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this guy died after but still won, this is what I mean by "we went soft" please just ignore the ****** artifacts I can't be bothered to spend 30 minutes removing them.
The climax of Arrichionâs story is the dramatic final bout of the 564 BC Olympic pankration, a match that has gone down in history for its unprecedented result. In the championship fight, Arrichion faced an opponent whose name has not been recorded, but who proved to be a formidable rival. As the bout began, this challenger quickly gained the upper hand. He managed to maneuver behind Arrichion and apply a devastating chokehold combined with a body scissor â a common pankration technique to subdue an enemy. Wrapping one arm firmly around Arrichionâs neck from behind, the opponent simultaneously locked his legs around Arrichionâs midsection and clamped down with a vice-like grip. This hold compressed Arrichionâs torso and cut off his airway, a tactic entirely within the rules. Ancient accounts vividly describe the scene: Arrichionâs face would have reddened, his breath choked off as his foeâs forearm crushed his windpipe. With his vision dimming and consciousness slipping, Arrichion was in dire straits.
At this critical moment, as Arrichion struggled on the brink of defeat and death, his trainer Eryxias shouted from the sidelines, urging him not to surrender. Galvanized by this final exhortation and his own championâs pride, Arrichion summoned his remaining strength for a last desperate counter. Though being strangled from behind, he still had use of his lower body. In a sudden move, Arrichion twisted his body and grabbed at his opponentâs foot (which was locked around his waist). According to Pausaniasâ account, Arrichion dislocated one of the opponentâs toes with a sharp jerk. Another later account by the writer Philostratus describes it in more detail: Arrichion, at the brink of unconsciousness, kicked backward and seized his opponentâs leg between his own, then wrenched it with such force that he pulled the ankle out of its socket. In either version, the key point is that Arrichion managed to inflict an intense burst of pain on his opponent despite his own fading state.
The result was instantaneous: the agony from the twisted limb caused Arrichionâs opponent to cry out in pain and signal his submission. In that exact moment, however, Arrichion himself collapsed. The choke had done its grim work â by the time his opponent released him, Arrichionâs body went limp. He had likely lost consciousness seconds earlier and then died on the spot, either from asphyxiation or possibly from trauma (some modern analyses suggest his neck might have broken during the struggle). When the dust settled, the challenger had conceded defeat, and Arrichion lay motionless on the ground.
The officials rushed in to find the victor no longer breathing. In an extraordinary decision, the Hellano***ai ruled that Arrichion had won the match at the very moment of his death. His opponent had surrendered first, which by Olympic tradition meant Arrichion was the rightful victor â even though he did not live to celebrate it. The corpse of Arrichion was lifted and crowned with the olive wreath of an Olympic champion. The crowd witnessed an astonishing spectacle: a champion who could not stand to receive the applause, a lifeless athlete declared the winner of the ultimate contest. Pausanias notes that the Eleans (the organizers of the Games) proclaimed Arrichionâs corpse the victor, upholding the fairness of the competition. It was a final act of honor to the fallen pankratiast, ensuring that his record remained unblemished â he died undefeated at Olympia.
The climax of Arrichionâs story is the dramatic final bout of the 564 BC Olympic pankration, a match that has gone down in history for its unprecedented result. In the championship fight, Arrichion faced an opponent whose name has not been recorded, but who proved to be a formidable rival. As the bout began, this challenger quickly gained the upper hand. He managed to maneuver behind Arrichion and apply a devastating chokehold combined with a body scissor â a common pankration technique to subdue an enemy. Wrapping one arm firmly around Arrichionâs neck from behind, the opponent simultaneously locked his legs around Arrichionâs midsection and clamped down with a vice-like grip. This hold compressed Arrichionâs torso and cut off his airway, a tactic entirely within the rules. Ancient accounts vividly describe the scene: Arrichionâs face would have reddened, his breath choked off as his foeâs forearm crushed his windpipe. With his vision dimming and consciousness slipping, Arrichion was in dire straits.
At this critical moment, as Arrichion struggled on the brink of defeat and death, his trainer Eryxias shouted from the sidelines, urging him not to surrender. Galvanized by this final exhortation and his own championâs pride, Arrichion summoned his remaining strength for a last desperate counter. Though being strangled from behind, he still had use of his lower body. In a sudden move, Arrichion twisted his body and grabbed at his opponentâs foot (which was locked around his waist). According to Pausaniasâ account, Arrichion dislocated one of the opponentâs toes with a sharp jerk. Another later account by the writer Philostratus describes it in more detail: Arrichion, at the brink of unconsciousness, kicked backward and seized his opponentâs leg between his own, then wrenched it with such force that he pulled the ankle out of its socket. In either version, the key point is that Arrichion managed to inflict an intense burst of pain on his opponent despite his own fading state.
The result was instantaneous: the agony from the twisted limb caused Arrichionâs opponent to cry out in pain and signal his submission. In that exact moment, however, Arrichion himself collapsed. The choke had done its grim work â by the time his opponent released him, Arrichionâs body went limp. He had likely lost consciousness seconds earlier and then died on the spot, either from asphyxiation or possibly from trauma (some modern analyses suggest his neck might have broken during the struggle). When the dust settled, the challenger had conceded defeat, and Arrichion lay motionless on the ground.
The officials rushed in to find the victor no longer breathing. In an extraordinary decision, the Hellano***ai ruled that Arrichion had won the match at the very moment of his death. His opponent had surrendered first, which by Olympic tradition meant Arrichion was the rightful victor â even though he did not live to celebrate it. The corpse of Arrichion was lifted and crowned with the olive wreath of an Olympic champion. The crowd witnessed an astonishing spectacle: a champion who could not stand to receive the applause, a lifeless athlete declared the winner of the ultimate contest. Pausanias notes that the Eleans (the organizers of the Games) proclaimed Arrichionâs corpse the victor, upholding the fairness of the competition. It was a final act of honor to the fallen pankratiast, ensuring that his record remained unblemished â he died undefeated at Olympia.
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