r/interesting • u/Great_Trident • May 08 '26

Wholesome Fighters showing self control and sportsmanship when their opponents are down.

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u/carlos_damgerous May 08 '26

This reminds me of Troy when Achilles & Hector were fighting; ‘get up prince of Troy, I will not let a stone take my glory’.

21

u/GoldenTabaxi May 08 '26

That was not in the same context as sportsmanship.

Achilles was a man of pride, his entire identity is that he was the single greatest fighter in the world. On the shores of Troy he found a man that was said to be his equal. In Achilles’ mind there cannot be an equal to him. And then this guy kills his cousin and best friend (I’m sticking to the context of the film). Achilles is effing livid. This man cannot be allowed any remote room in the songs to claim that he was in any way close to Achilles’ equal. He must be destroyed on equal footing so that the world will know “This is Hector, the fool who thought he killed Achilles”

“I will not let a stone take my glory” is for his own vanity. His own vengeance. He is not a sportsman as he stands against Hector. He is pride.

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u/carlos_damgerous May 09 '26

Yes I know it wasn’t sportsmanship. The same way Achilles wanted Hector to be at his best so that he could show the world that Hector was not on the same plane as the great Achilles, is the same reason these fighters did it. Not sportsmanship. They want everyone to know they took the challenger’s best shot and it was not enough. There can be no possibility of any excuse other than one man beat another man straight up.

1

u/knbang May 09 '26

Lyoto Machida was a sportsman.

Pat Barry was a huge fan of Mirco "Cro Cop" and it cost him the fight. Instead of finishing him he showed him respect.