The rules were simple: No biting, no gouging . . . just like rhythmic gymnastics. As the Paris Olympics draw to a close we recall an event first introduced to the games in 648 BCE: Pankration.
Contests were savage, with hitting, kicking, twisting of limbs, strangling, and struggling on the ground allowed. The only recognized fouls were biting and gouging. A contest ended when one of the fighters acknowledged defeat or was rendered unconscious. In some cases, competitors died during matches.
The sport was not revived for the modern Olympic Games. Seen here is The Pancratiast, erected in Roger Williams Park in 1900. A gift from Paul Banjotti* to the city, it was originally displayed at the Rhode Island School of Design. It now sits high up a hill, behind a retaining wall enclosing a landscaped area. Why was this entirely naked, man-spreading figure moved to such a remote location? Go see for yourself, but leave all your 10-year-old boys at home. (This is just my theory.)
It’s a shame really, because this is a very moving, beautiful piece. His face is heartbreaking. From “Hidden Treasures: Public Sculpture in Providence”:
The Pancratiast is portrayed as the Romans regarded the Greeks, as a slightly lower order of human being. He looks semibarbaric, exhausted by blows all over his body. Yet he remains full of animal strength, his head turned away and his pose unsettled: he may or may not be beaten; he may or may not rise up again.
The original statue, discovered in Rome in 1885, is on display in the Museo Nazionale Romano who have it featured on the front page of their website.
How brutal was pankration? Paul Christesen, Professor of Ancient Greek History at Dartmouth College, comments on the official Olympics website:
“We know that some people died,” Christesen said. “Our guess is that there were a lot of really nasty injuries but probably not a lot of deaths because either you passed out or you surrendered before you died.
“For example, if someone broke all the fingers in your right hand, which was a perfectly reasonable thing to do in pankration, at that point you probably said, ‘Listen, I think that is probably enough for me’.”
Yikes.
The Pancratiast, Roger Williams Park, 1000 Elmwood Avenue, (directions)
*The same Mr. Banjotti who donated the fountain in Burnside Park.
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My back is to the Dalrymple Boathouse. The statue can not truly be appreciated from this distance.