2,000 years ago in Ancient Greece, a boy named Theagenes was a huge sports hero. When he was 9 years old, he tested his strength by tearing down a large statue in the town square. He carried the statue home by himself.
An adult would have been put to death for destroying and stealing a statue. Theagenes was lucky. The people of his town, Thasos, just made him put the statue back in its place.
From then on Theagenes used his strength as a fighter and boxer in the Olympics. He won more than 1,000 competitions. He was very strong and had a very big appetite. It is said that he could eat a whole bull in one day.
After Theagenes died, the town of Thasos built a statue to honor him. One day, a man who had lost a fight against Theagenes kept hitting the statue. The statue fell down and killed the man. The town of Thasos had a strange law and punished the statue (yes, the statue) by throwing it in the sea.
Following that, Thasos had some hard years. There was very bad weather and no food could be grown. A wise woman suggested that if they brought back the statue of Theagenes, they would bring back good luck to the town. They pulled the statue out of the sea and put it back in the town square. Things in Thasos got much better and Theagenes was forever honored as a hero.
Source: worksheetsplus.com/Reading/4thReadingSportsThasos.html The FIghter from Thasos
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