Did Arrhichion Really Win an Olympic Title After He Died?

According to the ancient sources, yes. Arrhichion of Phigalia, a pankration fighter who had already won the Olympic title twice, died in the final of the pankration at the 54th Olympiad in 564 BC while defending his crown, and the judges declared his dead body the winner. The travel writer Pausanias reports that his opponent was strangling him, but Arrhichion dislocated the man's toe at the same moment; the opponent gave up from the pain just as Arrhichion died of suffocation, and the Eleans, who ran the Games, crowned the corpse. It is a real tradition about a real athlete, but the vivid details come from writers who lived many centuries later.

The short answer, and how sure we can be

The core of the story is consistent across our sources: a two-time champion, a fatal chokehold, an opponent who surrendered, and a victory announced for a man who was no longer alive. The details are less consistent. Pausanias, writing in the 2nd century AD, says a toe was dislocated; a later description by Philostratus says the ankle was wrenched out of its socket. Neither writer saw the fight, which took place some seven centuries before them. So the safest way to put it is this: ancient Greeks believed, and recorded, that Arrhichion won while dying.

Who Arrhichion was

Arrhichion (also spelled Arrhachion or Arrichion) came from Phigalia, a small town in the mountains of Arcadia in the Peloponnese. He won the Olympic pankration at the 52nd Olympiad in 572 BC and again at the 53rd in 568 BC. By the time he came back in 564 BC, he was going for a third straight title. One modern scholar has called him the most famous of all pankratiasts, and it is easy to see why: few athletes are remembered for the way they won their last match.

The pankration: "all of power"

To understand the fight, you need to understand the sport. The pankration was an unarmed combat sport introduced into the Olympic Games in 648 BC. Its name means roughly "all of power", from pan, "all", and kratos, "strength". It combined boxing and wrestling with kicks, holds, joint locks and chokes, and it is often compared to modern mixed martial arts.

There were only two rules about combat: no biting and no gouging the eyes. There were no weight divisions and no time limits, and a bout usually continued until one fighter signalled submission, typically by raising his index finger. That rule is the key to Arrhichion's story. A pankration match was not won on points. It was won when the other man gave up.

The fatal match in 564 BC

Pausanias tells the story briefly. Arrhichion's opponent got hold of him first, wrapped his legs around him and squeezed his neck with his hands. Arrhichion managed to dislocate one of his opponent's toes but died of suffocation. At the same moment, the opponent, in agony from his toe, was forced to give up. Since the other man had signalled defeat, the result followed the rules: the Eleans crowned and proclaimed the corpse of Arrhichion as the victor.

The account by Philostratus is longer and more dramatic, because it describes a painting of the scene. There the opponent has an arm around Arrhichion's throat and his legs locked around his body, and Arrhichion kicks back and twists the trapped foot, wrenching the ankle from its socket. The difference between "toe" and "ankle" is a good reminder that ancient stories changed as they were retold.

The trainer's shout

Another work by Philostratus, the Gymnasticus, adds a detail about Arrhichion's trainer, Eryxias. As Arrhichion was close to giving up, Eryxias is said to have shouted to him that it would be a noble epitaph to have "never been defeated at Olympia", and that is offered as the reason he did not submit.

Whether or not the shout really happened, it reveals the values of the time. For a Greek athlete, an Olympic victory meant lasting glory for himself and his city. The prize at Olympia was only a wreath of olive leaves, but the honour was immense. Modern readers may find the idea of dying rather than raising a finger disturbing, and that discomfort is worth keeping in mind.

The statue at Phigalia and later echoes

The people of Phigalia set up a victor statue of Arrhichion in their town. A statue believed to be the same one is now displayed in the museum at Olympia, and it is described as one of the oldest dated statues of an Olympic victor.

The story has kept travelling. The poet Jeanette Threlfall wrote a poem called "Arrichion", and some have suggested that the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who refuses to give up no matter what, echoes Arrhichion's fight. In the pankration, Arrhichion is often listed among the sport's most famous names.

Learn with Arrhichion: English phrases about never giving up

Phrase	Meaning	Example
to fight to the bitter end	to keep going until the very end	He fought to the bitter end.
to tap out	to give up in a fight (modern sports slang)	In the pankration, you raised a finger instead of tapping out.
a hollow victory	a win that brings little joy	Some call Arrhichion's crown a hollow victory.
against all odds	despite great difficulty	Against all odds, he was declared the winner.
to stand firm	to refuse to give in	His trainer told him to stand firm.

Try this: Write three English sentences about a time you kept going when you wanted to quit. Use "against all odds" in one sentence and "tap out" in another, then add one sentence saying whether you think Arrhichion's choice was brave or reckless.