Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

associates the name Palaestra (Παλαίστρα) with two separate characters, both associated with the god

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

: one became a mortal lover of Hermes, whereas the other was considered his daughter and a goddess of

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Myths concerning both provided an etiology for the Greek word for a wrestling school: ''

palaestra A palaestra ( or ; also (chiefly British) palestra; grc-gre, παλαίστρα) was any site of an ancient Greek wrestling school. Events requiring little space, such as boxing and wrestling, took place there. Palaestrae functioned both indep ...

''.

Palaestra, lover of Hermes

According to a story recorded by

Servius Servius is the name of: * Servius (praenomen), the personal name * Maurus Servius Honoratus, a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian * Servius Tullius, the Roman king * Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the 1st century BC Roman jurist See ...

, Palaestra was a daughter of the

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

n king Choricus, and sister to Plexippus and Enetus. Her two brothers would wrestle each other, and their father, finding the sight of them wrestling to be of aesthetic value, made it into a sports game. Palaestra told about this to her lover Hermes; he liked the new game even more and, after making some improvements, introduced it to all people. Plexippus and Enetus learned from Palaestra that their invention had been divulged and reported the matter to Choricus. He got angry at his sons and ordered them to punish the thief. They found Hermes sleeping on a mountain and dismembered him, from which circumstance the mountain was believed to have been named Cyllene (a folk etymology based on the Greek κυλλός ''kyllos'' "crippled"), and the

hermae A herma ( grc, ἑρμῆς, pl. ''hermai''), commonly herm in English, is a sculpture with a head and perhaps a torso above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. Hermae we ...

had no arms. Hermes complained about this to

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

and eventually had Choricus eviscerated and his remains collected in a bag. Still wishing to commemorate Palaestra, he made her name refer to the art of wrestling. There was also an alternate version, found in the ''

Etymologicum Magnum ''Etymologicum Magnum'' ( grc, Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα, ) (standard abbreviation ''EM'', or ''Etym. M.'' in older literature) is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicogra ...

'': according to it Palaestra was the daughter of Pandocus, a man who lived at the crossroads of three paths and would kill all the passers-by until Hermes paid him a visit and suffocated him at the instigation of Palaestra. Two folk etymologies were based on this tale: one that derived the word πάλη ''palē'' "wrestling" from the name of Palaestra, and the other that considered the word πανδοκεία ''pandokeia'' "act or habit of welcoming every guest" to come from the name of Pandocus.

Palaestra, daughter of Hermes

According to

Philostratus the Elder Philostratus of Lemnos ( grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ὁ Λήμνιος; c. 190 – c. 230 AD), also known as Philostratus the Elder to distinguish him from Philostratus the Younger who was also from Lemnos, was a Greek sophist of the Roman Emp ...

, Palaestra, a daughter of Hermes, was believed to have grown up in Arcadia, which connected her with Olympia and the Olympian Games. She was credited with inventing the art of wrestling for men to entertain themselves during the times of peace. Palaestra herself was seen as a skilled wrestler with androgynous looks and boyish ways, as is evident from the extended physical description of her by Philostratus:

The figure of Palaistra, if it be compared with a boy, will be that of a girl; but if it be taken for a girl, it will seem to be a boy. For her hair is too short even to be twisted into a knot; the eye might be that of either sex; and the brow indicates disdain for both lovers and wrestlers; for she claims that she is able to resist both the one and the other and that not even in a wrestling bout could anyone touch her breasts, so much does she excel in the art. And the breasts themselves, as in a boy of tender years, show but slight signs of beginning fullness. She cares for nothing feminine; hence she does not even wish to have white arms, and apparently even disapproves of the
Dryades A dryad (; el, Δρυάδες, ''sing''.: ) is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. ''Drys'' (δρῦς) signifies " oak" in Greek, and dryads were originally considered the nymphs of oak trees specifically, but the term has evolved t ...
because they stay in the shade to keep their skin fair; nay, as one who lives in the vales of Arkadia, she begs Helios (the Sun) for colour, and he brings it to her like a flower and reddens the girl with moderate heat.
Philostratus the Elder Philostratus of Lemnos ( grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ὁ Λήμνιος; c. 190 – c. 230 AD), also known as Philostratus the Elder to distinguish him from Philostratus the Younger who was also from Lemnos, was a Greek sophist of the Roman Emp ...
, ''
Images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...
'' 2.32 (transl. Arthur Fairbanks, 1931)

Notes

References

Maurus Servius Honoratus Servius was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries on the works of Virgil. These works, ''In tria V ...

, ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

. '' Imagines,'' translated by Arthur Fairbanks (1864-1944). Loeb Classical Library Volume 256. London: William Heinemann, 1931
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
* Philostratus the Lemnian (Philostratus Major), ''Flavii Philostrati Opera. Vol 2''. Carl Ludwig Kayser. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Lipsiae. 1871
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
{{Authority control Children of Hermes Arcadian characters in Greek mythology Arcadian mythology Wrestling