Euthymus from Lokroi

Euthymos of Lokroi ( Greek Εὔθυμος ) was an ancient Greek pugilist who was worshiped as a hero in Lokroi . His father was called Astykles; According to a local legend, Euthymos is said to have been a son of the river god Kaikinos .

Career as an athlete

Euthymos won the Olympic Games in 484 BC. In fistfight. In the following games in 480 BC BC he lost to Theogenes , son of Timoxenus, from Thasos . Pausanias reports that Theogenes only took part in the competition to injure Euthymos and was therefore fined. Theogenes did not play fistfight in the following Olympic Games, and Euthymos won two more times at the Games of 476 and 472 BC. The base of a statue has been preserved in Olympia , the inscription of which commemorates his three victories. According to the inscription, the statue was designed by the sculptor Pythagoras .

The legend of Euthymos in Temesa

Euthymus became the hero of legends, one of which is passed down to Pausanias. According to legend, on his way back from Olympia, Euthymus freed the city of Temesa, not far from Lokroi, from the visitation of a daimon . A member of Odysseus' crew had raped a young woman in Temesa and had been stoned to death by the townspeople as punishment for the crime. Odysseus despised his fellow travelers and did not do him the honor of a dignified burial. The criminal's spirit from then on frightened the people of Temesa. On the instructions of the Oracle of Delphi , they reconciled themselves with the daimon by building a sanctuary for him and there every year sacrificed the most beautiful girl in town. When Euthymos stopped in Temesa, it was time for the sacrifice. Euthymus went to the sanctuary and met the girl who was about to be sacrificed. He fell in love with her and she promised to marry him if he saved her. Euthymos defeated the daimon in a duel, who then threw himself into the sea and disappeared. Euthymus and his fiancée celebrated their wedding and the city of Temesa their liberation from the daimon.

The legend of Euthymos in Temesa has been tried many times as a historical allegory . The victory of the hero of Lokroi over a hero from Temesa could reflect the relationship between Greeks and locals or the relationship between Lokroi and Temesa, which was later conquered by Lokroi.

Hero cult

A local cult around Euthymos developed in his hometown of Lokroi. According to Pliny the Elder , who refers to Callimachus in his story , Euthymus was honored with a statue in Lokroi in addition to the statue in Olympia. Lightning is said to have struck both statues on the same day. The Oracle of Delphi interpreted this as a sign that Euthymos should receive divine honors. So Euthymos was raised to the hero during his lifetime. Some of the votive tablets in honor of Euthymus found in Lokroi can date to the late 5th century BC. And confirm the tradition that the cult for Euthymos was established only a few years after his Olympic victories. In this context, the legend of Euthymos as the son of a river god developed. Clay herms found in the nymph sanctuary known as Grotta Caruso in Lokroi and dating back to the second half of the 4th century BC. Euthymos are a hybrid of man and bull. This iconography is common among river deities.

swell

Pausanias : Description of Greece 6, 6, 4–11.
Pliny the Elder : Naturalis historia 7, 152 (= Callimachos , fragment 88-89).
Claudius Aelianus : Varia historia 8, 18.

literature

Martin Bentz , Christian Mann : To heroize athletes. In: Ralf von den Hoff , Stefan Schmidt (Ed.): Constructions of Reality. Pictures in Greece of the 5th and 4th centuries BC Chr. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 978-3-5150-7859-7 , p. 230.
Bruno Currie: Euthymos of Locri. A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Vol. 122, 2002, pp. 24-44.
Joseph Fontenrose : The Hero as Athlete. In: California Studies in Classical Antiquity. Volume 1, 1968, pp. 73-104.
Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen : Euthymos 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VI, 2, Stuttgart 1909, Sp. 1514.

Christopher P. Jones : New Heroes in Antiquity. From Achilles to Antinous (= Revealing Antiquity. Volume 18). Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2010, ISBN 978-0-6740-3586-7 , pp. 39-40.

Stephen G. Miller : Ancient Greek Athletics. Yale University Press, New Haven / London 2004, ISBN 978-0-3001-1529-1 , pp. 162-163.

Stephen G. Miller: Arete. Greek Sports from Ancient Sources. University of California Press, Berkeley 2012, ISBN 978-0-5202-7433-4 , pp. 107. 113.

Rabun M. Taylor: River Raptures. Containment and Control of Water in Greek and Roman Constructions of Identity. In: Cynthia Kosso, Anne Scott (Ed.): The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity Through the Renaissance (= Technology and Change in History. Volume 11). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2009, ISBN 978-9-0041-7357-6 , pp. 27-28.

Emmanuel Voutiras: Dead or Alive? In: Esther Eidinow, Julia Kindt (Ed.): The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Religion. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2015, ISBN 978-0-1996-4203-8 , pp. 402-403.

Individual evidence

↑ Pausanias : Description of Greece 6, 6, 4.
^ Karl Purgold , Die Insschriften von Olympia (= Olympia. The results of the excavation organized by the German Empire. Volume 5). Hakkert, Amsterdam 1966, no.144.
↑ Stephen G. Miller : Ancient Greek Athletics. Yale University Press, New Haven / London 2004, ISBN 978-0-3001-1529-1 , p. 162 Fig. 244.
↑ Pausanias : Description of Greece 6, 6, 7-10.
↑ Bruno Currie: Euthymos of Locri. A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Vol. 122, 2002, pp. 25-27.
↑ Pliny the Elder : Naturalis historia 7, 152.
^ Rabun M. Taylor: River Raptures. Containment and Control of Water in Greek and Roman Constructions of Identity. In: Cynthia Kosso, Anne Scott (Ed.): The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity Through the Renaissance (= Technology and Change in History. Volume 11). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2009, ISBN 978-9-0041-7357-6 , p. 28.
↑ Bruno Currie: Euthymos of Locri. A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 122, 2002, p. 29.

personal data
SURNAME	Euthymus from Lokroi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Εὔθυμος; Euthymos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Olympic champion and hero in Lokroi Epizephyrioi
DATE OF BIRTH	6th century BC BC or 5th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH	Lokroi Epizephyrioi
DATE OF DEATH	5th century BC Chr.

[1] Pausanias : Description of Greece 6, 6, 4.

[2] Karl Purgold , Die Insschriften von Olympia (= Olympia. The results of the excavation organized by the German Empire. Volume 5). Hakkert, Amsterdam 1966, no.144.

[3] Stephen G. Miller : Ancient Greek Athletics. Yale University Press, New Haven / London 2004, ISBN 978-0-3001-1529-1 , p. 162 Fig. 244.

[4] Pausanias : Description of Greece 6, 6, 7-10.

[5] Bruno Currie: Euthymos of Locri. A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Vol. 122, 2002, pp. 25-27.

[6] Pliny the Elder : Naturalis historia 7, 152.

[7] Rabun M. Taylor: River Raptures. Containment and Control of Water in Greek and Roman Constructions of Identity. In: Cynthia Kosso, Anne Scott (Ed.): The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity Through the Renaissance (= Technology and Change in History. Volume 11). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2009, ISBN 978-9-0041-7357-6 , p. 28.

[8] Bruno Currie: Euthymos of Locri. A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 122, 2002, p. 29.