PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA IN THE MEDIA: Michael B. Poliakoff has an essay on Olympic combat sports in Humanities Magazine. He cites Philo as one of his authorities:

The death-scorning perseverance of athletes in combat sport became a byword. Philo the Jewish philosopher wrote, "I know wrestlers and pankratiasts often persevere out of love for honor and zeal for victory to the point of death, when their bodies are giving up and they keep drawing breath and struggling on spirit alone, a spirit which they have accustomed to reject fear scornfully. . . . Among those competitors, death for the sake of an olive or celery crown is glorious."