Greek Myths XS: Theagenes and his Statue

Forget modern day athletes, the greatest Olympian of all time is Theagenes of Thasos, with 1 400 wreaths to his name and after his death, a statue in his honour. Which lead to jealousy, obviously. One of his competitors even made a habit of sneaking out every night, to flog Theagenes’ statue violently. Until it fought back, falling from its base and unaliving its attacker on the spot. There had to be consequences, so the statue was convicted of murder, bannished and thrown into the sea. But then, harvests failed and famine broke out. The oracle told the Thasians to welcome home all exiles from the past. They did, but nothing changed. Then, the oracle specified that Theagenes had to be brought back too. Miraculously, the statue was caught in the nets of a fisherman and reinstalled. Now, it was clear that all this pain and effort could not have been wasted on a mere mortal. And since Herakles had just ascended (to the Olympos), all agreed that it had to be him who had conceived their champion, in the guise of Theagenes’ father.

Boxer of Quirinal (Boxer at Rest) Bronze statue, Palazzo Massima alla Therme, Rome, Italy

Panathenaic Amphore, Musées de Marseille, France

Did you know...

• Theagenes’ name means “descended from a god”.

• The statue “Boxer at Rest” (Palazzo Massimo alla Therme, Rome, Italy) could be a depiction of Theagenes of Thasos.