PUGILISM, the practice or sport of fighting with the fists (from Lat. pugil, boxer, Gr. 7r6E, with clenched fist). The first mention of such fighting in literature is found in the 23rd book of the Iliad; another full description is in Virgil, Aeneid.
Although fist-fighting was supposed by the Greeks of the classic period to have been a feature of the mythological games at Olym pia, it was not actually introduced into the historic Olympic con tests until the 23rd Olympiad after the re-establishment of the famous games by Iphitus about 88o B.C. Onomastos was the first Olympic victor. Wearing no belt, or the contest ants, except for the cestus, fought entirely naked, since the custom had been introduced in the 15th Olympiad, and was copied by the contestants at the Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian and Pana thenaic games (see GAMES, CLASSICAL). At Olympia the boxers were rubbed with oil to make them supple and limit the flow of perspiration, a precaution the more necessary as the Olympic games were held during the hottest part of the year. The cesti, of which there were several varieties, were bound on the boxers' hands and wrists by attendants or teachers acting as seconds. On account of the weight of the gloves worn, the style of boxing differed from that now in vogue (see BoxING), the modern straight-from-the-shoulder blow having been little used. Both Homer and Virgil speak of "falling blows," and this was the common method of attack, consisting more in swinging and ham mering than in punching. The statue of a Greek boxer in the Louvre shows the right foot forward, the left hand raised as if to ward off a blow from above, and the right hand held opposite the breast, the whole attitude more resembling that of a warrior than of a modern boxer. The Greek champions trained for months before the games, but encounters between athletes armed with such terrible weapons as the loaded cestus were bound to result in very serious bruises and even disfigurement. Pluck was as highly thought of as at the present day, and it was related of a certain Eurydamas, that, when his teeth were battered in, he swallowed them rather than show that he was hurt, whereupon his antagonist, in despair at seeing his most furious blows devoid of effect, gave up the battle. As, on account of the swinging style of blows, the
ears were particularly liable to injury ear-protectors (6,y0cori5Es) were generally used in practice, though not in serious combats. The so-called "pancratist's ear," swollen and misshapen, was a characteristic feature of the Greek boxer.
The rules of Greek boxing were strict. No wrestling, grappling, kicking nor biting were allowed, and the contest ended when one combatant owned himself beaten. On this account pugilism and the pancratium (see pp. 758) were forbidden by Lycurgus, lest the Spartans should become accustomed to an acknowledgment of defeat (Plutarch, Lycurgus). Moreover, it was strictly forbidden to kill an adversary, on pain of losing the prize. Rhodes, Aegina, Arcadia and Elis produced most of the Olympic victors in boxing, which was considered an excellent training for war.
The Greek athletic contest called pancratium (ra-pcpanov, complete or all-in, contest), which was introduced into the Olympic games in the 38th Olympiad, was a combination of boxing and wrestling in which the contestants, who fought naked, not wear ing even the cestus, were allowed to employ any means except biting to wring from each other the acknowledgment of defeat. Boxing, wrestling, kicking, dislocation of joints, breaking of bones, pulling of hair and strangling were freely indulged in. The fight began with sparring for openings and was continued on the ground when the contestants bit the dust. Sudden attacks were also taught, reminding one of the Japanese jiu-jitsu. The pancratium was considered by the Greeks the greatest of all athletic contests. It became popular in Rome during the empire and remained so until the time of Justinian. Diagoras of Rhodes, his three sons and many grandsons, who were sung by Pindar (0/ymp. 7), were the most celebrated of the Olympic boxing champions. A cele brated fighter and wrestler was Milo of Crotona 520 B.C. ).