"Endymion set his [three] sons to run a race at Olympia for the throne; Epeion won, and was awarded the kingdom, and his subjects were, from then on, named Epeans.

-Pausanias, Description of Greece

This reconstruction of the origins of the Olympic agon is based on the historical records of the Eleans as related by Pausanias and the modern archaeological record. All dates are approximate and are B.C.

1700: Olympia is a center for the worship of Gaea, Rhea and Kronos [Saturn] by the pre-Greek inhabitants. The area appears to have been sacred to the maternal agricultural society that was being displaced from the east and north by the paternal cattle-based culture of the Indo-European Greeks. The antiquaries of Elis referred to the pre-Greek inhabitants as the Golden Race, and claimed that they had raised a temple at Olympia in honor of Kronos, king of heaven, consort of the Earth Mother.

c.1500: The daktyls [fingers] or kouretes [Young-warriors] of Mt. Ida on Krete, establish a mission at Olympia. The leader of these five chiefs—reportedly brothers—was Herakles [Hera's-honor], who introduced the worship of Zeus and Hera and the olive tree, and established the Olympic agon as a competition for his younger brothers. The intervals between each agon were 4 years, 1 year for each of Herakles' brothers. It is likely that the daktyls were conquerors rather than missionaries, as the folk legends of the Olympic origins speak of Zeus defeating Kronos in wrestling for the throne of Olympia and then holding games in honor of his victory. In these games Apollo, god of excellence, defeats Ares, god of war, in boxing and Hermes, messenger of the gods, in running. These myths of the domination and excellence; of the Earth Mother's consort being defeated by the bull-eating Thunder-chief, and of Apollo winning out over the naturally gifted Ares and Hermes, reflect the will-to-power of a warrior society justifying the oppression of a conquered people. In this respect the Olympian gods served the early Greek conquerors in much the same fashion as Christianity did the conquistadors in New Spain and the puritans in New England.

1470: The eruption of Thera [possibly known as the flood of Deukalion to the ancient Greeks] strikes the death blow to Classical Minoan civilization, and Greek pirate chiefs expand their activities, including the promotion of the cult of Zeus, who is appeased by offerings of cattle and through agonistic rites.

1420: Klymenus, a descendent of Herakles, conquers Olympia, raises an Altar in honor of Herakles, and reestablishes the Olympic agon.

1400: Endymion defeats Klymenus and established an agon to determine which of his sons will rule.

1370: The last Minoan center, Knossos, is destroyed by Greek raiders. Pelops [Red-face] of Lydia immigrates to Pisa and wins the throne in a chariot race with King Oenomaus. He takes the border region of Olympia from Epeius, conducts the Olympiad in honor of Zeus, and builds a temple to Hermes. The entire body of land would eventually be named the Peloponnese [Red-face-island]. Eleius, grandson of Endymion, seizes the kingdom of Epeius, and thereafter the country is named Elis.

1300: Amythaon of Elis wins control of Olympia from the descendents of Pelops. He and his descendents Pelias, Neleus, and Augeas continue the ancient practice of holding Olympiads, according to 4 year cycles, or as events inaugurating the new king's rule. Zeus, Hera and Herakles are worshipped.

1200: In the wake of the Trojan War the brutal war-chief Herakles of Thebes conquers Olympia, and holds an agon to celebrate his triumph. He is credited with winning the wrestling and the all-power-thing, while Kastor wins the foot-race and Polydeukes the boxing match.

1100: The Aetolian mercenary Oxylus conquers Elis, and is the last king of the heroic age to hold an Olympiad. The Temple of Hera is raised at Olympia. The invasion of the Dorian Greeks begin.

776: King Iphitus of Elis, a descendent of Oxylus, is advised by the Delphik Oracle to re-institute the Olympic agon in the interest of peace. Iphitus and King Kleosthenes [Lion-strong] of Pisa make an Olympic treaty. Agons are held sporadically at Olympia, which is the center of a disputed border region. The first Olympiad of "the unbroken tradition" is held, and the name of a victor in the foot-race is recorded. The name of King Lykurgus of Sparta is entered on the sacred treaty discus, possibly at a later date.

750: Homer is credited with authoring the final version of the 450 year epic poem, The Iliad, an oral tradition, that, at this time becomes the first Hellenic text, and serves a foundational cultural role for the next 500 years and remains the focus of most Hellenic and Roman verse down through A.D. 450. The events from The Funeral Games for Patroclus are gradually adopted into the Olympic agon.

708: The first recorded victors in combat events are Lampis the pentathlete and Eurybatus the wrestler, both Spartans. This event establishes the ethic of combat sports for military preparedness, and inaugurates over a century of Spartan athletic dominance. The Olympic agon soon becomes the single most important event in Greece, as leading men gather every 4 years to compete in the rituals of martial excellence.

648: The Pankration is instituted at the Olympic agon and Piesander of Kamirus composes the Labors of Herakles

All of the specific boxing references found in the literature from the period under study have been cited within the text. The following bibliography is a chronological review of all the ancient works which provided direct or contextual insights to the life of the ancient Greek prize-fighter. All of the entries below provide indispensable insights into the social and cultural context that informed the life of the ancient Greek prize-fighter, and should be read in their entirety. Those sources that provided direct mention of prize-fighting activities are indicated by an.* Sources that post-date the period of this study have only been included when the authors of these texts of the Hellenistic and Roman period have directly addressed the subject of prize-fighting in the Heroic-Archaic and Classical periods, as prose, poetry or commentary. Dates are approximate, and meant to indicate the probable apex or median point of the author’s literary activity.

750 to 720 B.C.: Homer, The Iliad*, The Odyssey*

Hesoid, Works and Days, Theogony

690 B.C.: Arkhilokhus, lyric poems

680 B.C.: Tyrtaeus, Warsongs*

620 B.C.: Sappho, Odes

Alkaeus, fragments, Alkman, Parthenia

544 B.C.: Theognis, Elegies

540 B.C.: Hipponax, Testimonia

Aesop, Fables

Gerber, Douglas, E. Greek Iambic Poetry: From the Seventh to Fifth Centuries B.C., Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 1999, pages 381, 437, 519

490 B.C.: Simonides, Epigrams*, Odes

484 B.C.: Aeskhylus, The Persians, The Supplicants, Prometheus Bound, Seven Against Thebes*, Agamemnon, Khoephoroe, Eumenides*

476 B.C.: Pindar, Olympian Odes*, Pythian Odes*, Isthmian Odes*, Nemean Odes*

465 B.C.: Bakhylides, Odes & Epigrams*

441 B.C.: Sophokles, Ajax and Antigone, Elektra, Oedipus Tyrannus, Trakhiniae*

434 B.C.: Herodotus, Histories

430 B.C.: Euripides, Iphigeneia in Taurika*, Alkestis*, Fury of Herakles, Children of Herakles, Phoenician Maidens, Medea, Alexander, Prologus

412 B.C.: Aristophanes, Clouds, Wasps, Peace, Birds, Frogs, Eating Soldiers’ Bread*

406 B.C.: Thukydides, History of the Peloponnesian War

Paton, W. R. The Greek Anthology, Putnam, NY, 1917: Volume II, pages 53, 139, 237, 285, 376; Volume III, pages 301, 447, 588; Volume IV, pages 6, 36, 75-81, 112, 129, 161, 351; Voulume V, pages 23, 25, 52, 55, 94, 96, 97, 105, 186, 335-87

400 B.C.: Hippokrates: On Wounds in the Head*, On Factures, On Joints, Instruments of Reduction, Nature of Man, Regimen in Health, Nutriment*, Ancient Medicine

Lysias, Against Eratosthenes

380 B.C.: Isokrates, Antidosis*, To Demonikus, To Nikokles, Panegyrikus, To Philip, Arkhidamus, Against Kallimakhus, Aeginetikus, Against Lokhites, To Antipitar, To Timotheus, To the Rulers of Mytilene, Areopagitikus, Panathenaikus, Evagoras, Hellen, Busiris, The Team of Horses, Trapezitikus

Xenophon, Helleniks*, Anabasis*, Memorabilia*, Skripta Minora*, Encomium of Agesilaus*, Hipparkhikus, Kynegetikus, Oekonomikus, Kyropaedeia

Plato, Lakhes, Gorgias*, Protagoras, Euthydemus, Kratylus, Alkibiades II*, Republic*, Philebus*, Laws*, Theaetetus, Sophist, Statesman, Timaeus, Kleinias and the Athenian*

350 B.C.: Onasander, The Strategist

Aeneas, On the Defense of Fortifications

Asklepiodotus, Tactics

336 B.C.: Demosthenes, On the Peace, Against Meidias, Against Aristokrates, The Funeral Speech, The Erotic Essay*, Second Phillipik*

Aeskhines, Against Timarkhos, Against Ktesiphon

330 B.C.: Aristotle, Nikomakhaen Ethics*, Categories, Physics, Politics

320 B.C.: Theophrastus, Areskeia*, Lalia*, Anaisthesia*, Opsimathia*

Menander, The Arbitrants, The Counterfeit Herakles, Aspis, Dyskolos*, Enkheiridion, Epitrepontes*

275 B.C.: Theokritus, Hymn to the Dioskuri*, The Herdsman*, The Little Herakles*, Thyrsis the Shepard and the Goatherd, Upon Arkhilochus, Upon Pisander, Life to be Enjoyed, Beauty

Moskhus, Idylls

Epiktetus, Handbook

Timokles, The Boxer*

250 B.C.: Herondas, The Matchmaker, The Whorehouse Manager, The Shoemaker, The Dream, Molpinos

Kallimakhus, Aetia, Iambi, Hekale, Fragments*

Strato, Meleager & Automedon, Erotic Epigrams*

Hierokles to Zenon, Letters*

150 B.C.: Polybius, History [Book 27.9, Position of Perseus in Greece]*

50 B.C.: Nepos, Cornelius, Great Generals of Foreign Nations

Dionysius of Halikarnassus, A History of Rome

Diodorus Siculus, Histories*

A.D. 10: Strabo, Geography*

A.D. 29: Valerius, Maximus. Memorable Doings and Sayings*

Phaedrus, The Poet

Babrius, The Fighting Cock*, Herakles and the Ox-driver*, Hero-cult

A.D. 50: Curtius, Rufus Quintus, Alexander the Great*

A.D.100: Plutarch, Lives, Moralia,

A.D. 120: Phlegon of Tralles, Book of Marvels

A.D. 150: Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Greek Philosophers*

A.D. 170: Pausanias, Description of Greece*

A.D. 180: Alkiphron, letters

A.D. 190: Athenaeus, Banquet of the Learned*

A.D. 225: Philsostratus. On the Naked Exercises*, Love Letters to a Boy [Yes, you read that title correctly. I read this from a rare copy at the Peabody Conservatory, where the head librarian—an elderly women who could read 7 languages, and did not trust me

around the nubile student body and the female staff—was in the habit of looking over my shoulder as I read. If she had seen me reading this she probably would have warned the janitor to stay away from me. I read this piece in a hurry and did not come back for seconds.]

A.D.250: Philostratus the Lemnian, Pictures in a Gallery*

A.D. 400: Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy*

A.D. 450: Macrobius, Saturnalia