The Pentathlon

Abstract

Professor Gardner's article on this highly interesting subject in the last number of the Journal of Hellenic Studies gives so excellent a summary of its data, and reasons upon these data so judiciously, that the few remarks I venture to offer here are intended to be supplementary much rather than critical.First, as to the ἃλμα, or Long Jump. Mr. Gardner says: ῾ ὑπὲρ τὰ ἐσκαμμένα πηδᾶν was proverbial for describing a long leap. What were these ἐσκαμμένα? The scholiast to Pindar (Nem. v. 34) says that after every leap a fork was drawn across to mark its length, so that he who leaps beyond all marks distances his rivals. This seems the natural explanation of the phrase.’ Now the scholiast's words are, ἡ δὲ μεταφορὰ ἀπὸ τῶν πεντάθλων, οἷς σκάμματα σκάπτονται ὅταν ἅλλωνται· ἐκείνων γὰρ κατὰ τὸν ἀγῶνα πηδώντων ὑποσκάπτεται βόθρος ἑκάστου τὸ ἅλμα δεικνύς. Might not the last words, especially taken in conjunction with the ὑπὸ of the compound verb, mean, ‘showing where each was to jump to’ (or ‘where each expected to jump to’), and thus agree with the explanation, also referred to by Mr. Gardner, that the ἐσκαμμένα were marked before the leaps were taken?