Cleomedes of Astypalaia

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Cleomedes of Astypalaia ( Greek  Κλεομήδης Ἀστυπαλαιεύς ) was a famous pugilist .

In the event of his victory at the 72nd Olympic Games (492 BC), Cleomedes vowed to sacrifice a white bull for the god Apollo . Because he defeated his opponent Ikkos from Epidauros in a fist fight at the games , but killed him with an illegal blow, the Hellanodiken (referees) refused to award him the prize. This made him so mad that he returned to Astypalaia , penetrated the school where he had learned his fighting skills and tore down a supporting pillar. The building collapsed and buried 60 boys under itself. He was able to escape the threatened stoning by his fellow citizens by fleeing to a temple of the goddess Athena . But the angry people followed him there too. He was hiding in a box, and when it was broken open he was no longer in it; rather, there was no trace of him. The Oracle of Delphi , consulted for this, announced that he would be sacrificed as the last of the heroes of Greece.

literature

Remarks

  1. Pausanias 6: 9, 6-8; Plutarch , Romulus 28; Eusebius of Caesarea , Praeparatio evangelica 5, 34, 2ff .; Origen , Contra Celsum 3, 33.