Sportsmen Quote the Classics

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 80, 3 January 1941, Page 5

Sportsmen Quote the Classics

IDNEY: I suppose there’s no end to the odds and ends of Greek history and legend that crop up in our speech? Henry: No end to them. It’s always struck me as curious that the word "Trojan" should persist the way it does. You frequently find football writers saying that such and such a player worked like a Trojan. It goes back to a war of thousands of years ago-the Siege of Troy. A good word, too, for the Trojans were stout fellows. Sidney: I say you noticed that Trojan is generally applied to Rugby forwards, and not to backs? Henry: Yes. Curious, isn’t it? I suppose it’s the influence of the scrum, which suggests the old hand-to-hand fighting. I suppose you’ve noticed that in football backs are romantic but forwards are not? David: By the way, "When Greek meets Greek then comes the tug-o-war." Where does that come from? ' Henry: Misquoted. It comes from a play called "Alexander the Great,’ written by Nathaniel Lee. The correct version is " When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug-of-war." David: Here, I’ve just remembered something about your Tarentum or Tarento. That’s where we get our tarantelle from, the name of the dance, Sidney: How do you make that out? David: Well, "tarantelle" comes from " Tarantula," the name of a poisonous spider, and " tarantula" is derived from "Taranto." They went into wild dancing to work off the effects of the poison, and called the dance a " tarantelle.’"-(" Who Wrote That?" 2YA, December 15.)