Ancient Greek boxing rules by beating the offenders with a switch or a whip. Ancient Greek boxing Ancient Greek boxing ( "pygmachia", "fist fighting") dates back to at least the 8th century BC (Homer's "Iliad"), and was practiced in a variety of social contexts in different Greek city-states. Most extant sources about ancient Greek boxing are fragmentary or legendary, making it difficult to reconstruct the rules, customs and history surrounding this activity in great detail. Still, it is clear that gloved boxing bouts were a significant part of ancient Greek athletic culture throughout the early classical period. There is archeological and artistic evidence
Ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are the two epic poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey", set in the Mycenaean era. These two epics, along with the Homeric Hymns and the two poems of Hesiod, "Theogony" and "Works and Days", comprised the major foundations of the Greek literary tradition that would continue into the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. The lyric poets Sappho, Alcaeus, and