Show the gaines the sacred earnest ganies of 0 nearly beven centuries ik fore chrit chri t and an oath confirmed by sacrifice e was vi aa imposed on oil the athletes before they entered tho the lists binding them to play fair a and nd take no lie fraudulent advantage over tile I 1 other competitors A reference to these national festivals of ancient greece calls to mind their their bihary duration there is no modern parallel to them in that respect ve we reckon our derby our university boat race oar our eton and harrow narrow cricket match to be beven ven erable institutions but they are very eph ephemeral emerel observances in sooth booth coin coill 11 pared ared with say tho the isthmian hinian games which founded about D C still con three centuries and a halt half later a bu important anniversary for ili fla menfus to select it as tile occasion for pro claiming the liberty of greece in fit B C igo and t tio 0 centuries and a half halt later still for nero to repeat tho the proclamation in A 1 I 67 such permanence puts to shame the life of a i dynasty and there is certainly lit important event in our sporting worle which derives its origin from the year 1 1300 but there is another remarkable kable feature about these gatherings namely the tilt 1111 changing character of the performance en ell acted at them assuming the era of illomei to have hav e been alve centuries earlier than tin the inauguration of t alio lie isthmian games that I 1 is about 13 C 1000 the sports which lie enumerates aa as taking place at tho the funeral of patroclos Patr oclus vere were identical not only citi those of the olympian and isali celebrations but strangely similar to a pro pros of tho the present day lay chariot and foot races boxing wrestling and putting the stone are counterparts of competitive exercises exer asea of the nineteenth century Black woods magazine |