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Location

In the town of Olympia, the west coast of Greece, 150 km west of Athens.

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History

 

The magnificent temple of Zeus was designed by the architect Libon and was built around 450 BC. Under the growing power of ancient Greece, the simple Doric-style temple seemed too mundane, and modifications were needed. The solution: A majestic statue. The Athenian sculptor Pheidias was assigned for the "sacred" task, reminiscent of Michelangelo's paintings at the Sistine Chapel.

In the second century BC repairs were skillfully made to the aging statue. In the first century AD, the Roman emperor Caligula attempted to transport the statue to Rome. However, his attempt failed when the scaffolding built by Caligula's workmen collapsed. After the Olympic games were banned in AD 391 by the emperor Theodosius I as Pagan practices, the temple of Zeus was ordered closed.

Olympia was further struck by earthquakes, landslides and floods, and the temple was damaged by fire in the fifth century AD. It survived until it was destroyed by a severe fire in AD 462. Today nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris.

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Description

 

Pheidias began working on the statue around 440 BC. He sculpted and carved the different pieces of the statue in his workshop before they were assembled in the temple. When the statue was completed, it barely fitted in the temple.

The base of the statue was about 6.5 m wide and 1.0 meter high. The height of the statue itself was 13 m , equivalent to a 4-story building.

The statue was so high that visitors described the throne more than Zeus body and features. The legs of the throne were decorated with sphinxes and winged figures of Victory. Greek gods and mythical figures also adorned the scene. The statue was occasionally decorated with gifts from kings and rulers. Copies of the statue were made, including a large prototype at Cyrene (Libya). None of them, however, survived to the present day. Early reconstructions such as the one by von Erlach are now believed to be rather inaccurate. For us, we can only wonder about the true appearance of the statue.

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