Spartan game of Othismos

[PMBardunias]

I have moved this over from another thread, since it deserves its own discussion. Pausanian and Cicero tell us of a game played by the boys of Sparta wich surely bears a great deal of resemblence to what occurred during the pushing phase of phalanx combat.

Paus. 3.14
8] And there is a place called Platanistas ?Plane-tree Grove? from the unbroken ring of tall plane trees growing round it. The place itself, where it is customary for the youths to fight, is surrounded by a moat just like an island in the sea; you enter it by bridges. On each of the two bridges stand images; on one side an image of Heracles, on the other a likeness of Lycurgus. Among the laws Lycurgus laid down for the constitution are those regulating the fighting of the youths.
9] There are other acts performed by the youths, which I will now describe. Before the fighting they sacrifice in the Phoebaeum, which is outside the city, not far distant from Therapne. Here each company of youths sacrifices a puppy to Enyalius, holding that the most valiant of tame animals is an acceptable victim to the most valiant of the gods. I know of no other Greeks who are accustomed to sacrifice puppies except the people of Colophon; these too sacrifice a puppy, a black bitch, to the Wayside Goddess. Both the sacrifice of the Colophonians and that of the youths at Sparta are appointed to take place at night.
[10] At the sacrifice the youths set trained boars to fight; the company whose boar happens to win generally gains the victory in Plane-tree Grove. Such are the performances in the Phoebaeum. A little before the middle of the next day they enter by the bridges into the place I have mentioned. They cast lots during the night to decide by which entrance each band is to go in. In fighting they use their hands, kick with their feet, bite, and gouge out the eyes of their opponents. Man to man they fight in the way I have described, but in the melee they charge violently and push one another into the water.

Clearly there is no weapon involved and to suggest that the boys did not physically push en masse is being a bit obstinate in my opinion. They are fighting in very close- biting range- and the one word, ?????-??, that some have translated as a longer range kick appears to not be that at all. Stephanos pointed out that it means more of a "charge", and I think in this context the meaning can be seen to be smashing into or seeking to bear down another boy. Essentially man on man pushing, which is a local event and then he describes the whole group 'pushing" which is othismos- without a safetly net! So maybe not much more freedom of movement, epecially if this occurred rather early on in the contest.

Here it is translated as "push" (Plb. 12.8) :

The epithets which he applies to him are "audacious,"The vulgar abuse of Timaeus.
"unprincipled," "rash"; and besides, he says that he "has audaciously slandered Locri by affirming that the colony was formed by runaway slaves, adulterers, and man-catchers." Further, he asserts that Aristotle made this statement, "in order that men might believe him to have been one of Alexander's generals, and to have lately conquered the Persians at the Cilician Gates in a pitched battle by his own ability; and not to be a mere pedantic sophist, universally unpopular, who had a short time before shut up that admirable doctor's shop." B. C. 333.
Again, he says that he "pushed his way into every palace and tent:" and that he was "a glutton and a gourmand, who thought only of gratifying his appetite."

??? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ?????????????? ???????? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ????????? ?????? ???? ????????? ?????????? ??? ??? ????? ????????, [4] ???? ?? ???????? ??????? ??? ??????? ????????? ??? ?? ??????????? ???????? ?????? ?????????????, ???? ?? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ????????????, ???? ?? ????????????, ?????????, ??? ????? ????????? ?? ????.

And here "spring upon":

Hdt. 3.32
[4] “Yet you have stripped Cyrus' house as bare as this lettuce.” Angered at this, they say, he sprang upon her, who was great with child, and she miscarried and died of the hurt he gave her.

4] “?????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ???????? ??? ????? ????? ??????????.” ??? ?? ????????? ????????? ???? ?????? ?? ??????, ??? ??? ?????????? ?????????.

Here's the LSJ entry with some other instances of its use:
?????-?? ,
A. [select] jump upon, “???? ?????? ?? ??????” Hdt.3.32: metaph. of sense-impressions, Archig. ap. Orib.8.2.5.
*2. [select] ?. ??? . . leap or spring into, “?? ??? ????” Hermipp.54, cf. Plb.12.8.4.
3. [select] abs., beat, of the heart, Ph.1.67: aor. part. ????????? eagerly, greedily, Luc. Hist.Conscr.20.

I only know of this from Pausanias and Cicero. Pausanias mentions Lygurgus as setting the rules, but perhaps he means in a more general way for conflict between boys, not the specific rules for this contest. Because of this I do not know if the contest took the form it did in the many centuries prior to these references. Since the aspis was not used in their day, I would not expect it in this contest, but I wonder if it once was. Like the whipping of Spartan boys half to death that grew from the cheese race into an almost pornographic violence fest for the visiting Romans, perhaps this became more deadly too. Can you guys think of any other references to this game?

[Paralus]

I only know of this from Pausanias and Cicero. Pausanias mentions Lygurgus as setting the rules, but perhaps he means in a more general way for conflict between boys, not the specific rules for this contest. Because of this I do not know if the contest took the form it did in the many centuries prior to these references. Since the aspis was not used in their day, I would not expect it in this contest, but I wonder if it once was. Like the whipping of Spartan boys half to death that grew from the cheese race into an almost pornographic violence fest for the visiting Romans, perhaps this became more deadly too.

As you've alluded to, it might be ill-advised to draw too much from holiday memories of Lycurgusland™. That a non-Spartan cynic philosopher (Sphaerus) was commissioned to advise upon and reconstruct the agoge in the late third century is eloquent comment on just what Spartans knew of (or wanted to know of) the ancient ways.

[PMBardunias]

Caution is warranted, but I don't think it was created out of whole cloth in the reign of Cleomenes or later. The puppy sacrifice is so odd and atypically greek that it appears to me like one of those things that we see in early Sparta that stand out as different and often asiatic. Those Phoenician-looking clay masks for example.

[hoplite14gr]

I have a reason to believe that the game was actually old.

Enyalios (title of Ares or kin of Ares) was the war god of Bronze Age Pelopolessians.
Pylos tables talk of Enu-far-jios: phonetic for Enyalios.

Kind regards