WRESTLING IN MYTHOLOGY

Wrestling exists since the time humans started walking. Here are instances of wrestling in mythology. In Sumerian literature , in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, the hero, established his reliability as a leader by wrestling against Enkidu. At this time, wrestling was held in popularity as shown by the ancient Mesopotamian literature and sculptures.

The Iliad describes two kings and heroes of legend, Aias and Odysseus, testing their bravery by wrestling against each other on a sandy beach outside Troy.  

Another such early description of wrestling can be read Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. A passage depicts Jacob, the patriarch, wrestling with an angel for a whole night. After this encounter, Jacob was thereafter renamed as Israel, which means one who "wrestles (or strives) with God".

Another wrestling encounter is described by the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata where Bhima and Jarasandha wrestle by grasping each other in different ways and violently kicking each other.

Thor wrestling against Elli is another significant wrestling in the Norse mythology. Elli was an elderly woman, a personification of old age. The book Gylfaginning describes how Elli defeated Thor, a hammer-wielding God in wrestling in the hall of the giant Útgarða-Loki.

Content: Wikipedia