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The
Statue of Zeus
at
Olympia
Located in the Greek Peloponesus lies a small place named Olympia.
Olympia was, as the name suggests the place where the ancient Greeks
held their Olympic Games. During this time a truce was called and
contestants from lands as far away as Egypt and Syria showed up
to compete.
At Olympia there was a stadium, for the games, and a temple grove,
or Altis. The temple of Zeus here was a relatively modest affair
and as the games increased in popularity and importance it was decided
Zeus needed a bigger temple.
Between 470 and 460BC, Libos of Elis started the temple he was
to finish in 456BC. It turned out to be his masterpiece. Following
the classic design of the Parthenon and the Artemis temple in Ephesus,
it was build on a raised platform with 13 pillars supporting each
side and six pillars supporting the back and the front end. Statues
depicting the 12 Labours of Hercules could be seen on the short
sides.
However, local dignataries deemed it was too simple for Zeus so
they ordered a statue to be put inside the temple.
They choose a man named Phidias, famed for his work on the 40 foot
high statue of Athena, to do the job. According to the records the
statue Zeus was to be 40 feet high and nearly 22 feet wide. Seated
on an elaborate throne his head nearly touched the ceiling of the
temple. Stabo wasn't too impressed with this as he wrote complaining
that if Zeus ever would stand up from his throne he would have to
lift the roof of the temple. Other, however, though tit was much
more impressive as it filled the temple to bursting with implied
power.
The throne was inlaid with many kinds of gems and metal and showed
a multitude of fantastic animals. On his right hand Zeus carried
a Nike, or victory goddess, while in his left he carried a scepter
crowned with an eagle. The staue was made out of wood and covered
with gold (for the hair and robes) and ivory (for the skin). They
ivory had to be regularly oiled to prevent it from cracking.
In 225AD the Olympics were abolished by Theodosius I, a Christian
Roman emperor, who considered the games a pagan rite. The staue
was moved to Byzantium where it was destroyed by fire in 462AD.
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