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Not only did equestrian contests and the pentathlon give the victor an opportunity to represent the means by which he gained his prize, but any victorious athlete could set up a statue of himself in his own honor, which might either represent him in the characteristic attitude of his contest (perhaps with its distinguishing attributes) or might be a simple monument showing neither action nor attribute. This brings us to the main subject of the present work—the discussion of the different types of victor statues at Olympia.

Of all the national games of Hellas, our knowledge of Olympia is fullest, both because of the detailed account of its monuments by Pausanias, who visited Elis in 173 or 174 A.D., and because of the systematic excavation of the Altis by the German government in the seventies of the last century. We shall not be concerned, except incidentally, with monuments set up at the other national games, which are known to us in no such degree as those of Olympia. The interest of Pausanias in Delphi was almost entirely of a religious nature, and the lesser renown of both Nemea and the Isthmus caused him to treat their topography and monuments in a most summary manner. Though the Pythia as a festival were second only to the Olympia, as an athletic meet they scarcely equalled the Nemea or the Isthmia. From the earliest days music was the chief competition at Delphi; the oldest and most important event in the musical programme there all through Greek history was the Hymn to Apollo, sung with the accompaniment of the lyre, in which was celebrated the victory of the god over the Python. By 582 B.C. singing to the flute (αὐλῳδία) was also added, but was almost immediately discontinued. In the same year a flute solo was also inaugurated.211 In 558 B.C. lyre-playing was introduced. Under the Roman Empire poetic and dramatic competitions were prominent, but the date of their introduction is not known. Pliny mentions contests in painting.212 After music the equestrian contests were the most important, even rivalling those of Olympia. By 586 B.C., as we have seen, athletic events were inaugurated. The athletic importance of the games on the Isthmus was inferior to that of Olympia and its religious character to that of Delphi, though these games were the most frequented of all the great national ones, because of the accessibility of the place and its nearness to Corinth.213 The inferiority of the athletics here may be judged by the fact that Solon assigned only 100 drachmæ to an Isthmian victor, while 500 were given to one from Olympia.214 We have little knowledge of these games through the great period of Greek history, only a reference here and there to a victor.215 We know much more of them under the Romans, when the prosperity of Corinth was revived; at that time, however, there was little true interest in athletics. Corinth then spent great sums in procuring wild animals for the arena.216 Excavations have added little to our knowledge of these games.217 The interest at Nemea in athletics was second only to that of Olympia.218 While music was the most important feature at Delphi, and the Isthmian games were attended chiefly for the attractions of the neighboring Corinth, there was nothing but the games themselves to attract people to the retired valley of Nemea. Athletic contests were the only feature here until late times and great attention was paid to those of boys.219 The records of the victors at these games are very scanty.220