Carrying The Calf Up The Hill

At some point you might have heard the story about a man from ancient Greece who carried a calf on his shoulders up a hill every day until it was a full size bull. What you might not know is that the subject in the story is a real Greek athlete from 6th century BC named Milo of Croton. Milo is recognized for many of his extraordinary feats of strength, but his athletic prowess extends far beyond these. Milo was a six-time Olympic wrestling champion with a career that spanned 24 years at the top of the sport. The greatest Greek athletes of antiquity gained god-like status during their lives. This explains the somewhat farfetched stories that are told about a lot of these athletes. Milo has share of exaggerated tales, his diet allegedly consisted of 20 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of bread, and 18 pints of wine per day. But I enjoy the story of Milo because contrary to many other Greek legends which focus on the innate power or superiority of the subject, Milo’s is a story of incremental improvement and progressive resistance. Milo completed a reasonable task, carrying a baby calf up a hill, every day and repeated it as it became more difficult over time. He came back every day and completed the same task even as the calf continued to grow into a full size bull.