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oxing (448 B.C.) and Dorieus, thrice Olympic victor (432, 428, 424
B.C.) at the pancration, seven times victor at the Nemean Games,
eight at the Isthmian, and once without being thrown at the Pythian
Games. Of his two grandsons, Eucles, was an Olympic victor in Boxing
and Peisirhodos, son of Callipateiras and Pherenice, was Olympic victor
at the youths' boxing (388 B.C.). Pausanis saw the statues of all these
famous athletes at Olympia. (VI, 7, 2-7), and he describes (V, 68)the
incidcent when Pherenice donned the garb of the coach, so that she could
follow the performance of her son Peisirhodos, or as other authors
refer to him Peisidorus, in the boxing contest.
When Peisirhodos had won she jumped the fence behind which
the coaches sat and opening her cloack revealed that she was a woman.
The Elians, however, did not condemn her to death as the Law
required "out or respect for the father, the brothers and the boy" but
they since adopted the rule that the coaches must enter the stadium
naked (Also Philostr. Gymn. 17.).
Aelian (Poek. H. str. I, 1) does no report such an incident, but he
acknowledges that she brought her boy to Olympia, and when the judges
forbade her entrance, she said the she had a father, brothers, a son, and
nephews who were Olympic victors and then the Elians allowed her to
enter. It was an infringement of the law but probably to the point.
It is strange that in the case of another Diagorides, Dorieus, there
was also another episode again with result the infringement of the death
penalty. This goes to prove how great a respect the ancient Greeks had
for the victors of the Games and for the famous athletes.
Dorieus was one of the most fanatic enemies of the Athenians, and
on one occasion gave battle to the fleet of the Athenians with his own
ships. He was beaten however and taken prisoner and conveyed to Athens
to be judged by the Demos. The verdict under such circumstances
entailed the death sentence. When, however, at the convocation of the
Demos, the Athenians "seeing such a great man, with sack great glory,
in the situation of a captive, instead of convicting him, set him free (Paus.
VI. 7. 4).
The Spartan Hipposthenes had won six times at wrestling at 0-
lympia that is to say at the 37th Olympiad as a youth and at the 39,
40, 41, 42 and 43rd Olympiads as a man. The Spartans worshipped him
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