Boxer

The world of the ancient Greeks and Romans had its share of sports heroes -- legends in their own time, celebrated by all who knew them. Heroic statues of marble and bronze were carved and cast routinely and decorated homes and public places everywhere. One of the sports the Romans adopted from the Greeks was a form of boxing so brutal that it was banned in Rome five centuries before the last gladiator was carried from the arena. Around 100 BC, a young Greek sculptor named Apollonius cast a famous bronze that surely had political impact in its day. Rather than depicting a flawless athlete majestically staring off into space or in some sportsman-like pose, he created the image of a beaten, tortured body that still housed a fiery, defiant soul. This story describes a modern sportsman, well-known though not quite a hero, who draws inspiration from Apollonius' work -- and then mysteriously finds himself part of the original's creative process. Who inspired whom becomes one of several interesting questions brought to light as this tale unfolds across the intervening centuries.