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Μίλων

Milon, Milo

Translated by David Whitehead8 Jul 2001Vetting: high4 revisions

4 notes · 220 words
Of Kroton;1 he won six consecutive Olympic titles in wrestling.2 At his seventh attempt he was not strong enough to wrestle down his fellow citizen Masitheos,3 a fit young man who was not prepared to fight him at close quarters. Standing on an oiled discus he would make fools of those who rushed at him and tried to push him off it. He would tie a cord round his forehead as if it were a ribbon or garland; then, holding his breath behind tight lips and filling with blood the veins on his head, he would break the cord by the strength of his veins as if it were paper.4 He would let down by his side his right arm from the shoulder to the elbow and stretch out straight the arm below the elbow, turning the thumb upwards while the other fingers lay in a row; thus the little finger was lowest, yet nobody could bend it back by force. This man died after encountering a dry log which had wedges to separate its sides. The pride of Milon made him put his hands in, to pull it apart; the wedges slipped, of course, and Milon, held fast by the log, fell prey to wolves -- a beast that lives in very large numbers in the territory of Kroton.

Greek original · Adler’s text

Μίλων, Κροτωνιάτης, ἐνίκησε παλαίων ἓξ ὀλύμπια ἐφεξῆς. ἐν δὲ τῇ ζʹ οὐκ ἴσχυσε καταπαλαῖσαι τὸν Μασίθεον, συμπολίτην αὐτοῦ, ἡλικίᾳ καὶ νέον ὄντα καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα ἐγγὺς ἵστασθαι. ἱστάμενος δὲ ἐπὶ ἀληλιμμένῳ τῷ δίσκῳ γέλωτα ἐποιεῖτο τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντάς τε καὶ ὠθουμένους ἀπὸ τοῦ δίσκου. περιεδεῖτο δὲ τῷ μετώπῳ χορδὴν καθάπερ ταινίαν ἢ στέφανον· κατέχων δὲ ἐντὸς χειλέων τὸ ἆσθμα καὶ ἐμπιπλὰς αἵματος τὰς ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ φλέβας διερρήγνυεν ἀπὸ ἰσχύος τῶν φλεβῶν τὴν χορδὴν καθάπερ πάπυρον. καὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς χειρὸς τὸ μὲν εἰς τὸν ἀγκῶνα ἐκ τοῦ ὤμου παρ' αὐτὴν καθίει τὴν πλευράν, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀγκῶνος ἔτεινεν ἐς εὐθὺ τῶν δακτύλων, τὸν μὲν ἀντίχειρα ἀντιστρέφων ἐς τὸ ἄνω, τῶν λοιπῶν δὲ ἀλλήλοις ἐπικειμένων κατὰ στοῖχον· τὸν ἐλάχιστον οὖν τῶν δακτύλων κάτω γινόμενον οὐκ ἀπεκίνησεν ἄν τις βιαζόμενος. ἀπέθανε δὲ οὗτος ἐπιτυχὼν ξύλῳ ξηρῷ σφῆνας ἔχοντι τοὺς διιστῶντας αὐτό· ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ φρονήματος καθίησι τὰς χεῖρας ὡς διαρρήξων· ὀλισθαίνουσί τε δὴ οἱ σφῆνες, κἀκεῖνος ἐχόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ξύλου λύκων ἐγένετο εὕρημα· μάλιστα γὰρ τὸ θηρίον τοῦτο πολὺ καὶ ἄφθονον ἐν τῇ Κροτωνίᾳ χώρᾳ νέμεται.

Betacode
*mi/lwn, *krotwnia/ths, e)ni/khse palai/wn e(\c o)lu/mpia e)fech=s. e)n de\ th=| z# ou)k i)/sxuse katapalai=sai to\n *masi/qeon, sumpoli/thn au)tou=,  h(liki/a| kai\ ne/on o)/nta kai\ ou)k e)qe/lonta e)ggu\s i(/stasqai. i(sta/menos de\ e)pi\ a)lhlimme/nw| tw=| di/skw| ge/lwta e)poiei=to tou\s e)mpi/ptonta/s te kai\ w)qoume/nous a)po\ tou= di/skou. periedei=to de\ tw=| metw/pw| xordh\n kaqa/per taini/an h)\ ste/fanon: kate/xwn de\ e)nto\s xeile/wn to\ a)=sqma kai\ e)mpipla\s ai(/matos ta\s e)n th=| kefalh=| fle/bas dierrh/gnuen a)po\ i)sxu/os tw=n flebw=n th\n xordh\n kaqa/per pa/puron. kai\ th=s decia=s xeiro\s to\ me\n ei)s to\n a)gkw=na e)k tou= w)/mou par' au)th\n kaqi/ei th\n pleura/n, to\ de\ a)po\ tou= a)gkw=nos e)/teinen e)s eu)qu\ tw=n daktu/lwn, to\n me\n a)nti/xeira a)ntistre/fwn e)s to\ a)/nw, tw=n loipw=n de\ a)llh/lois e)pikeime/nwn kata\ stoi=xon: to\n e)la/xiston ou)=n tw=n daktu/lwn ka/tw gino/menon ou)k a)peki/nhsen a)/n tis biazo/menos. a)pe/qane de\ ou(=tos e)pituxw\n cu/lw| chrw=| sfh=nas e)/xonti tou\s diistw=ntas au)to/: o( de\ u(po\ fronh/matos kaqi/hsi ta\s xei=ras w(s diarrh/cwn: o)lisqai/nousi/ te dh\ oi( sfh=nes, ka)kei=nos e)xo/menos u(po\ tou= cu/lou lu/kwn e)ge/neto eu(/rhma: ma/lista ga\r to\ qhri/on tou=to polu\ kai\ a)/fqonon e)n th=| *krotwni/a| xw/ra| ne/metai.

Notes (4)

  1. A precis of Pausanias 6.14.5-8 (web address 1); cf. tau 209 and phi 720.
    On Milo(n) see generally OCD4 Milon.
  2. 1In S. Italy. ↩
  3. 2In the late C6 BCE. ↩
  4. 3"Timasitheos" in Pausanias. ↩
  5. 4The comparison is not in Pausanias. ↩

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Neighbouring entries

μ1064Μίλιονmile, milionμ1065ΜίλιονMilion, milestoneμ1066ΜίλωνMilon, Miloμ1067ΜιλτιάδηςMiltiadesμ1068Μιλτιάδῃ καὶ Ἀριστείδῃ ἐῴκει[he] was like Miltiades and Aristeides
Revision history4 revisions · last 9 Aug 2014
  1. Revised — David Whitehead
  2. Revised — David Whitehead
  3. cosmetics — David Whitehead
  4. Cosmetics; added link; set status — Elizabeth Vandiver
  5. Translated — David Whitehead

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