specialized area for professionals who trained for the games. It could be part of a larger gymnasium (γυμνάσιον) or an independent facility by itself. Vitruvius Pollio gives an entire description of how to build the palaestra in his work On Architecture (5.11). 

Six Greek athletes at the games (ca. 510 BC)
Photo of the funeral relief taken by Max Lee © 2014 Athens Museum

A quick visit to the ancient sports complex or gym, via the literary description of several Greco-Roman authors, can help the modern reader appreciate the kind of intense training an athlete underwent. The Roman playright Plautus, in his play Bacchides, for example, has his character Lydus, a tutor, describe his visit to the palaestra as follows: 

• Unless you got to the sports complex (palaestram) before the sun rose, the gym supervisor (gymnasi praefecto) laid a strict penalty upon you. When this occurred, there was an additional punishment: both the coach and the trainee were in disgrace. Here in the sports complex, trainees worked more at running, wrestling, throwing the javelin and discus, boxing, playing ball, and jumping than at kissing prostitutes. They spent their time there [= the gym], not in shady sports [= the brothels]. (Plautus, Bacchides 3.3.20-26; Eng. trans. modified from Sweet, pp. 113-14)

Lucian, the 2nd century AD satirist, makes these comments about the gym workouts:

• When we arrived at the gymnasium (γυμνάσιον) we removed our clothing. Then someone [in our party] practices holds at arm's length (ὁ μὲν τις ἀκροχειριασμῷ), another neck-holds and upright wrestling (ὁ δὲ τραχηλισμῷ καὶ ὀρθοπάλῃ ἐχρῆτο). Another [of our group] after rubbing himself with oil practiced slipping out of his opponents grasp by twisting (ὁ δὲ λίπα χρισάμενος ἐλυγίζετο); another punched away at the sandbag (ὁ δὲ ἀντέβαλλε τῷ κωρύκῳ); still another shadowboxed with lead weights in his hands (ὁ δὲ μολυβδαίνας χερμαδίους δράγδην ἔχων ἐχειροβόλει). (Lucian, Lexiphanes 5; Greek LCL text but Eng. trans. modified from Sweet, p. 114)

Next, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, a near contemporary of the Apostle Paul, has these things to say about the diet and exercise routine of athletes: 

• You say, "I want to win at the Olympic games!" Wait a minute. Look at what is involved... you will have to obey instructions [from your trainer], eat according to regulations, keep away from desserts, exercise on a fixed schedule at definite hours (γυμνάζεσθαι πρὸς ἀνάγκην, ὥρᾳ τεταγμένῃ), in both heat and cold; you must not drink cold water nor can you have a drink of wine whenever you want. You must hand yourself over to your trainer (παραδεδωκέναι σεαυτὸν τῷ ἐπιστάτῃ) just as you would a doctor. Then in the competition (ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι) itself, you must gouge and be gouged. There will be times when you will sprain a wrist, twist an ankle, swallow mouthfuls of sand, and be flogged. And after all that, still there are times when you experience defeat (νικηθῆναι)(Epictetus, Diss. 3.15.2-5; Greek LCL; Eng. trans. modified from Sweet, p. 114)

Finally, Galen, the 2nd century AD physician, comments on how unnatural the athletic training program is. It rips away at the body. As a doctor, he does not recommend the physical conditioning an athlete endures as a normal routine. It is extreme:

• For Hippocrates [5th cent. BC doctor] says somewhere: "A healthy condition is better than the unnatural state of athletes" (διάθεσις ἀθλητικὴ οὐ φυσει, ἕξις ὑγιεινὴ κρείσσων). Or again: "Among those who do sports/train (γυμναστικοῖσιν), peaking conditioning is dangerous, that is to say, in the bodies of athletes and those who sports-train (ἐν τοῖς ἀθλητικοῖς τε καὶ γυμναστικοῖς σώμασιν)."  But you must understand now that in saying "athletic" or "sporting" Hippocrates does not refer to the activities of those who exercise randomly... but those who compete as [professional] athletes against the strength of opponents (Galen, Thras. med. 9 = Claudii Galeni Pergameni Scripta minora, III.45 = Kühn, V.820, lines 1-8; Eng. trans. modified from Sweet, pp. 115-16)

So, if I were distill the above excerpts into a quick summary, I would describe the overall training regime of athletes as follows: 

1. Wake up early in the morning. Before the sun even rises, you are already at the palaestra starting your workout routine. Otherwise, be penalized by the gym supervisor.
2. Workout involves several intense exercises with weights, sandbags, grappling hold practice, sparring, shadowboxing, throwing practice with javelins, discus and balls. There was also sprinting and endurance running. But at the end of the day, you got to wind down at the public baths. Think spa.
3. Abstinence from sex. Period. Sometimes, you can have wine, but not often.
4. Strict dieting. Absolutely no desserts. Low carbs. High proteins. In fact, some even went on a meat-only diet (Diogenes Laertius, Lives 8.12). I think modern nutritionists would scratch their heads on this part of ancient athletics. All meat, no carbs, makes for a buffed but energy-less competitor. 
5. Get a trainer who will push you beyond your limits. And obey him/her (but it was usually a "him").

Want to learn more? I recommend the following sourcebook and commentary, from which I drew the English translations (Greek and Latin texts were from other sources): Waldo E. Sweet, ed. and trans., Sports and Recreation in Ancient Greece (Oxford Univ. Press, 1987).
   Food for thought: now what do you think the writer of the Pastorals meant when he charged a young pastor in 1 Timothy 4:7-8: "Train (Γύμναζε) yourself towards godliness (πρὸς εὐσέβειαν). For bodily training (σωμτικὴ γυμνασία) is beneficial for a few things, but godliness is valuable for all things." 

Postscript 06/13/14: Exegetical Exercise: 1) Read the above post. 2) Go to the bible dictionaries/encyclopedias in the reference section of the university library and learn more about athletes/the games in the Greco-Roman world. 3) Interpret 1 Cor 9:24-27 drawing insight from your background study. In other words: how does understanding the training, discipline, and endurance of the ancient athlete in the Greco-Roman world help you to understand Paul's message/exhortations in 1 Cor 9:24-27? 4) Be sure to consult at least one academic commentary on your biblical text from the reference section.

Before MMA, There Was the Pankration

Lately, I've been trying to get myself back to the gym and into shape. So athletic training has been on my mind. Today, I thought I would write a blurb about the pankration (Greek παγκράτιον; Latin pancratium). This was one of the most vicious competitions in the Greek athletic games which combined both boxing and wrestling. In many ways, it was an ancient form of modern-day mixed martial arts. Aristotle describes the athletic events this way: 

• Bodily excellence in athletics (ἀγωνιστική) consists in size, strength, and swiftness of foot; for to be swift is to be strong. For one who is able to throw his legs about in a certain way, to move them rapidly and with long strides, makes a good runner (δρομικός); one who can hug and grapple, a good wrestler (παλαιστικός); one who can thrust away by a blow of the fist, a good boxer (πυκτικός); one who excels in boxing and wrestling is fit for the pancratium (παγκρατιαστικός)... (Aristotle, Rhetoric 1361b.14; LCL; Eng. trans. by Freese)

Painting of Theseus' Battle with the Minotaur in the Labyrinth
from an Attic kalyx crater (wine-diluter) ca. 480 BC
Photo taken by Max Lee © 2014 Athens Museum

Legend has it that the pancration was a technique created by Theseus as he fought against Minotaur in the labyrinth. According to Dio Cassius, Emperor Caligula popularized the sport in Rome (Roman Histories 59.13). It was very likely still a crowd favorite at the Isthmian games sponsored by Corinth at the time when Paul visited the city. The winner was determined when the loser was killed or "tapped out" by slapping the side of the victor in a gesture of submission. 
   The pancration gives us just one more example of how radical Paul's use of the athletic metaphor was to describe the kind of discipline, training, and endurance which the Christian athlete needed to exercise self-control over wrong desire. 

Picture of two pankratiasts fighting (center), a trainer (right) and onlooker (left)
from an Attic skyphos (wine-cup) ca. 500 BC
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Ministry Can Be More Brutal than Boxing

Continuing from my last post on Lucillius' epigrams satirizing the viciousness of ancient boxing, I turn to 1 Cor 9:24-27 where Paul makes an explicit comparison of the athlete (runner, boxer) with the challenges of Christian life and ministry. 

Ancient Wrestling (grave relief; 510BC)
Photo taken by Max Lee © 2014 Athens Museum 

  This athletic illustration is actually the 2nd used by Paul as part of his ongoing exhortation that the Corinthians give up their rights (to eat idol food) and express their freedom by loving their fellow brothers and sisters in the church. In 9:1-23, Paul uses himself as an example by explaining how he gave up his apostolic rights to receive material support so that he could present the gospel "free of charge" to the Corinthians. In 9:24-27, Paul appeals to the example of competitive Greco-Roman sports to talk about the self-control (ἐγκράτεια) and discipline needed to deny one's desires. In 10:1-13, Paul turns to the wilderness generation of Israel's exodus to warn the Corinthians against the consequences of letting wrong desire and idolatry spiral out of control (Thiselton, 1Cor, 708-9). Concerning the 2nd athletic metaphor, I cite my translation of the text again and highlight two exegetical points:

Do you not know that in the stadium (σταδίῳ) all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run in this way that you may receive it. 25 Every competitor/athlete (ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος) exercises self-control over all things (πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται); they do this to receive a perishable wreath (στέφανον), but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box (πυκτεύω) as though beating the air; 27 but I beat my body (ὑπωπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα) and enslave it (δουλαγωγῶ), so that after I proclaim (κηρύξας) [the gospel] to others, I myself shall not become disqualified.

1. Paul remaps the violence done to one's opponent to himself, literally to his own body (μου τὸ σῶμα). Pardon the pun, but the verbs he uses to illustrate self-control are "striking": "beat" (ὑπωπιάζω), "enslave/subdue" (δουλαγωγῶ), "box" (πυκτεύω) and "struggle against" (ἀγωνίζομαι). 
2. Paul remaps the temporary honor and glory received by the victor on behalf of his city (symbolized by the perishable wreath στέφανον), to the eternal honor and glory of the Christian (symbolized by an imperishable wreath) who receives his/her recognition from God, and it is this God and his gospel which are proclaimed (κηρύξας). 

   Concerning the 1st point: We are our own worst enemy.  Me, myself and I constantly get in the way of loving the other person. At the core, we don't want to love, we don't want to sacrifice, we don't want to give up our rights but guard them violently. People can be such blackholes of ingratitude (i.e., they receive what we give, suck it up like a blackhole, and not reciprocate anything in return, let alone any thanks). So why deny ourselves and go the extra mile to love them? But paradoxically, Paul not only insists that we do, but he considers the practice of denying our appetite and especially our ego as the greatest expression of Christian freedom. To do this, God has to suspend the grip and gravity of sin and enable the Christian athlete to struggle against his/her own selfish impulses, beat them into submission, and pursue a different course other than self-preservation: that is, sacrificial love and service. Ministry can be more brutal than boxing, because we have to constantly fight against our own resistance to serve.
   Concerning the 2nd point: for whom do we run and for what do we box? Hopefully, at the end of the day, even if the other person never responds to our relinquishing of rights for their sake, the glory will go to the Lord Jesus Christ because of how we struggled, both against ourselves and for the service of others. If I run for myself, I'll burn out. Run for Christ, and He acknowledges and sustains me.

Postscript: The above photo of a grave relief (probably of a famous athlete) was taken at the Athens museum during my Greece trip this past January 2014. In the center, two athletes are wrestling with one another. The left wrestler is ready to jump into the fray, and the right person is preparing the pit where the match takes place. Yes, they are naked, and athletes did complete this way during the classical period from which this relief comes (ca. 510 BC).

The Brutality of Boxing in the Greco-Roman World

I'm reading through some ancient Greek and Latin epigrams from the Roman period for fun as a way to treat myself after an intense week of grading. Some of them are really humorous, since many epigrams are parodies of various cultural features of Greco-Roman life. The English translation I'm reading is by Gordon Fain in his Ancient Greek Epigrams (201o). The Greek text varies, but most is translated from Anthologia Palatina. 

    I wanted to share something from Lucillius, 1st century AD court poet commissioned by Emperor Nero, who has some vivid descriptions of the brutality of boxing in the ancient world in some of his satirical poems which poke fun at ancient athleticism. Here are two that deserve a closer look (with key words in Greek highlighted in blue; where I modified Fain's translation in green) 

Epigram 1 (= AP 11.81)
At all the contests (ἀγωνοθετοῦσιν) where Greeks appear, 
I fought (ἀγωνισάμαν) Androleos at every one
My prize at Pisa was to save one ear
At Plataia, one eyelid is what I've won.

At Delphi, I was carried out as dead
My father with citizens (ὁ πατὴρ σὺν πολιήταις)
    were proclaimed (καρύσεττο),
And told to lift me up so I'd be led
Out of the stadium (σταδίων), a corpse or maimed

Epigram 2 (= AP 11.75)
This man Olympikos whom now you see, 
Augustus [= Nero], had a nose,
Chin, forehead, ears and eyelids, then he
A boxer's (πύκτης) calling he chose

And lost them all, so his birthright, too, 
He couldn't even claim;
His brother put his portrait up to view:
The court said, "Not the same!"

(Eng. trans. by Fain, Ancient Greek Epigrams, p. 212)

Greco-Roman boxing could send you home dead or crippled for life, to say the least. No gloves, and bare-fisted, these ancient athletes make modern MMA fighters look like wimps. 
   In the first epigram, Lucillius jokes that the real prize for a boxer is walking away saving one of two ears, or an eyelid. In the 2nd, Lucillius explains to Nero that one boxer Olympikos was so maimed, he became unrecognizable. He could not claim his inheritance because his mutilated face was nothing like the portrait his brother brought to court. The court did not think the boxer vs. the heir in the painting were the same. 
   But what is particularly striking is the irony of the 1st epigram. Boxers fought not for their own honor but for the praise and glory of the city they represented. While the father and citizens of one city lifted up the winning boxer in victory and paraded him around the stadium, the winner ironically looked more like a corpse than a victor. 
   In my next post, I want to look at Paul's famous comparison of the ancient runner, boxer, and athlete with the Christian minister in 1 Cor 9:24-27. May be you can make some insights of your own as you look at what key phrases are parallel with the epigrams above: 

Do you not know that in the stadium (σταδίῳ) all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run in this way that you may receive it. 25 Every competitor/athlete (ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος) exercises self-control over all things; they do this to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box (πυκτεύω) as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after I proclaim (κηρύξας) [the gospel] to others, I myself shall not become disqualified.