As some of you may know, I am fascinated with the ancient Greco/Roman world. Sometimes when my imagination gets the better of me, I'll do a drawing. This particular sketch is "not ready for primetime", but I liked it anyway so I'm putting it up. Sometimes when I draw, I'm out to create a masterpiece. Other times, it's more of a doodle like this one. I picked this subject because I was reading about the original Olympics. The concept of channeling warlike aggression into peaceful competition was something that the Greeks first thought of, and lives on not only in the Olympics, but in Football, Hockey, etc. Too bad we can't decide wars this way. You get your toughest boxer, I get mine, and whoever is still standing wins the war. Greek boxing was much tougher than the boxing of today. Bouts could go on for hours, and only ended when one's adversary was knocked unconscious. Not only that, but Karate chops, Rabbit punches, striking with the palm, and elbows were all allowed. The only rule was against thumb gouging in the eyes! Often, a boxer was killed. This was frowned upon and the "victor" was usually banished from the city. Their faces were so deformed by the end of their career, that the Greek word for ugly and boxer were interchangeable.
