The God of Olympus (9 page)

             
But now was not the time.  So he ran down the hill and there prepared for the next Olympic event that was to occur in a few hours—the footraces.  Hercules was not concerned about this event.  He knew the speed at which he could run.  And in every single race he amazed the crowd with his speed.  Even when he was tired, or the other athletes tried to push him or trip him he would not lose and did not lose a single footrace.

             
Milo would often look onward in wonder at this mysterious man named Hercules, who, in between events would not be practicing wrestling, boxing, or such activities with the other athletes.  Instead, he was off far away from the center of Olympia playfully wrestling lions and other such animals.  All the other athletes thought that this was quite odd, but didn’t seem to take much heed to it.

             
The second day in the afternoon came the fourth event—the wrestling match.  Hercules was up two to one, but knew that Milo’s great strength was his wrestling ability.  All the wrestlers gathered around in a circle, wearing only a piece of cloth resembling a loin cloth around their waste.  Once all the wrestlers had gathered together the chief Hellanodikai raised his hands and declared loudly, “We shall let fate decide who shall oppose each other in the wrestling arena.  In this urn are many two of many different letters, alpha, beta, etc.  The two who draw the same letter will oppose each other.”  The chief Hellanodikai handed the urn to the athlete to his right.  In the urn were as many tokens as there were competitors, each token inscribed with a letter of the alphabet, and each token making part of a pair.

             
Hercules watched as the urn was passed around.  He knew that this event meant everything.  With a win here he would be the winner.  When the urn reached Hercules he pulled out a token marked “alpha.”  Then he passed the urn on. Competitors around him also pulled out tokens.  The man next to him pulled out the “beta” token, and another the “theta” token, and so forth.  Hercules knew that should he fight against any competitor except Milo it would be an easy win for him.  After all, he had wrestled all kinds of terrifying creatures in the past with no problem.  But, to Hercules’ dismay, when the urn was passed to Milo, the Hellanodikai announced, “Alpha!”

             
The crowd cheered.  Apparently the crowd was going to get what they wanted.  Hercules was to wrestle against Milo in the final competition.

             
Pericles also seemed pleased as he looked onward.  “Now this Hercules will face a true wrestler!”

             
As Hercules faced Milo he did not feel fear, but did feel a little uneasy.  Milo looked like a giant as he stood over eight feet tall and weighed over three-hundred pounds.  He was so toned and muscular that Hercules felt he was a twig.  While Hercules’ physical power was hidden inside his relatively normal-looking frame, Milo’s great strength was apparent.

             
And it was at this event that Milo of Croton would merit the victory.  Milo of Croton was far larger than Hercules and had much more experience than Hercules in wrestling.  Not only that, but for all his life and training Hercules had never before wrestled an actual human being (but only beasts).

             
It was a relatively even wrestling match for several minutes.  Hercules and Milo both held onto each other’s fists  and tried to push the other.  But suddenly Milo let one of his hands pull back.  Then Milo threw a harsh punch at his side.  Hercules felt a terrible pain.  Milo threw another punch, and then another, and another until, after three hits Hercules was on the ground in great pain.  Milo was declared the winner.  That ended the second day.

             
That night Hercules again sat up next to the same old tree he slept under the night before.  Then suddenly a voice came from the darkness.  Philoctetes stood from a distance staring at him in the darkness.  Suddenly he removed his hood.

             
“What is it?” asked Hercules.

             
“You must win the final event tomorrow,” said Philoctetes.  “Hercules, while you have been competing I have seen the winged servants of Hades.  They now know you are here.  It is only a matter of time before Hades knows you are here!  If Hades does find you Hercules, you must be wary!  Beware of Hades, for he comes in the darkness of the night and often makes evil deals.”

             
Hercules nodded, although he did not like the prospect that the entire fate of Greece relied on him winning one Olympic event.  “I will try,” replied Hercules.

             
Philoctetes spent several hours discussing with Hercules on how he should go about this last, great Olympic event.  “Do not let what everyone else says get to your head,” said Philoctetes.  “Yes, you are not the one favored to win.  Yes, you are a not as good of a wrestler as Milo, and you do not have the experience he has in the Olympic Games.  But, no matter, you will find a way.  Why?  Because you have heart.  And you must find a way, for if you do not, nobody will.  Remember Hercules, the greatest of Gods must first prove themselves as a man.”  This ended Philoctetes’ words to Hercules.  Philoctetes placed the hood back over him and wandered away to sleep.

             
When the morning came Hercules did not take his usual run.  This time he knew he needed every ounce of energy and strength he could to defeat Milo in the final event—the hoplitodromos, or the race in armor.  This event favored neither Milo nor Hercules.  The running clearly favored Hercules, who was exceptionally fast; however, running in heavy armor favored Milo.

Hercules remembered Philoctetes talking about the dreaded race in armor.  Although Hercules thought running his strong point he had never done it with armor on before.  Athletes were required to wear helmets on their heads and metal greaves below the knees, and compete while also carrying a large round shield that was the main protective device of the Greek infantry soldier, or hoplite.  The ru
n would be a run of 800 meters.

             
The audience stood patiently watching as Hercules and Milo approached the starting line.  Nobody else had a chance to win the Olympic Games except Hercules or Milo, so everyone else seemed to garnish little attention or have little motivation to run.  The great Milo stood and looked over at Hercules, who looked over at him.  Then Hercules drew his gaze back towards track.

             
It was clear that everyone still underestimated Hercules and his abilities.  When shouts went into the air most were for Milo, and various names for Milo surfaced with intensity, such as Milo the Strong, Milo the Magnificent, and even Milo the Invincible.

             
Philoctetes and a few others were the only ones who believed in Hercules, who believed that in fact he could defeat the great Milo and win the reputable Olympic Games.

             
Bets began to abound at this stage in the Olympic Games.  Most bets were for Milo and against Hercules.  Everyone was very drawn into the game.

             
Of course, Hercules heard many people in the crowds say things such as “Oh, Milo is sure to win the final event.  I have no doubt.” and “It is not Hercules who is favored to win.  The Gods will no doubt crown Milo the great champion.”

             
This seemed to bring Hercules’ spirit down a little bit, but he was nonetheless determined to win.

             
Once the runners were ready to run Pericles silenced the crowd as he stood and said, “This is it—the final event of this great Olympic Games!  May the best athlete win!”

             
Pericles sat down and then a trumpet blared, signaling the start of the race.  Hercules and Milo both darted off, while the other athletes didn’t even try running.  It was just Hercules and Milo.  Both were neck and neck until Milo turned and slightly to the left and bumped Hercules hard.  Hercules struggled to maintain his balance and he was quickly falling to the ground.  However, Hercules did not let himself fall.  He managed to roll and quickly rolled himself back up.  Cheers in the audience escalated.  Milo was surprised.

             
Both were quickly approaching the finish line and Hercules was slightly behind Milo, although he was gaining on him.  Just before they both reached the finish line Milo quickly stuck on his foot to trip Hercules, but Hercules saw this and did the only thing he could think of—he jumped!  Hercules let off one last jump to the finish line.  And it was with this last, powerful jump that he avoided Milo’s threatening trip and crossed the finish line first!  He had beat Milo by a few inches.  Hercules had won the Olympic Games!  Cheers rang out through Olympia for this new and indeed surprisingly contestant
.
 

Philoctetes smiled as Hercules won the Games.  “There you go Hercules!” he thought to himself.  “You are on your way!”

Pericles looked surprised and said, “Well Hellanodikai, we have a new victor.  You must go congratulate him!”

             
A herald came and announced the victory.  Hercules was named “Best among the Greeks.”  This happened soon after the event and caused immediate celebrations in the victor’s camp, with the athlete collecting palm leaves and accolades.

             
The parade of victors on the fifth or sixth day was semi-riotous…the sort of ecstatic carousal the Greeks called a komos.  Wearing woolen headbands, the victor Hercules, and other good Olympic athletes made their way towards the Temple of Zeus.  There they were showered with flowers, fruit, twigs, and what was called a “greenery pelting” which was similar to confetti.  There they all sung a hymn as they made their way to the Temple and Altar of Zeus:

“We came far to play in these,

The great Olympic Games.

We now sing a victorious song,

              A song that the Gods may delight!

             
A song that the Gods may cherish!

A song that the
Gods may remember!

These great athletes, who come into your presence,

are the greatest athletes of Greece!

These are athletes who hurled the discus,

jumped the jump,

wrestled the man,

and ran the race of the warrior!

Zeus, these are your greatest warriors!

Zeus, your choicest blessings have been upon these athletes,

For they have been given your divine favor,

Especially our one and only ultimate victor—Hercules!”

              Then, in the presence of the great gold and ivory victory-bearing statue of Zeus, the chief Hellanodikai bestowed the crown of olive leaves upon Hercules.  “The great victor of this Olympic Games wears an emblem of the Gods—the crown of olive leaves.  This is a gift of the Gods.  May we always remember the great Gods that give us life day to day.”

             
After this event was over Hercules felt very good about himself.  He had proven himself the greatest athlete in all of Greece.

             
Following the words of the chief Hellanodikai sacrifices were offered at the altar of Zeus.  Then a great banquet was held in Hercules’ honor in the Prytaneion, or official hall, located in the northwest corner of Altis.

             
After the Olympic Games were officially over many other events transpired that are worth noting.  For one, Milo approached Hercules, smiled, bowed slightly, and then said, “Congratulations Hercules!  You have proven your great skills.  Perhaps you may tell me one thing—who was your trainer?  Who taught you these great things?  And what did you do to train?”

             
Hercules could sense Milo’s good nature and honesty and replied, “His name is Philoctetes, the best trainer that there ever was.  And as for how I trained, perhaps I may show you!”

             
The following day Hercules showed Milo everything he did that helped him to prepare for the Olympics.  He began with running, as Milo ran alongside him.  “I have been running much ever since I was a child.  This helped to prepare my body for the Olympics.”  Hercules also took Milo up to a hill where he learned how to wrestle lions and other creatures.

             
“You must not fear or hate these creatures,” said Hercules.  “No, you must come to tame them, to show them why they should respect you.”

             
Once all of this was complete Hercules asked Milo for one thing: “Milo, I have showed you what I did, but maybe you can show me one thing.”

             
“Yes, what do you want?” asked Milo.  “Anything you ask may be yours.”

             
“I would like to know how you beat me when you wrestled,” said Hercules.  “What trick did you use?”

             
So Milo showed him his trick.  Both stood up and grabbed each other’s hands as they did in the Olympics.  Milo kept one hand held onto Hercules hand.  Then he quickly let go of one of his hands, ducked to avoid Hercules’ punch, and then jabbed Hercules lightly in his side.  “You see!” exclaimed Milo.  “When wrestling with a human you must do moves that involve both evading and attacking.  Evade and attack!”