Statue of Zeus at Olympia

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A fanciful reconstruction of Phidias' statue of Zeus, in an engraving made by Philippe Galle in 1572, from a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck.
A fanciful reconstruction of Phidias' statue of Zeus, in an engraving made by Philippe Galle in 1572, from a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck.
Roman Seated Zeus, marble and bronze (restored), following the type established by Phidias (Hermitage Museum)
Roman Seated Zeus, marble and bronze (restored), following the type established by Phidias (Hermitage Museum)

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the classical Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was made by the famed classical sculptor Phidias (5th century BC) circa 432 BC in Olympia, Greece.[1]

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[edit] Description

The seated statue, some 12 metres (39 feet) tall, occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple built to house it. "It seems that if Zeus were to stand up," the geographer Strabo noted early in the 1st century BC, "he would unroof the temple."[2] Zeus was a chryselephantine sculpture, made of ivory and accented with gold plating. In the sculpture, he was seated on a magnificent throne of cedarwood, inlaid with ivory, gold, ebony, and precious stones. In Zeus' right hand there was a small statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, and in his left hand, a shining sceptre on which an eagle perched.[3] Plutarch, in his Life of the Roman general Aemilius Paulus, records that the victor over Macedon “was moved to his soul, as if he had beheld the god in person,” while the Greek orator Dio Chrysostom declared that a single glimpse of the statue would make a man forget his earthly troubles.[4]

According to a legend, when Phidias was asked what inspired him -- whether he climbed Olympos to see Zeus, or whether Zeus came down from Olympos so that Phidias could see him -- the artist answered that he portrayed Zeus according to Book One, verses 528 - 530 of Homer´s Iliad [5]:

ἦ καὶ κυανέῃσιν ἐπ' ὀφρύσι νεῦσε Κρονίων
ἀμβρόσιαι δ' ἄρα χαῖται ἐπερρώσαντο ἄνακτος
κρατὸς ἀπ' ἀθανάτοιο μέγαν δ' ἐλέλιξεν Ὄλυμπον.
He spoke, the son of Kronos, and nodded his head with the dark brows,
and the immortally anointed hair of the great god
swept from his divine head, and all Olympos was shaken. [6]
Coin of Elis illustrating the Olympian Zeus (Nordisk familjebok)
Coin of Elis illustrating the Olympian Zeus (Nordisk familjebok)

The circumstances of its eventual destruction are a source of debate: some scholars argue that it perished with the temple in the 5th century AD, others argue that it was carried off to Constantinople, where it was destroyed in the great fire of the Lauseion (Schobel 1965). According to Lucian of Samosata in the later second century, "they have laid hands on your person at Olympia, my lord High-Thunderer, and you had not the energy to wake the dogs or call in the neighbours; surely they might have come to the rescue and caught the fellows before they had finished packing up the swag."[7]

Perhaps the greatest discovery in terms of finding out about this wonder came in 1954-1958 with the excavation of the workshop at Olympia where Phidias created the statue. Tools, terracotta molds and a cup inscribed "I belong to Pheidias" were found here, where the traveller Pausanius said the Zeus was constructed.[8][9][10] This has enabled archaeologists to re-create the techniques used to make the great work.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Statue of Zeus from encyclopædiabritannica.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-22.
  2. ^ The Seven Wonders: The Statue of Zeus at Olympia by Alaa K. Ashmawy from www.authenticwonders.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
  3. ^ "On his head is a sculpted wreath of olive sprays. In his right hand he holds a figure of Victory made from ivory and gold... In his left hand, he holds a sceptre inlaid with every kind of metal, with an eagle perched on the sceptre. His sandals are made of gold, and his robe is also gold. His garments are carved with animals and with lilies. The throne is decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony, and ivory." (Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.11.1-.10)
  4. ^ Or. 12.51
  5. ^ Zamarovský, Vojtěch. Za sedmi divy světa, pp. 186. 
  6. ^ Iliad, I, 528-530
  7. ^ Lucian's dialogue (Timon the Misanthrope) Translated by H. W. Fowler And F. G. Fowler On-line.
  8. ^ "Phidias", Oxford Dictionary of Art, e-Notes.com
  9. ^ K. Kris Hirst, "A Walking Tour of Olympia, Greece", about.com
  10. ^ "Olympia, Workshop of Pheidias", Perseus Building Catalog, about.com

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[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 37°38′19″N, 21°37′46″E

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Seven Wonders of the Ancient World