Read the two excerpts from the two sections about wrestling in The Ancient City. The boys had to break up the earth to soften it before wrestling. The object of the sport was to throw one’s opponent to the ground.
After exercising, the boys went to the bath house to clean up. Each boy had a strigil, a metal scraper to remove the oil and dust, and also a sponge to wash down. No gymnasium has been fully excavated in Athens.



The contestants for both styles of wrestling rubbed themselves down with oil and sprinkled fine sand over their bodies before a fight. The ground had to be carefully prepared for wrestling. There are innumerable vase paintings showing athletes with the picks they used to break up the ground. . . .
. . . The pankration was by far the most popular event with the crowd. Many of the top contestants became professional wrestlers.

Both excerpts suggest that
is an important detail in Greek wrestling.