ελκυστίνδα

From LSJ

ναύτης ὁ ἐν τῇ νηῒ μένων βούλεται τοὺς τέτταρας φίλους ἰδεῖν → the sailor staying on the ship wants to see his four friends

Source

Greek Monolingual

ἑλκυστίνδα (Α)
διελκυστίνδα.

Wikipedia EN

Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the opposing team's pull.

The Oxford English Dictionary says that the phrase "tug of war" originally meant "the decisive contest; the real struggle or tussle; a severe contest for supremacy". Only in the 19th century was it used as a term for an athletic contest between two teams who haul at the opposite ends of a rope.

The origins of tug of war are uncertain, but this sport was practised in Cambodia, ancient Egypt, Greece, India and China. According to a Tang dynasty book, The Notes of Feng, tug of war, under the name "hook pulling" (牽鉤), was used by the military commander of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (8th to 5th centuries BC) to train warriors. During the Tang dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang promoted large-scale tug of war games, using ropes of up to 167 metres (548 ft) with shorter ropes attached, and more than 500 people on each end of the rope. Each side also had its own team of drummers to encourage the participants.

In ancient Greece the sport was called helkustinda (Greek: ἑλκυστίνδα), efelkustinda (ἐφελκυστίνδα) and dielkustinda (διελκυστίνδα), which derives from dielkō (διέλκω), meaning amongst others "I pull through", all deriving from the verb helkō (ἕλκω), "I draw, I pull". Helkustinda and efelkustinda seem to have been ordinary versions of tug of war, while dielkustinda had no rope, according to Julius Pollux. It is possible that the teams held hands when pulling, which would have increased difficulty, since handgrips are more difficult to sustain than a grip of a rope. Tug of war games in ancient Greece were among the most popular games used for strength and would help build strength needed for battle in full armor.

Translations

af: toutrek; ang: tygelwīg; ar: شد الحبل; as: ৰছী টনা খেল; bn: রশি টানা; br: sach-fun; ca: joc d'estirar la corda; chr: ᏍᏕᏯᏓ ᎬᏘ ᏓᎾᏓᏌᏁᏍᎬ; cs: přetahování lanem; da: tovtrækning; de: Tauziehen; dv: ވާ ދެމުން; el: διελκυστίνδα; en: tug of war; eo: ŝnurtira lukto; es: juego de la soga; et: köievedu; eu: sokatira; fa: طناب‌کشی; fi: köydenveto; fr: tir à la corde; gl: tiro de corda; he: משיכת חבל; hr: potezanje konopa; hu: kötélhúzás; id: tarik tambang; is: reiptog; it: tiro alla fune; ja: 綱引き; kk: арқан тарту; km: ល្បែងទាញព្រ័ត្រ; ko: 줄다리기; la: tractus funis; lt: virvės traukimas; lv: virves vilkšana; ml: വടംവലി; ms: tarik tali; nds: tautrecken; nl: touwtrekken; nn: dragkamp; no: tautrekking; pa: ਰੱਸਾਕਸ਼ੀ; pl: przeciąganie liny; pt: cabo de guerra; ro: lupta cu odgonul; ru: перетягивание каната; scn: tirata dâ corda; sh: potezanje konopca; simple: tug of war; sk: preťahovanie lanom; sr: надвлачење конопца; sv: dragkamp; sw: kuvuta kamba; ta: கயிறு இழுத்தல்; th: ชักเย่อ; tr: halat çekme; uk: перетягування канату; vi: kéo co; wuu: 拔河; zh_yue: 扯大纜; zh: 拔河