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The Iliad 23.483–487

The Iliad 23.483–487
Come now, let us wager a tripod or a cauldron, and as umpire betwixt us twain let us choose Atreus' son Agamemnon, as to which mares are in the lead — that thou mayst learn by paying the price.
Αἶαν νεῖκος ἄριστε κακοφραδὲς ἄλλά τε πάντα δεύεαι Ἀργείων, ὅτι τοι νόος ἐστὶν ἀπηνής. δεῦρό νυν τρίποδος περιδώμεθον ἠὲ λέβητος, ἴστορα δʼ Ἀτρεΐδην Ἀγαμέμνονα θείομεν ἄμφω, ὁππότεραι πρόσθʼ ἵπποι, ἵνα γνώῃς ἀποτίνων.
Lattimore commentary
The first instance of sports betting in Western literature is proposed to depend not on the outcome but on the jockeys’ positions midrace.
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