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Fatal Chest Injury with Lung Evisceration during Athletic Games in Ancient Greece

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Abstract

The “Olympic idealism” that dominates modern athletic culture is a myth. The true aims of the athletes in ancient Greece were rewards and life-long appointments to various positions in the military or the city administration. Competitions in the athletic games included, among others, wrestling, boxing, and pangration (a combination of wrestling and boxing). Occasionally, these games resulted in severe trauma or death. Two cases of extreme violence resulting in fatal chest trauma are presented and commented on from both surgical and social points of view.

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Acknowledgment

We thank the Nemea Excavations Archive, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA for Figures 1 through 5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. First Department of Propedeutic Surgery, University of Athens, 114 V. Sofias Av., 11527 Athens, Greece

    Evangelos Menenakos M.D., Nicholas Alexakis M.D., Emmanuel Leandros M.D., Gerasimos Laskaratos M.D. & John Bramis M.D.

  2. Second Department of Propedeutic Surgery, University of Athens, 17, St. Thomas Str, 11527 Athens, Greece

    Nikolaos Nikiteas M.D.

  3. Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal, 10 Rue Du Champ Gaillard, 78303 Poissy, France

    Abe Fingerhut M.D.

Authors
  1. Evangelos Menenakos M.D.
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  2. Nicholas Alexakis M.D.
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  3. Emmanuel Leandros M.D.
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  4. Gerasimos Laskaratos M.D.
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  5. Nikolaos Nikiteas M.D.
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  6. John Bramis M.D.
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  7. Abe Fingerhut M.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas Alexakis M.D..

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Menenakos, E., Alexakis, N., Leandros, E. et al. Fatal Chest Injury with Lung Evisceration during Athletic Games in Ancient Greece. World J. Surg. 29, 1348–1351 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-005-7841-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-005-7841-x

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