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Hello all
I read a while ago that a popular salute of defeat among athletes was to raise a single finger (fore finger) to show defeat/submission. It can be seen on some imagies of runners.
Can anyone shed any light on this, is it a popular indication of defeat?
I am asking specifically because a modern writer once linked this with the gladiatorial signal of defeat.
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There is a vase showing pangration where the guy on the ground is looks helpless and lifts his hand as accepting defeat. I´ll try to see if I can find my old school book for references if I remember where I put it.
Perhaps the writer is right on linking it with the gladiators.
For info: there is another gesture with the hand that possibly Leonidas used when he said MOLON LAVE and it is a gesture of defiance to put it mildly.
Kind regards
Stefanos
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The raised forefinger was more a sign akin to the "Time out" sign in the US or the thumb up in France, which is also meant to ask for a break.
The mosaics show gladiators making that gesture and they are shown only lightly wounded, still standing and not really in a submissive posture.
It may mean that they asked the referee for time so they could get patched up and get on with the fight.
Pascal Sabas
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I'd say the sign is still in use. If someone interrupts a conversation it can be used to tell the interrupter to politely "hold on a sec" without taking attention away from the conversation.
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
