THROWING THE JAVELIN
The javelin used in Greek sports is called variously ἄκων, ἀκόντιον,
μεσάγκυλον, ἀποτομάς.[593] The latter term appears to denote merely a
lath or stick, and accurately describes the javelin as represented on
the vases. A straight pole, in length nearly equal to the height of a
man, though occasionally longer, and about the thickness of a man’s
finger, it is one of the commonest objects in palaestra scenes, whether
in use or planted in the ground singly or in pairs, perhaps to mark a
starting-line for jump or throw. These rods were formerly described as
jumping-poles, but the fact that the throwing-strap or ankyle is often
attached to them proves that they are nothing more than javelins. At the
same time there is no reason why they should not have served as
measuring rods (κανόνες) for measuring the jump, a use which is perhaps
represented on the British Museum kelebe (Fig. 77).
The athletic javelin is in the vast majority of cases pointless. On
early black-figured vases such as the kelebe just mentioned, it is
represented by a black line which seems to taper, but this is a mere
accident of technique, the natural result of a line drawn with a single
rapid stroke of brush or pen. On the red-figured vases the rod is
usually square at the end, and often appears to have a blunt cap or
ferule, indicated by a thickening of the end, or by a black patch or by
lines which represent the binding by which it is attached. Such, we may
suppose, were the javelins which Xenophon recommends cavalry soldiers to
use in practice, provided with a round end (ἐσφαιρωμένα) like the button
on the modern foil or bayonet.[594] These caps served not only for
protection, but to give to the head of the javelin the necessary weight,
without which it would not fly properly. Blunt javelins were naturally
used for practice, especially for distance throws.
Pointed javelins are rarely represented in athletic scenes; but their
use even in practice is shown by the speech of Antiphon in defence of a
youth who accidentally hit and killed a boy who ran across the range as
he was throwing.[595] On the vases which represent javelin throwing on
horseback at a target, the javelins are all pointed, and in two cases
have long leaflike heads such as we see in hunting scenes.[596] For
throwing at a target, pointed javelins were necessary, at all events in
competitions: but the enormous preponderance of the blunt javelins
justifies the conclusion that these were generally used for practice,
and that, down to the close of the fifth century distance-throwing was
more usual than throwing at a target.
Whether pointed or blunt, the athletic javelin was evidently a light
weapon, and Anacharsis contemptuously contrasts it with more formidable
weapons which are not carried about by the wind.[597] It was thrown by
means of a thong, called ἀγκύλη or amentum, fastened near the centre of
the javelin, which was therefore called μεσάγκυλον. The amentum was a
leather thong, a foot or eighteen inches in length, if we may judge from
the numerous representations of a javelin thrower (ἀκοντιστής) holding
the javelin in one hand, and the thong in the other.[598] It was
detachable, but before use was firmly bound round the shaft, in such a
way as to leave a loop three to four inches long, in which the thrower
inserted his first, or his first and middle fingers. The point of
attachment was near the centre of gravity, in the lightheaded javelins
of athletics almost in the centre of the shaft, in the heavier javelins
of war or the chase generally nearer to the head. Possibly, too, its
place varied, according as the javelin was to be thrown for distance, or
at a mark. By putting the amentum behind the centre of gravity, it is
possible to increase the distance thrown, but at a sacrifice of
accuracy. Hence the athlete fastened it to suit his taste shortly before
use. On the British Museum hydria shown in Fig. 88 a youth is seated on
the ground in the act of attaching the amentum. On a red-figured kylix
at Würzburg (Fig. 91) we see a youth winding the amentum round the
shaft, while he holds the other end tight with his foot. Some of the
ways in which the amentum was fastened can be seen in the accompanying
illustration. The clearest example is that from the Alexander Mosaic in
Naples (Fig. 92_e_). In every case it is only the actual loop which is
left free.
[Illustration: Fig. 91. R.-f. kylix. Würzburg, 432.]
The amentum was no invention of the gymnasium but was adopted by the
gymnasium from war and the chase. Whether it was used in Homeric times
we cannot say. The principle of the sling was certainly known to the
Homeric shepherd, and besides the long-shadowing spear of the chieftain,
there was a lighter and shorter weapon (αἰγανέη) which like the bow was
used for hunting, and by the common soldiery in war and in sport. The
warrior vase from Mycenae[599] shows two types of spear, a long spear
clenched firmly in the hand, and a short spear raised almost at arm’s
length behind the head, the hand being pointed as if the fingers were
extended as they are in holding the amentum.
From the sixth century onwards the amentum was used for throwing the
javelin in war, in hunting, and in the chase. It is frequently
represented on early black-figured vases. Its use is admirably shown on
the interior of a Chalcidian kylix in the British Museum, where a fully
armed warrior with his fingers inserted in the thong, prepares to throw
a javelin with a sort of underhand throw, a throw in which certain
savages to-day are said to be extraordinarily skilful (Fig. 93). The
more usual overhand throw is employed by some of the warriors on the
François vase (Fig. 94), who advance to the attack with arms drawn back
and fingers inserted in the thong in the manner which Xenophon
recommends to his peltasts.[600] The fingering and the whole attitude
are precisely the same as we find in athletic scenes, except that in the
latter the head is usually turned backward, a position obviously
ill-suited to the warrior or hunter. In a boar-hunting scene, depicted
on a Corinthian vase in the British Museum, B. 37, javelins fitted with
amenta are seen sticking in the boar’s back, a clear proof that they
were fixed to the shaft and did not remain in the thrower’s hand.
[Illustration: Fig. 92. Various methods of attaching the amentum.
(_J.H.S._ xxvii. p. 250.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 94. François vase. Florence.]
The light javelin, fitted with the amentum, was primarily intended for
throwing; but the vases show that it could also be used for thrusting or
stabbing, in which case the thong served as a convenient handle or grip.
It also marked the proper place to grasp the javelin, and is therefore
occasionally represented on the long spear, which, though generally used
for thrusting, could on occasions be thrown. These long spears were the
weapons of the Homeric chieftains and of the hoplites who formed the
chief strength of the Greek forces at the time of the Persian wars. The
light javelin was the weapon of the common soldiery and light-armed
troops, and its real importance dates from the closing years of the
Peloponnesian War, when the value of light-armed troops and cavalry
began to be realized. These light-armed troops were mostly mercenaries,
Lydians, Mysians, Arcadians, Aetolians, Thessalians, Thracians. All
these races were skilled in the use of the javelin. At Athens, where the
cavalry were recruited from the ranks of the young nobles, the javelin
was the special weapon of the ephebos, who is frequently represented on
horseback, holding in his hand a pair of javelins. Javelin throwing was
an important part of his training; competitions in it were multiplied,
and in the third century B.C. we find special teachers of the javelin,
ἀκοντισταί, engaged by the state to train the epheboi at Athens and
elsewhere.[601]
[Illustration: Fig. 93. B.-f. kylix. British Museum, B. 380.]
The distribution of the amentum[602] is a point of some interest and
importance. It does not seem to have been a Greek invention. It was
known at an early date in Italy, and was freely used by Etruscans,
Samnites, and Messapians, but it does not appear to have been used in
the Roman army till after the Punic Wars. The tragula, the weapon of the
Spanish in the second Punic War, was thrown with an amentum. In Caesar’s
time it was the weapon of the Gallic cavalry. From this time it was
widely used by the light-armed mercenaries. There are traces of the
amentum on the Roman weapons found at Alise Sainte Reine, and we even
find it attached to the heavy spear of the legionary. Going yet further
afield, we find it represented on an embossed sword-belt discovered at
Watsch in Austria, and there is reason to suppose that the light
javelins found at La Tène were thus thrown. Undoubtedly the amentum was
known in Denmark in the early Iron Age. Remains of it have been found at
Nydam. The spears found there are 8 to 10 feet long. On the middle of
the shaft are often visible certain small bronze rivets, between which a
cord was fastened. In some cases the cord was found still fastened
between the rivets. Lastly, we find the amentum frequently mentioned in
old Irish story. Thus in the battle of Moyreth “Cuanna, pressing his
foot on the solid earth, put his finger in the string of his
broad-headed spear and made a cast at Congal.” This loop, called
_suanem_ or _suaineamh_, was made of silk or flax, and the laigan or
spear to which it was attached is said to have been brought to Ireland
by Gaulish mercenaries in the fourth century B.C. An interesting
survival of this old Irish spear with its loop is seen in a picture of
Captain Thomas Lee, painted in 1594, now in the possession of Lord
Dillon.
We see, then, that the amentum was known throughout Greece and Italy, in
Spain and Gaul, in Central Europe, in Denmark, and Ireland. The light
javelin to which it belongs is the weapon of the less highly civilized
peoples. It is a weapon of the chase and of the common people, but it
plays little part in the heavily-equipped citizen armies of Greece and
Rome. In both lands it comes into prominence with the organization of
light-armed troops, and then chiefly as the weapon of subject states and
mercenaries. Hence we are forced to the conclusion that the amentum was
the invention of the tribes of Central Europe, and in the course of
their wanderings was carried throughout the southern and western
portions of the Continent.
[Illustration: Fig. 95. Illustrations of the use of the throwing-thong.
_a_, _b_, Jüthner, Figs. 47, 48. Reconstruction of throw. _c_, Detail
from _B.M. Vases_, B. 134. _d_, The ounep of New Caledonia.]
The fixed amentum does not appear to be known outside Europe, but
somewhat similar contrivances exist to-day among savage tribes. Such is
the ounep used by the people of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. It
is a thickish cord, 6 or 8 inches long, with a loop at one end and a
knot at the other. The spears are 9 to 12 feet long, with a slight
projection just behind the centre of gravity, behind which the cord is
placed and twisted over the knot in such a way as to untie as the spear
is thrown, remaining itself in the thrower’s hand. Examples of it can be
seen in the Ethnographical Gallery of the British Museum, and our
illustration is taken from a drawing exhibited there (Fig. 95). A
combination of this thong with the throwing-stick is found in New
Zealand. The throwing-stick is by far the commonest contrivance for
increasing the throw of a spear. It is widely used in Australia,
Melanesia, Central America, and among the Eskimos, but is unknown in
Europe, although throwing-sticks made of bone appear to have been used
by Palaeolithic man in France.
The working of the amentum can be easily understood from our
illustration. In preparing for an overhand throw the spear rests on the
web between the thumb and fingers, but is really held by the two fingers
inserted in the loop and projecting above the shaft. At the moment of
throw the position is reversed; the pull on the amentum gives a
half-turn to the shaft, and the javelin is held only by the amentum, the
fingers being below the shaft. The action of the amentum is similar to
that of the rifling of a gun. By imparting a rotatory movement to the
missile it not only helps it to keep its direction but also increases
its carry and penetrating power. The carry is further increased by the
additional leverage given to the thrower’s arm. It is obvious that, as
Philostratus points out,[603] length of finger was a considerable
advantage to a javelin thrower.
The effect of the amentum on a light javelin has been demonstrated by
practical experiments carried out by General Reffye for the Emperor
Napoleon. It was found that a javelin which could only be thrown 20
metres by hand could, after a little practice, be thrown 80 metres, with
the help of an amentum. Jüthner further records that an inexperienced
thrower increased his throw from 25 to 65 metres by its use. The meaning
of these figures can be realised from the fact that the record for
javelin throwing made by Lemming, the winner at the Olympic games, was
only 57·33 metres. It must be noted, however, that the javelin used in
these games was a heavy one, weighing 800 grammes (about 2 lbs.),
whereas the Greek javelin was very much lighter.[604]
[Illustration: Fig. 96. R.-f. psykter. Bourguignon Coll.]
The method of throwing the javelin is clearly shown on the vases. Two
things are necessary: the amentum must be firmly fastened to the shaft,
and the loop must be drawn tight by the fingers before the throw. The
fastening of the amentum has been already described. On a red-figured
psykter (Fig. 96) we see the next stage in the preparation. A group of
youths are preparing to practise under the supervision of a paidotribes
and his assistant, while two other paidotribai are occupied with a pair
of wrestlers. Two of the youths are testing the bindings; resting one
end of the javelin on the ground, and holding it firm with their left
hand, they pass the right hand along the shaft to see that the binding
is secure. A third in the same position is passing his fingers through
the loop, the lines of which have disappeared. A fourth has already
inserted his fingers in the loop, and, raising the javelin breast-high,
presses it forward with his left hand so as to draw the thong tight.
Two styles of javelin throwing can be distinguished, one in which the
javelin is horizontal, the other in which it is pointed more or less
upwards. The horizontal style is the practical style of war or the
chase, the other the style of pure athletics. In the latter distance is
the one and only object, and the thrower may take his time; in the
former distance is only a secondary consideration compared with force
and accuracy, and everything depends on rapidity of action. It is the
difference between throwing in a cricket ball from the long field and
throwing it in competition.
(_a_) _The Practical Style._—The soldier or hunter must have his javelin
ready for use at a moment’s notice. He therefore carries it with his
fingers passed through the loop (διηγκυλισμένος). He may carry it
horizontally at his side, as does the warrior in Fig. 93, but a freer
and more natural position is with the arm bent and the javelin sloped
over the shoulder and pointed downwards. From this position he can draw
his arm straight back for the throw, or raise the elbow so that the
javelin is level with his head, the natural position for taking aim.
This manner of holding the javelin is implied or represented in numerous
scenes of war or the chase, and is equally serviceable on horseback or
on foot. Perhaps the best examples of it occur on two Panathenaic vases
representing the pentathlon, one in the British Museum, the other in
Leyden (Figs. 107, 108). On the Leyden vase the akontistes carries his
javelin still on the slope; so does the athlete who heads the procession
on the British Museum vase, but the other akontistes has raised it
horizontally. This position with the javelin poised on a level with the
head is the natural position for starting, whether the thrower uses an
amentum or not. The javelin may remain in this position during the run,
or may be at once drawn back. Where time was no object, the thrower
might, before starting to run, adjust the javelin by pressing the point
back with the left hand, in the manner represented on a black-figured
stamnos in the Museo Gregoriano (Fig. 97).
[Illustration: Fig. 97. B.-f. stamnos. Vatican.]
From the carry the arm is drawn back to its full extent, as shown on the
François vase (Fig. 94). In the actual throw the movement is reversed,
arm and spear travelling back through the same positions, except that
when the amentum is used the hand at once releases the shaft of the
spear, which is merely held by means of the thong. A realistic picture
of this moment is shown on an early black-figured vase from the
Acropolis, the lower zone of which contains a cavalry fight between
archers and javelin throwers (Fig. 98).
[Illustration: Fig. 98. B.-f. vase. Acropolis, Athens, 606.]
This style of throw is typical of the black-figured vases, and quite
distinct from that which we find general on the red-figured vases of the
fifth century. It is the practical style of the chase and of war adapted
to sport. It is, of course, the natural style for throwing at a target,
and at first sight one is tempted to suppose that this is what the
artists wish to represent; but the care with which they emphasize the
bluntness of the javelins is conclusive for a distance throw.
(_b_) _The Athletic Style._—The purely athletic character of the style
depicted on the red-figured vases is obvious from the most casual
inspection. Till the actual moment of the throw the head is turned
backwards, the eyes fixed on the right hand, a position equally absurd
for war, or the chase, or aiming at any sort of mark. After carefully
adjusting and testing the amentum in the manner described, and inserting
one or two fingers in the loop, the thrower extends his right arm
backwards to its full extent, while, with his left hand opposite his
breast, he holds the end of the spear, and pushes it backwards to draw
the thongs tight. The spear is sometimes horizontal, sometimes pointed
downwards, as we see it on the British Museum amphora, E. 256 (Fig. 99).
On this vase it will be noticed that the little finger and the third
finger, which play no part in the practical style in which the spear is
poised above the shoulder, are required to keep the javelin steady when
the right hand is dropped.
[Illustration: Fig. 99. R.-f. amphora, in British Museum, E. 256.]
[Illustration: Fig. 100. R.-f. kylix. Munich, 562 A.]
[Illustration: Fig. 101. R.-f. kylix. Berlin, 3139 inv.]
As the thrower starts to run, he draws his right hand still further
backwards, turning his body sideways, and extends his left arm to the
front. On a Munich kylix (Fig. 100) we see two consecutive positions;
the youth on the left still steadies the javelin with his left hand, the
youth on the right has just let go. The next moment, with the left hand
fully extended to the front, is represented on a kylix in Berlin (Fig.
101). From the position of the head and arm it is obvious that the
violent, rapid run, of which some authors speak, is an impossibility.
Just as in throwing a cricket ball, the run consists of a few short,
springy steps. Immediately before the throw a further turn of the body
to the right takes place, the right knee being well bent and the right
shoulder dropped, while the hand is turned outwards, so that the shaft
almost rests on the palm of the hand. This attitude is vividly depicted
on a Torlonia kylix (Fig. 102).
[Illustration: Fig. 102. R.-f. kylix. Torlonia, 270 (148).]
The actual throw is very rarely shown, and the artists who attempt it
fall into hopeless confusion. For example, on the Munich kylix (Fig.
100) the youth in the centre is intended to be throwing a javelin to the
right, but the fingering of the right hand is only compatible with a
throw to the left. Not much better is the drawing of the javelin thrower
on the Panaetius kylix (Fig. 17). Here, as in a red-figured amphora in
Munich (Fig. 103), though the general attitude is vigorous and lifelike,
the position of the hand is hopeless, the wrist being curved over the
shaft instead of bent back under it. The amentum too is conspicuous by
its absence. The carelessness of the painters of red-figured vases in
such details is in marked contrast to the carefulness of the earlier
painters. This is partly due to the fact that the athletic types have
become conventional, partly to the fact that, whereas in the
black-figured vases the amentum was painted black like the spear itself,
on the red-figured vases it had to be added in some other colour,
usually white or purple, after the rest of the drawing was finished.
Hence this detail was often omitted altogether, or if inserted, was the
first to be obliterated.
[Illustration: Fig. 103. R.-f. amphora. Munich, 408.]
The javelin was usually thrown with a short run, but one or two vase
paintings suggest that a standing throw was also practised. Such is the
figure on a kylix in Rome (Fig. 104), the attitude being evidently
borrowed from that of the diskobolos. Possibly the Torlonia kylix may
also represent a standing throw.
[Illustration: Fig. 104. R.-f. kylix. Rome(?) (Jüthner, _Ant. Turn._
Fig. 43.)]
Was the javelin thrown with the left hand as well as the right? Plato
recommends the training of both hands alike, and the fact that the Greek
always carried two javelins, often one in either hand, renders the
suggestion possible. But the only direct proof of a left-handed throw is
a figure on a kylix of Nicosthenes in Berlin.[605] Even if a left-handed
throw was practised in the gymnasia, there is no evidence of it in
competitions. Nor is there any evidence to show that the Greeks ever
threw the javelin without the amentum. The omission of the amentum on
the vases is a detail too untrustworthy to warrant us in drawing any
definite conclusion from it.
It is hardly necessary to point out that the vases in which the spear is
pointed upwards offer no support at all to the remarkable theory that
the Greeks practised high throwing “le tir en haut,” as it is described
by a French writer. To obtain the maximum of distance it is, of course,
absolutely necessary to throw high. A similar theory has been put
forward for the diskos. One wonders how “le lancement en haut” of the
diskos was measured.
In the games of Patroclus javelin throwing was a separate event. Here,
and wherever it is mentioned in Homer as a sport, the competition is for
distance only. Throwing at a mark may be implied in the association of
javelin throwing with the bow, which meets us again in fourth-century
inscriptions, and Pindar definitely refers to such a competition when he
describes how at the founding of the Olympic games “Phrastor with the
javelin hit the mark.”[606] On a fragment of a large vase found on the
Acropolis which represents the funeral games of Pelias a javelin
competition is shown. The prize is a tripod, and the javelins are not
the blunt weapons of the palaestra, but have broad metal points. On one
of them the amentum is clearly shown.[607]
As the weapon of the chase, every Greek boy must from boyhood have
practised throwing the javelin both for distance and at any improvised
target. At an early date its use was taught in the gymnasia, and its
popularity is shown by the numerous representations of it in art, and by
the frequent metaphors which Pindar borrows from it. But in the Greek
games, at least, the javelin, like the diskos, only figured as part of
the pentathlon, and with the exception of the competition on horseback
at Athens, there is no evidence for any separate competition for javelin
throwing, either for distance or at a target, till the fourth century.
Towards the close of the fifth century increased importance was given to
the javelin as the weapon of light-armed troops and of the epheboi; and
from the fourth century onwards we find ἀκοντισμός quoted in
inscriptions as a separate competition at Athens and elsewhere.[608] The
association of the javelin and the bow suggests that in these
competitions some sort of target was used, and the case cited by
Antiphon proves the use of a target and pointed javelins in practice.
But the only direct evidence for such a competition, apart from that on
horseback, is furnished by two later inscriptions from Larisa of the
time of Hadrian which mention victors σκοπῷ πεζῶν and σκοπῶ ἱππέων.[609]
What was the character of the competition in the pentathlon? The
question has been discussed at wearisome length by commentators on
Pindar and others, but Dr. Jüthner’s conclusion seems to me
incontestable, namely, that the competition in the pentathlon was one
for distance only.
On this point the evidence of the vases seems conclusive. The javelins
are blunt, the head is turned backward just before the throw, and there
is no sign of any target. The last point is particularly convincing
because in the competition on horseback the target is always
represented. Certain archaeologists, it is true, have discovered
evidence of targets in the badly-drawn amenta held in the hand of the
javelin thrower on the Panaetius kylix and other vases. These have been
interpreted as compasses for drawing circles on the ground at which the
throwers aimed; or again as a sort of croquet-hoop stuck in the ground
to serve as target! The authors of these delightful suggestions forget
that the hunter or soldier does not aim at his opponent’s feet but at
his body, and that if a target is used it is at a reasonable height.
The literary evidence agrees with that of the vases. The passages of
Pindar referring to a mark, with the exception of the passage already
quoted on the Olympic games, have no necessary connexion with any
competition, certainly none with the pentathlon. They are metaphors
borrowed from the practice of everyday life. One passage in Pindar
certainly refers to the pentathlon, two others possibly; all three
indicate a distance-throw.[610] Lastly, Lucian, in a passage referring
to Olympia and therefore to the pentathlon, definitely states that in
throwing the javelin athletes compete for distance.[611]
[Illustration: Fig. 105. R.-f. kylix. Berlin, 2728.]
The conditions for throwing the javelin must have been similar to those
for the diskos. The competitors threw from behind a line which they were
not allowed to overstep. This line was perhaps the starting-line of the
stadium; it is certainly the τέρμα of Pindar’s Seventh Nemean Ode. It
appears probable from this ode that a competitor who overstepped the
line was disqualified from taking any further part in the competition.
On a kylix in Berlin the line is marked by a pillar in front of, or
perhaps on a level with, the thrower (Fig. 105). Further, common-sense
and the safety of the spectators required that the throw should keep
within certain limits as regards direction; and this is implied by
Pindar when in the first Pythian he prays that his throw may not fall
“outside the lists,” ἔξω ἀγῶνοσς, but that with a far throw he may
surpass all his rivals.
The javelins which we see so frequently sticking in the ground in
palaestra scenes have been adduced as an argument to prove that no throw
counted unless the javelin stuck in the ground; clearly an impossible
condition with blunt javelins on the hard-baked ground of Greece. How
the throw was measured we know no more than in the case of the diskos.
Nor do we know how many throws were allowed. Various scraps of evidence
have been brought forward to prove that two or three throws were
allowed, but the evidence is quite inconclusive.
We have seen that from an early date the javelin was employed by
horsemen, both in war and in the chase. At Athens, especially,
horsemanship, was the duty and also the recreation of the richer
classes. Plato tells us that Themistocles himself taught his son
Cleophantus not only to ride but to throw the javelin standing on
horseback, and in the _Laws_ he recommends javelin throwing on horseback
as a useful accomplishment.[612] Xenophon,[613] in his treatise on the
duties of a cavalry officer, urges the latter to encourage his men to
practise the javelin and to stir up emulation among them by offering
prizes. In his treatise on horsemanship he gives further instructions.
Velocity and distance are the most important points for war. To secure
these, he tells us, the thrower must advance the left side of the body
and draw back the right, straightening himself from the thighs and
holding the javelin pointed slightly upwards. If, however, the object is
accuracy, the javelin must point straight at the mark. At Athens there
were competitions in this sport as early as the fifth century. At the
Panathenaea five amphorae of oil were given for the first prize, and one
for the second. In the second century this competition is mentioned in
inscriptions relating to the Thesea. The Larisa inscription already
referred to makes it probable that it still existed in Thessaly in the
time of Hadrian.
[Illustration: Fig. 106. Panathenaic amphora. British Museum.]
Fortunately we are able to supplement these scanty details from the
vases. A fifth-century aryballos from Eretria, now at Athens, a
fourth-century krater in the Louvre,[614] and a Panathenaic amphora in
the British Museum (Fig. 106), give vivid pictures of the competition.
The target is a shield with a crown forming a sort of bull’s-eye in the
centre, raised on a post to a level with the horses’ heads. The
competitors gallop past this target, hurling their javelins at it as
they pass. The javelins are pointed, and are held a little above the
shoulder with the point directed slightly downwards towards the target.
The riders on the Panathenaic vase wear the typical dress of the
Athenian ephebos, a flat, broad-brimmed hat called petasos, and a
bright-bordered chiton fastened over the shoulder. On the Eretria vase
they also wear high boots, and on the krater in the Louvre the hats are
replaced by wreaths, and winged victories hover over the riders bearing
wreaths.
The Panathenaic amphora of course refers to the Panathenaic festival,
and the festal character of the other vases suggests a definite
connexion with some other festival or festivals, but we can say no more.
The sport was probably a common one in Attica, Thessaly, and other
horse-breeding lands, and formed an attractive feature of other
festivals besides the Thesea and Panathenaea. There is certainly no
ground for connecting it with the Argive Heraea.
Footnote 593:
Jüthner, _Antike Turngeräthe_, p. 37; _J.H.S._ xxvii. pp. 249-273.
Footnote 594:
_De re equestri_, viii. 10.
Footnote 595:
_Tetralogia_, ii. 4. An example of the pointed javelin occurs in Fig.
150.
Footnote 596:
_Vide infra_, p. 358.
Footnote 597:
Lucian, _Anacharsis_, 32.
Footnote 598:
Jüthner, _l.c._, Figs. 34, 35, 36. Jüthner proves conclusively that
the objects represented on the Panaetius kylix and elsewhere (Fig. 17)
are not compasses, but amenta misdrawn.
Footnote 599:
Schliemann-Schuchardt (Eng. Trans.), Figs. 284, 285.
Footnote 600:
_Anab._ v. 2, 12.
Footnote 601:
Ditt. _Syll._ 2nd Ed., ii. 520, 521, 522, 523.
Footnote 602:
For fuller details _vide_ _J.H.S._ xxvii. p. 255.
Footnote 603:
_Gym._ 31, and Jüthner’s note, p. 249.
Footnote 604:
The lightness of the Greek javelin is illustrated by Xenophon. In the
passage of the Ten Thousand through the mountainous territory of the
Carduchi, the Greeks picked up the long arrows of the enemy, and,
fitting thongs to them (ἐναγκυλῶντες), used them as javelins. By means
of a thong it is possible to throw a dart too light to be thrown
effectively by hand alone. _Anab._ iv. 2, 28.
Footnote 605:
_Berlin Vas._, 1805.
Footnote 606:
_Ol._ x. 71.
Footnote 607:
_Vasen von d. Acrop._ 590, Pl. xxvii.
Footnote 608:
Ceos, Sestos, Samos, Tralles, Larisa. _Vide_ _J.H.S._ _l.c._ notes 21
and 53.
Footnote 609:
Ditt. _Syll._ 2nd Ed., ii. 670, 671.
Footnote 610:
_Nem._ vii. 70; _Isthm._ ii. 35; _Pyth._ i. 44.
Footnote 611:
Lucian, _Anacharsis_, 27.
Footnote 612:
_Meno_ 93 D; _Leg._ 834 D.
Footnote 613:
_Hipparch._ i. 6; _De re equest._ viii. 10.
Footnote 614:
Collignon, 1478; Millin, i. 45. Both vases are reproduced by P.
Wolters, _Zu griechischen Agonen_ (Würzburg Programm, 1901).