The Martial Arts of Ancient Greece

by Kostas Dervenis

  These Tibetan monks of Tantric Buddhism are called repa, meaning “those who wear cotton,” and in fact a white cotton robe is the very desirable reward for their training. The meditation exercise they use is called gTummo (“wild woman”) and has three essential components: 1) holding and suppressing the breath in the center of the lower abdomen; 2) sexual temperance; and 3) transforming sexual energy through meditation into another form of energy, in this case thermal energy. The mental (and possibly physical?) model they use during concentration and meditation is exactly identical to that of the spiral entanglement of the two energies referred to above. They believe that they achieve these admirable and “supernatural” results by controlling the concentration, entanglement, and dispersion of the two breaths: “solar” (father energy) and “lunar” (mother energy) in their bodies.

  We remind the reader that the main reason we refer to this model is that it offers a likely explanation for the “supernatural” powers recorded in the ancient myths. There is evidence, based on the archaeological record, that this indeed is so. In Sanskrit that energy which comes from the transformation of sexual energy is called kundalini, which means “coiled energy” and is symbolized by a snake coiled around the base of the spine (it is referred to as “the snake power”). The correlation of the snake in all ancient religious and mystical traditions to this type of “breath” energy most likely originates from a single source.

  The method of these practices—known in Chinese as neikung, “esoteric force”—is the focusing and activation of the energy center that is placed at the center of the lower abdomen, called dantien in Chinese, hara in Japanese, svadhisthana chakra in Sanskrit, and so forth. Greek archeological archives may document similar practices. At the Herakleion Museum, in Crete, for example, there are the famous statuettes of the Minoan priestesses, wrapped up in snakes. The manner in which the snakes are wrapped around the arms of one priestess, and the “knot” at the point of the energy center of the lower abdomen, lead us to the conclusion that this depicts the same technique that is used by the repa monks. Further, the corset that the priestess is wearing below her breasts has the same shape as the caduceus, showing the spiral entanglement of the two energies! Can this be coincidental?

  Further consideration of the literary and archaeological archives with reference to the practices mentioned reveals some important clues regarding the psychic methods of the warriors in the Bronze Age: they indicate that the universal practice of transforming sexual energy, probably deriving from shamanism thousands of years ago, built the foundations of the hero-worship that exists in all ancient cultures.

  Figure 4.4. Statuette of a Minoan priestess, seventeenth century BCE, Herakleion Museum, Crete.

  The connection between the sexual act and the ritual of the duel derives from Nature, occurring annually, during the mating time of the species. Archaeological archives confirm that the relation between battle and reproduction was bequeathed to the human species. For example, in the Gilf Kebir caves at the border between southwest Egypt and Libya, Neolithic drawings from 7000 BCE demonstrate an obvious connection between the ritual duel and sexual reproduction. In figure 4.5a, two men fight a bloody battle with axes and knives, while right below them other men participate in a wrestling athletic confrontation similar to the contemporary Japanese sumo wrestling (next to them there is a chorus of women, watching and judging the activities). In figure 4.5b two men, wearing phalli reminiscent of the Dionysian rites in ancient Greece, are entangled in an athletic duel that is clearly a boxing contest. Other images from archaeological archives confirm that there has been a continuous correlation between religious activities, ritual duels, and sexuality and fertility throughout the ages. This can still be seen today in the wrestling contests that accompany various religious festivities throughout the world.

  The heroes of the Bronze Age, the warrior elite, were distinguished by being the only humans who had the psychic strength and will power to undertake and undergo the ordeal of transforming vital energy. Their rarity is simple—this practice requires control of sexual desire, either by abstention or through a non-orgasmic sexual act. The Mycenaean Greek myth about Hercules (Herakles in Greek) refers clearly to the drawing of strength from the two universal energies when he was a baby, and thus pure of heart. As mentioned earlier, the name Hercules means “Hera’s glory.” Hera is a manifestation of the Mother Goddess whose name means “worthy” and has similar roots to the word “hero.” In the relevant myth, it is mentioned that Hera persecuted Hercules, yet he carries her name. Isn’t this a contradiction? A key factor in the myth is the fact that Hercules “strangled the two snakes” in his cradle, snakes that Hera had sent to kill him! Perhaps these two snakes, the two energies, were the key to his strength after all.

  Figure 4.5a, b. Neolithic representations from the Gilf Kebir caves, at the border between southwest Egypt and Libya. (Drawings by Kostas Dervenis.)

  When he did die in the end, as we all are fated to, the gods accepted him on Mt. Olympus as an immortal, while Hera offered him her daughter, Hebe, to be his wife. The legends relating to this hero seem to tell us that Hercules, after taming the two universal energies in his cradle, obtained mythical powers, and—after having lived an adventurous, troublesome, and tumultuous life—chose Virtue, and earned, finally, eternal life and eternal youth as a result.

  The Spartans—who were descendants of Hercules according to their mythology—used the symbol of the snakes extensively in their worship and to accompany them into battle. On the Spartan banner, the two snakes symbolize the Dioscouri, the two sons of Zeus, of whom one is mortal and the other is immortal (reminiscent of “form” and “infinity”) (figure 4.6). Generally, representations of heroes and ancestors in ancient Sparta included a depiction of a curled up snake, symbolizing immortality and the heroic ideal. In another presentation, the Dioscouri are symbolized by two snakes wrapped up spirally around two amphoras (figure 4.7). Maybe it is not by chance, as we shall see, that the main temple in Sparta was the temple of “Standing” Artemis (Artemis Orthia).

  In the legend of Hercules, the hero often misbehaved or lost his sanity, committed malevolent acts, and was forced to seek redemption. It seems that heroes had to be moral; otherwise insanity and failure were their punishments. In the Bhagavad Gita (“The Song of God”), dated around 1400 BCE, the avatar Krishna converses with the warrior Arjuna about the meaning of life. Krishna teaches him that a warrior must have a code of morals and be ready to fight and die for what is right. The Iliad also contains references to yin and yang and the noble behavior and morals of warriors. For example, in Rhapsody C, line 100, Hector stops the battle between the Achaeans and the Trojans in order to propose a duel between Menelaos and Paris-Alexander. He holds his spear at the middle and approaches the mass of warriors, keeping the Trojans behind him. Hundreds of spears and arrows are aimed at him, but not one is shot.

  Figure 4.6. The Spartan banner, two snakes symbolizing the Dioscouri, seventh century BCE or earlier. (Drawing of an epitaph pillar at the Spartan Museum, by M. N. Todd and A. J. B. Wace in 1906.)

  “Let the Trojans and the Achaeans [Greeks] place their weapons on the earth, which feeds all living things, while Alexander and Ares-friend [warlike] Menelaos duel for Helen and her wealth,” he said.

  And Menelaos answered: “I think that now the Argeians [Greeks] and the Trojans may depart peacefully, as they have suffered enough because of my fight with Alexander. One of us will be killed, as decided by Fate, but you will all become friends. So, fetch a white ram and a black lamb for the sun and the moon, and we shall bring a third animal in Zeus’s honor.”7

  The white ram was to be dedicated to the sun (yang) and the black lamb for the earth (yin), while Zeus’s full name is Dias-Zeus, he who “couples the divided,” he who connects yin and yang. The reference to the earth, “which feeds all living things,” indicates they had a better-developed ecological awareness than we have today.

  It should be noted that the ancient Gre
eks did not honor Ares (Mars), the god of war, but rather considered him a necessary evil. His holy bird was the vulture and destruction was his joy. Thus the adjective “Ares-friend” (Areiphilos), literally translated as “Ares’s friend” and meaning warlike, used by Hector about Menelaos is a hidden insult. Ares is the god of destruction and the enemy of culture.

  Figure 4.7. Spartan coin symbolizing the Dioscouri as two amphoras, each of them surrounded by a snake in a spiral coil.

  The goddess Athena, on the other hand, symbolizes the pure heart of the elite warrior, and she fights with spiritual and psychic strength. She wears armor and holds a spear, while at the same time she is the protector of culture and the arts. Athena is the goddess of warriors and heroes, those who protect society, and this is why she is called Promachos, meaning the one who “fights in front” (in the front line). It is not insignificant that Athena is a virgin—her purity symbolizes the power of the transformation of the sexual urge to esoteric spiritual power.

  The sculptures of the Parthenon included a statue of the goddess in battle, vanquishing a giant. Snakes jump from her hands—a universal symbol, as we have seen, of esoteric power. At one point in the Iliad, Athena confronts Ares and beats him in battle. “Idiot!” she shouted. “Even now you still do not comprehend that I am beyond your powers, since you dare face me!” And so saying, she struck him on the back of the neck, paralyzing his limbs, and Ares falling took up seven acres of land, his hair filling with dust, his armor crashing like thunder on the earth.”8

  It is obvious that this excerpt is a description of a high standard of martial arts’ expertise, since Athena beat Mars without any difficulty, hitting him on a point of his body that paralyzed him with one blow. This incident symbolizes the confrontation between the warrior elite on one side and barbaric brute force on the other: society’s protector against the destroyer of culture.

  ATHENA AND MEDUSA: INGENIOUS FEMALE WISDOM

  On Athena’s shield, the head of Medusa is depicted, representing the chaotic powers of infinity, and indicating an important connection, one that is pertinent to our investigation. The name Medusa means “ingenious female wisdom” and corresponds in Sanskrit to the goddess Medha, in Egyptian to the goddess Met or Maat—it is obvious that the name, as well as the worship of “female wisdom,” was spread worldwide. Medusa’s worship came to Greece from Libya. In the Corfu Museum is the pediment of the temple of Artemis (585 BCE) where Artemis, another virgin goddess, is depicted in the form of Medusa. Medusa’s abdomen bears the two snakes, familiar symbol of the entanglement of the two energies. Artemis, protector of animals, is a goddess with obvious shamanistic roots, as we have seen at the Akroteri cave.

  Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, the goddess of ingenious intuition, shrewdness, prudence, and premonitions that allow one to avoid a pitfall; she was also the goddess of hunting and fishing. In ancient times the term dolos (deceit, craftiness), attributed to Metis, did not have such a negative meaning as it does now. On the contrary, it corresponded to the same concept expressed by the word doloma (bait) in fishing and hunting. Metis is the craftiness that allows one with less body strength or a poorer strategic position to win a battle. How can a fisherman catch a fish without bait? How can a hunter kill his prey if not with craftiness? How can a man with inferior physical attributes defeat a cave bear? Metis was that primitive goddess who allowed humans to prevail over more powerful opponents and natural dangers. She was the goddess of caves. It is worth noting that the name Metis has the same root as the word metera—“mother”—derived from the archaic root MT, which existed, as we have seen, internationally. In fact the English word “mother” derives from the same root.

  Figure 4.8. Pediment of the Artemis temple, Corfu Museum.

  In the Iliad, Ulysses is called polymetis for his craftiness, which led to the construction of the Trojan Horse. Metis refers to the possibility of maneuvers, of absorption, deflection, diversion, flexibility—what the Chinese would call yin.9 It is apparent that the correlation between Metis and Potnia Theron (Mistress of the Animals), shamanism, and the caves is not accidental.

  The displacement of Earth worship by the flamboyant Apollonian gods appears everywhere in the archaeological record as well as the mythological archives of Greece. Phoebus Apollo vanquished the Earth Dragon of Delphi and made his home his own. Zeus beat the proto-gods, the Titans, and buried them in the earth, choosing Olympus for his domicile. (Zeus’s weapon was lightning, a symbol that appears worldwide in the mythological archives of the gods of the sky). However, Emperor Zeus was terrified of the prophecy uttered by the Titan Prometheus, according to which earthy Metis would give birth to a child who would dethrone him, so he swallowed her up while she was pregnant with Athena (an act symbolizing the alliance with and the absorption of the ancient power of the Goddess). Zeus gained the gift of premonition, the trembling in one’s intestines, the “gut feeling” as we say today, because Metis was imprisoned inside his body.

  However, one part of Metis could not be controlled, the part that was connected to the chaotic power that exists in the depths of the earth— the wild aspect of Medusa.10 How could a reconciliation be achieved between the wild, chaotic, earthy force and the new gods of light and the Word? Only through peaceful forms of the deities. So, bronze-clad Athena, daughter of Metis, jumped out of Zeus’s head. Later she helped Perseus to vanquish and kill Medusa but she also grabbed the head of the gorgon and put it on her shield.

  The gorgon Medusa (the word gorgo means “shiny eyes”) symbolizes the chaotic power of infinity, the same power that exists inside a black hole, where there is no time, shape, or form. Any average human who looks at it is petrified. To be able to control this power, one must be extremely pure, with a purity equal to that of Athena and Artemis, both virgins. (This is the reason why Perseus needed to endure many trials before he could cut off Medusa’s head.)

  FALLS FROM GRACE

  The transformation of the sexual urge into celestial energy is a difficult and painful procedure, and several times heroes who were not always pure fell from divine grace and gave in to the pleasures of the flesh. A good example is Samson from the Old Testament. Samson was a Nazirite, that is, “he who renounces,” and a holy warrior who fought against the Philistines during the early years of Israel (twelfth to tenth century BCE).

  The Nazirites were zealots who renounced wine and took an oath never to cut their hair. These can all be understood as symbolizing their having sacrificed the pleasure of ejaculation in the name of God. Samson was a “kundalini hermit,” a discipline that gave him his admirable strength. In Hebrew, his name is spelled Shimson and it means “the son of the sun”—in other words, “he who accumulates the solar spirit.” The power of solar breath enabled Shimson to kill a lion with his bare hands, to move the gates of Gaza, to kill one thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jaw, and so forth.

  However, the sexual urge is a formidable opponent and Samson gave in to it not once but tens of times. His passion for Delilah, a Philistine woman allied with his enemies, brought him to his end. Her name in Hebrew is spelled Dalila, which simply means “desire.” So, what this biblical myth tells us is that the son of the sun had a special passion for beautiful Philistine women, so much so that he gave in to his desires repeatedly, lost control, and sank into the pleasures of sexual love, losing his supernatural powers in the process, and thus falling prey to his enemies.

  Even the first hero to preach about this heroic resistance to sexual lust had problems coping with sexuality. In 2700 BCE, the Babylonian Gilgamesh, divine king of Uruk with superhuman powers, insisted on sleeping with the wives and daughters of his subjects. Most likely, he went through the sexual act without orgasm. (Transformation of the sexual urge does not make a man moral. On the contrary, it makes him show his real nature. This is why it should be taught only to good people.) Gilgamesh overdid it and, in order to bring him back to order, the gods created Enkidu, who grew up in the desert, away from the temptations of the
flesh. He protected animals from hunters, breaking up their traps and tearing their nets.

  Enkidu’s strength was unbelievable. He could beat whole armies. The inhabitants of Uruk were desperate and turned to Gilgamesh for help, and he found a solution immediately! “No problem,” he told them. “Take a prostitute and ask her to wait near the fountain where he goes to drink water. When she sees him, let her show him her bare breasts and smile provocatively. He will fall head over heels for her, and after he finishes, he will be weak as a lamb.” And so it happened. Poor Enkidu, after having sex, tried desperately to approach the gazelles he was guarding, but when they saw him so weak they ran away. Unhappy, he went back to where the competent young lady was contentedly brushing her hair. She finished him off with some flattery: “You are so handsome, Enkidu, you shine like a god! What are you doing all alone out here in the desert? Come back with me to the city of Uruk . . .” And so Enkidu followed her like a lamb, and later became clever Gilgamesh’s right hand man. It is obvious from this story that he lost his divine power as soon as he gave in to sexual temptation.

  These stories may be amusing, but they (especially when combined with the archaeological archives) also reveal that the practice of sexual temperance was spread all over the world in the Bronze Age, and that the strength of the divine warriors was attributed to this practice. The presence of the symbol of the two spirally entangled snakes (the breath, the chi or ki, yin and yang) is a decisive sign in all ancient societies. Possibly a minor “leftover” of these practices exists today among the wrestlers in India and Pakistan. These wrestlers, who are considered the best in the world and even invincible in contest, practice yoga and breathing exercises starting when they are quite young. Furthermore, their main concern is sexual temperance and the transformation of sexual energy into another, superior form (this practice is called brahmacharya). “The sperm,” say the wrestlers, “is the substance of life and the source of any energy. A fighter must guard his sperm like a jeweler guards his most expensive diamonds.”