There are three combat sports in the ancient Greek Olympics: wrestling, boxing and the pankration. Wrestling was introduced in 708 BCE during the eighteenth Olympiad, the same year the pentathlon was introduced. Boxing came twenty years later, during the twenty-third Olympiad, followed by the pankration which was introduced in 648 BCE during the thirty-third Olympiad, the same year the horse-race was introduced.

Two ancient Wrestlers.

In the ancient Greek Olympics, wrestling was a sport in which two opponents grappled with each other and tried to force each other to the ground, but without striking. Before the match, the competitors rubbed themselves down with olive oil and then covered each other with powder or dust, to enable a good grip. Unlike modern wrestlers, ancient wrestlers were not divided into weight categories; they were

only divided according to age into three groups: boys, youths and men. A match was broken into sections by falls, and the first person make his opponent fall three times was the winner. A man was considered to have a fall if his back or shoulders touched the ground. Completely stretching a man prone, tying him up so that he cannot escape or strangling him were also considered falls.

In boxing, like in wrestling, the ancient competitors were not divided according to weight, but only by age. While there was no official ring marked off with ropes for the boxers, their space was limited by the surrounding spectators. There were no rounds, so fighters could not rest except by mutual consent. There is evidence that boxers used equipment such as punching bags, ears guards and padded gloves in training, but they were not used during competition.

Until the end of the fifth century BCE, a boxer's only protection was straps of leather, about ten to twelve feet long, which were wrapped around the hands. These straps of leather were called himantes, and they offered little protection for the hands. The rules for boxing were designed in 688 BCE; they prohibited holding, scratching and biting (Sweet, p.71). Victory was awarded to the athlete whose competitor was unable or unwilling to continue. One could surrender by raising his hand.

Two ancient boxers. Notice the himantes on their hands.

Pankration is a Greek word meaning "all strength" (pan = all, kratos = strength); it also has a synonym, pammachon, which means "total fight". The pankration is probably best defined as a combination of wrestling and boxing, but it also included kicking, strangleholds, finger bending and pressure locks. The only two tactics that were explicitly prohibited in the pankration were biting and gouging, and umpires stood with rods ready to enforce these rules by flogging any competitor who violated them. Despite the flogging, competitors often broke the rules. As in boxing, the athlete won if his competitor could not, or would not, continue. Competitors in the pankration commonly wore the himantes that boxers wore on their hands. The pankration was by far one of the favorite events at the Olympics, especially for the spectators because they were witnessing a supreme test of strength and skill.

On the left, two ancient boxers. On the right, two pankration competitors. Notice the athlete on the right gouging the eye of the athlete on the left. The umpire stands by ready to flog them for fouls.

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