iend, Peleus, who placed second in everything except for wrestling, which he placed first.The pentathlon was a combination of light events: jumping, running, javelin and heavy events: discus and wrestling. While it remains unknown how the decision of the winner was made, it is believed that the last two winners confronted each other in wrestling, with the winner declared pentathlon victor. Speed, strength, skill, and endurance are all qualities necessary to participate in the pentathlon. A quote from Aristotle, The pentathletes are the best, because they are naturally endowed with both strength and speed (Foundation of the Hellenic World [FHW], 1).Boxing, added in 688 B.C., was first mentioned in Homeric poems, and was held in honor of Patroclus. It is said that Apollo, who defeated and killed Phorbus, was the inventor of the boxing event. The ancient boxing differed in many ways from the modern boxing that we are used to. While having no time limit to the fight, opponents fought until one raised his hand in defeat, or fell knocked out or dead. An effective tactic of ancient boxing was positioning your opponent to face the sun, blinding him with the glare. When a match would stalemate, the contestants had the option of klimax, which meant both men stood still and allowed his opponent a blow without making an attempt to avoid it.For wrist and hand support, the boxers would wrap himantes, or straps of soft ox-hide around the first knuckles of the fingers, then ran diagonally across the palm onto the back of the hand, leaving the thumb uncovered. Because himantes were time consuming, boxers later started using oxies himantes which had hard leather straps with a layer of wool to protect the hand. The Romans later invented the caestus, which was a boxing glove reinforced with iron and lead, transforming the art of boxing into a deadly contest. Philostratos claims that a good boxer should have long strong arms, a high neck and po...
