#432 Wrestling with Origins

 Fun Fact #432

Wrestling with Origins

Of all the sports in the world, likely one of the oldest is that of wrestling, with the earliest record being 15,000 year old cave drawings in France. Over it’s long journey to the present it's been involved almost everywhere, and gained quite a lot of significance to many people. This includes Israel, whose name literally means “One who wrestles with God.”, the ancient Egyptians had such a significance for it that there are several tombs filled with whole hallways of pictures and hieroglyphics explaining how to wrestle in the Ancient Egyptian style, and several more. 

However, did you know without wrestling, we wouldn’t have modern Philosophy? Many of the early Philosophers actually got their start in wrestling and earned their livings off of wrestling such as Socrates, Aristotle, Xenophon, Epictetus,, and Marcus Aurelius. 

In fact, Plato was apparently really good at it. Fighting in the Pankration style he won several Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean Games (4 of the 5 largest competitions in Greece held in years when there were no Olympic Games). From what I could gather, the only reason he didn't win in the Olympic Games was no city wanted him to represent them thanks to his nasty habit of holding Discussions on Philosophy, Morality, and even Math while he was actively wrestling with someone. This proved to be effective however, as at least one opponent is known to have conceded when he was scared by Plato’s theories on how it would feel to break the man’s arm and what the morality of it would be to cripple him for life. 

Special thanks to the Pump line for suggesting this week’s Topic of Wrestling after they realized I had no clue who Hulk Hogan is. Sorry I'm more of a hockey Fan (Lets Go IceHogs!) I hope you enjoy and please have a wonderful day. 

Carving of Wrestling from 500 BC in the Pentathlon Image by Mattias Kabel in WIkimedia Commons.