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MUSCLE BUILDING METHODS DOWN THE AGES

STRONG MEN OF THE PAST AND PRESENT (continnecl)

this great liero «f tlie Trojan wnrs simply fon rod nothing either in the fonu of nutu or bonśt. and yci. tragedy of tragcdios, ho diod by his owa band—u mndiuun.

Horo again tlie doath of nnotber Greek liero i Achilles) was tho enuso of trngedy. for it is told us that wheti Ajax lenrned of tłu* fact tlisit tlu> nrnimtr and matitlo of the deud Achilles had fallen upoii rlysses. ho iininodiately berame so freu/.ied tluit la* went coiiipletely cruzy and killod liiinsolf. So diod ono of tho stron gest of nil nur heroes of history. u man wllose mighty sword boranie a housełiold word.

Lot us thon. iu the.se days wlien the eonditions of lifo make it necessnry for us tu ado|>t seieutifie metUdds of physieal enlture and inusele building. retain in our minds for constaut inspiration thoughts of tbese great heroes of the past.

Hnving tnken a brief glauoe at tho heroes uf Greek legend and mythulogy. and the Trojan wars. we liare sonie eonoeption of tlu* foundations npon whieli the Greeian ideał of strong and splendid numhood was laid. FTere was bom Physieal Culture as a science— that tery science wliich we praetise to-dny. iu varied and somewhat different foriiis, perbap-s. but the same science. To every physieal en It u l ist the Greeian yleal apponłs; To evory student the instrnctor cnn safely offer tlie esamplo of that ideał of perfect liiind and Inuly building, and yet it is only by chance that tho ideał Itas boen preserved for this and further generations.

To us. tlten. wito lmve tlu* science of iuteiisive moście culture at lieart. it will alwnys In* a matter of pnrticular interest tu tracę the enrrying down of that ideał throngh the a ges. Tiuleed. it is not only a matter of interest. hut a fact wliich ono aecopts witli nhnost coniplete wondennent. that for yoars and years. genoration nftor geiieration, tlu* science wliich was so decidedly diseournged and tabooed as to have been nhnost coiiipletely stitied slunild liave •‘eonie hack" to us witli soch foroo and appeal.

God-like Trachtions.

Looking back. therefore to tho Greoee ot' the tinie just prior to the Homan Comjuest. we sec a race of people possessed of ineittal powers of a very liigli standard, and almost " body perfect.” Kired. no doubt. witli tlu* ainbiiiini to live np i<> the traditions of the vi*ry guds theinselves. tlu* Greek* were perfect i ng themselves in every way. and the God-like man was estnlilislied as their ideał.

The study of tlie arts and gra ces. the praetise of culture. botli mentnl and physieal. heca me part-aml-parcel of esistence. The men vicd witli ench niher in tlu* atiainment of pliysiccl excellenee; tliey strired ngainst ench uther in competitive sports to eąru the coveted Immnir of performing in Tlu* (Limes at the Olympiad. Tliey fought witli the cestus; thev wrestled; tliey joinped; tliey tlirew the uiscus. in fact tliey did most of those things wliich ar«* inciuded in the lista of our sports and field cwiits to-dny. The woinen. fairest in all the wmld. we can helieve. also practised their forma of physieal culture. the prineipul fentures of wliich. of eiiurse. were the dnnees. Riviuely bcautifiil ot' face and form, ciii ni rod and refined. so we see the.se fair daughters of Greoee, mul mnthers of tlie God-like man. So we have tlie foimdations of physieal culTure. willi its futurę placed in tlu* hands of Oestiny.

From Greek to Roman.

Thon ca me the flrst nphearal — the fali of Greoee under tlu* Roman Oonque.st. You may he tempted to ask yourself liow it cumę to pass tluit a nation of mich mentnl and physieal powers as Greecc should fali victim to the inrading of Roman hordes. jWighr as wcII ask ho w a man cnn fuli victiin to a taging lion or tiger — it is the saragery of war — and Greece. preoeeupied as she was witli internal uffairs. was conquered.

Xow did the futuro of tlie arts and gra ces, tlie science of culture. and nil that we dcem to be best iu nutu rock very daiigerously in tłu* palni of l)estiny's band. but luckily it did mit luli. for tlie Romans, atlracted by the hen lity and rarity of tlie land and lieople tliey bud comjuered, adopteu the

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