Athlos
“labor/ordeal”
idea · 2 works · 4 mentions · 6 anchored passages
athlos · athloi · competition · tournament
in the texts
Odyssey
The Greek concept of athlos/athloi, a contest or labor, explicitly glossed both for the armor dispute and Herakles's labors.
Would that I had never gained the day in such a contest [ athlos], for it cost the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus, alike in stature and prowess.
I was son of Zeus, but I went through an infinity of suffering, for I became bondsman to one who was far beneath me - a lowly man who set me all manner of labors [ athloi].
but we were over there, fighting hard [ athlos] at Troy, and Aigisthos who was taking his ease quietly in the heart of Argos, cajoled Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra with incessant flattery.
Iliad
The Greek term for a competitive contest, used to measure the distance of the Trojan retreat as if it were a javelin-throw in competition.
As far as a man can throw a javelin in competition [ athlos] for some prize, or even in battle - so far did the Trojans now retreat before the Achaeans.