Pausanias Analysis

The Phigaleians have in their market-place a statue of Arrhachion the pancratiast. It is ancient in every respect, particularly in its posture; the feet are not set far apart, and the arms hang straight down alongside the sides as far as the hips. The statue itself is made of stone, and it is said that an epigram was written upon it, though this had been effaced by time. Arrhachion gained two Olympic victories in the Olympiads before the fifty-fourth, and also another in that very Olympiad, awarded to him justly by the judges of the Greeks and through his own excellence.

For as he fought for the olive crown against the one opponent who was left, that opponent had already gained the upper hand; he held Arrhachion bound fast with his legs and at the same time pressed Arrhachion's throat with his hands. But Arrhachion broke one of the toes on his opponent's foot; and as Arrhachion breathed out his life due to strangulation, the man who choked him also surrendered at the same moment because of the pain in his toe. Consequently, the Eleans crowned Arrhachion's dead body and proclaimed him victor.

I am aware also that the Argives acted similarly in the case of Kreugas, a boxer from Epidamnos. For indeed, the Argives awarded the crown of the Nemean games to Kreugas after his death, since the Syracusan Damoxenos, who fought against him, violated the agreement made between them. Evening had already come when they were still boxing, so they agreed openly that each in turn would deliver a blow to the other. At that time, boxers did not yet have sharp thongs bound around each wrist, but they still competed using soft thongs called meilichai, tied beneath the hollow of the hand, leaving the fingers uncovered. These meilichai were thin straps of raw oxhide, woven together in an ancient manner.

Then Creugas delivered his blow upon the head of Damoxenus; but Damoxenus ordered Creugas to raise his hand, and when he raised it, Damoxenus struck him under the ribs with fingers extended straight. Due to the sharpness of his nails and the force of the blow, he drove his hand inside Creugas' body, seizing the entrails, which he drew out by violence, causing his opponent’s death.

Immediately Kreugas gave up his life, and the Argives drove out Damoxenos because he had exceeded the agreed terms, striking his opponent with many blows instead of the single one permitted. They awarded the victory to Kreugas, though he was dead, and set up a statue of him in Argos. Down to my own time, this statue was standing in the temple of Apollo Lykeios.