Modern Wrestling and the Greek Pankration
The inset, above, is part of a vase-painting from ca. 332 BC. Two nude opponents engage in pankration. The one to our left has wrapped his left arm around his opponent’s face, and his right hand is raised to deliver a punch, while his opponent bends forward, trying to pull away the arm squeezing his face. This is how the Oxford Classical Dictionary describes the ancient Greek sport of pankration: “You might kick your opponent in the stomach; you might twist his foot out of its socket; you might break his fingers. All neck holds were allowed, the favorite method being the ‘ladder grip,’ in which you mounted your opponent’s back, and wound your legs round his stomach, your arms round his neck.” If this isn’t a near-precise description of today’s World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.’s smackdowns, what is it? How many millions follow the antics of the WWE today, unconscious of how Greek the belligerent bruisers are, and how Greek they themselves are as spectators?
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