We have seen how important a part in the Greek national life was occupied by the Olympic Games. They were regarded as a sacred institution of the gods, and to contend in them was a religious consecration. None could enter them who had been guilty of dishonorable conduct or sacrilege, and young men from the noblest families were not above taking part. The prizes were wreaths of wild parsley, olive, and pine, having no intrinsic worth, but of priceless value to the recipients. To win them was the highest ambition of many a Greek youth.

The victor was led forth before the people, crowned with the wreath and bearing a palm branch in his hand. Heralds proclaimed his name and that of his father. Banquets were spread in his honor, and songs were composed in his praise. [26] From thenceforth he was a person of distinction. Finally his statue was set up in the altis or sacred grove of Olympia. There were at one time as many as three thousand such statues in the place.

It will be readily seen that in statues of athletes the sculptor had greater freedom than in statues of the gods. The latter must be represented in dignified attitudes of repose, but the former would naturally be portrayed in some characteristic posture of action. It is so with the statue in our illustration called the Discobolus or Disk-thrower.

The game of disk-throwing was very old, so old that there were Greek legends of famous games played by the gods and heroes. Apollo sometimes tried his hand at it, and also Perseus. The discus, or disk, was a heavy round plate of metal, bronze or iron, about eight inches in diameter, grasped in one hand, swung around to give it a rotary motion, and then sent flying through the air. A modern authority explains that it was thrown not as the quoit is to-day, with arm and shoulder only, but by bringing into play and utilizing every limb and muscle of the body. "Immediately preceding the actual hurling of the discus, therefore, there had to be a general storing up and compression of energy which, when suddenly set free, produced the violence of the projection. The principle is simply that of the spring which, when compressed, shoots out from the centre. The greater the contortion of the body, the more each muscle and sinew is strung towards one centre, the greater will be the impetus when this compression is suddenly set free." [27]

Our statue shows the disk-thrower at the moment immediately preceding the throw. As described by the ancient writer Lucian, "he is bent down into the position for the throw, turning towards the hand that holds the disk, and all but bending on one knee, he seems as if he would straighten himself up at the throw."

The modern critic whom we have already quoted shows that when we view the statue from the front, "all the lines of the modelling indicate the tension of the sinews towards the contracted centre of the body, and the legs, neck, and shoulders tend towards the same point." When we walk around the statue, all the lines in the back and sides "seem to lead towards that central point like the spiral contraction of a spring." It is by thus suggesting the concentration of energy on the part of the Discobolus that the figure appears so full of life and action.

By the choice of this posture the artist was enabled to model his figure on magnificent sculpturesque lines. One long fine curve sweeps along the right arm, is continued down the left arm, and is carried to completion in the left leg and foot. The counter curve starts under the right shoulder, and sweeps down the right side and leg.

The original statue of the Discobolus was executed in bronze, and our reproduction is from one of several ancient copies in marble. In some of these the original head of the statue has been replaced by another, but the copy we see here has a fine, vigorous head. The English critic, Walter Pater, [28] describes the face "as smooth but spare, and tightly drawn over muscle and bone." He shows too how sympathetic the face is with the whole intention of the statue, "as the source of will." [29]

The sculptor of the Discobolus was Myron, who lived in the period between the Persian War and the middle of the fifth century. His work shows his fondness for movement, though many of his subjects did not permit him to indulge his taste. He made a specialty of figures of athletes, both commemorative portrait statues and typical figures. We do not know whether this statue represents an actual Olympic victor, or is a typical figure, like the Apoxyomenos. In any case it gives an excellent idea of the great influence exercised upon Greek life by the athletic games.