"You, catch hold of him by the testicles!"

Greek wrestling truly was brutal. The quote that is this post's title is from a second century BC master's handbook (quoted on page 175). But it isn't the strangest thing about Hellinistic phys ed.

I was never good at track and field in school. But had the long jump been done in the Greek way, I'd never have even made a valid jump.

Since they did their exercises in the nude and on softened soil covered in sand, a long jump only counted if you left impressions of your feet (side by side) upon landing (171). Plus, you had to land straight and firm, a stumble would ruin your impressions, after all.

Also, oiling up and then massaging dust into my skin would be a strange warm up. Stranger still is that different dusts apparently had different properties. For example, pottery dust was said to cause sweating (179).

Antiquity is an alien place. But, in learning about its education, it seems more like an alien planet.