The Jealous Athlete

Near the statue of Milo of Croton stood that of Theagenes, another famous athlete who lived many years after Milo. He too had defeated every rival. He won many prizes, and everyone envied his strength and fame.

One man in particular, whom he had beaten in the games, was jealous of him and the honors he had won. Instead of trying to overcome these evil feelings, he sneaked into the temple every day to stare at his rival's statue and mutter threats and curses against it.

In his anger, he also gave the pedestal an angry shake every night, hoping that some harm would come to the statue. One evening, when this jealous man jostled the image of Theagenes a little more roughly than usual, the heavy marble toppled and fell, crushing him to death beneath its weight.

When the priests came into the temple the next day and found the dead body under the great statue, they were very surprised. The judges assembled, as was the custom when a crime had been committed, to decide what had caused his death.

Since it was usual in Greece to hold judgment over lifeless things as well as over living ones, the statue of Theagenes was brought into court, accused, and found guilty of murder.

The judges then said that, because the statue had committed a crime, it deserved to be punished. So they condemned it to be thrown into the sea and drowned. This sentence had barely been carried out when a plague broke out in Greece. The frightened people consulted an oracle to find out how to stop it. They learned that the plague would not cease until the statue of Theagenes was set up on its pedestal again. The superstitious Greeks believed these words, fished the statue out of the sea, and placed it again in Olympia. Since the plague stopped shortly after, they were all certain that it was because they had obeyed the oracle. From then on, they regarded the statue with great awe.