Discus
Unlike other sports, the discus did not begin as a military exercise nor as an agricultural activity. The first descriptions of this athletic event are found in Homer's Iliad, in the funerary games that were organized by Achilles in honor of Patroclus. In that event, Polypoites was pronounced winner and was given as a prize the solo, the unprocessed iron mass he used in the competition. In the Odyssey, during the games of the Phaeaceans in honor of Odysseus, the hero from Ithaca won the discus competition. In Greek mythology, discus throwing was associated with various unintentional deaths, as for example the death of Hyacinthus who was accidentally killed by his friend Apollo when the blow of Zephyrus threw the god's discus off course.
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