7 Wonders of the Ancient World: Statue of Zeus at Olympia
72One of the few original seven wonders that isn’t an architecturally based structure is the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Pausanias, a Greek geographer, traveler and writer from the 2nd century, completed a now famous book series entitled Description of Greece. In this ten book series Pausanias examines not only Greek architecture and art, but also goes into depth about Greek sub cultures and demographics. Although not a geologist or environmentalist, Pausanias also writes sections very poetically about the Grecian landscape, animals and weather.
In this series of books Pausanias describes artist Phidias’ Statue of Zeus in great detail, saying that its total height was 43 feet and that its width filled half of the aisle it occupied. The sculpture also featured golden olive branches, a large and detailed cedar wood throne with ivory, ebony, gold and precious stone inlay. The ivory and gold Zeus held a small statue of Nike (Goddess of victory) in his right hand and an eagled topped scepter in his left hand. When Phidias was asked what he based his sculpture of Zeus off of, he explained that a passage from Homer’s Iliad was the inspiration.
“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.”
Iliad, Book One, vs. 528 - 530
Although the date of creation for the statue has long been debated, archeological evidence of Phidias’ workshop suggest the sculpture was created in the third quarter of 5th century B.C. The workshop was discovered and analyzed from 1954 – 1958. Contents found included terracotta molds, various artistic tools, and a mug with the inscription “I belong to Phidias”. Although a mug isn’t usually enough evidence to suggest that the location was in fact Phidias’ workshop, the location of the workshop matches the description given by Pausanias who said that it was in that humble workshop where the masterpiece, that is Zeus, was created.
Of course it’s important to point out that the Statue of Zeus was created in Olympia where, in Greek mythology, the Gods resided. Olympia is also where the ancient Olympics were held. The Olympics, first begun in 776 B.C. and held every 4 years, were extremely similar to current Olympic Games in both purpose and execution. The games helped to unify Greek city-states similar to how our current games aim to bring together nations and the world in a common cause.
It’s also important to note that the Statue of Zeus himself wasn’t commissioned before the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. In fact the temple, considered at the time to be one of the best examples of the Greek Doric order design, was designed by Libon of Elis and was completed in 456 B.C. The temple’s style was similar to that of the Parthenon in Athens, and the pediments were highly sculptural. However upon completion of the temple it was decided the temple itself was to simple, so the Statue of Zeus was commissioned.
The destruction of the statue is still under debate, as many theories are continually popping up. One theory says that the Roman Emperor Caligula demanded the statue (as well as any other statue in the empire that was famous for its existence or artistic detailing) be brought to him. Upon arrival the heads of the statues would be removed and eventually replaced with an image of Caligula. However Caligula was assassinated in AD 41, so the probability that the Zeus statue was ever moved from its temple is highly unlikely. The tale that goes along with this theory of the statue’s destruction is that when rumors of the probable assassination of Caligula traveled from Rome to Olympia the statue of Zeus (or Jupiter, as known by the Romans) emitted a spiteful laugh causing the scaffolding surrounding him to collapse and all workers in the temple to fall to their knees.
Another theory is that the statue was moved to Constantinople were it was destroyed in AD 475 in the fire of the Lauseion . The Lauseion was a 5th century palace located in Constantinople. Other popular theories of the statue’s destruction include that the statue was destroyed when the temple itself was burned in AD 425 and that the statue was destroyed by an earthquake.
Like so many of the ancient wonders, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia’s destruction can truly be described as a world loss if the stories of its beauty, power and magnitude are true.
Reference
The Great Book of Archaeology, ISBN:978-88-540-0395-8
