One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, the Statue of Zeus, was created by the Athenian sculptor, Phidias. Phidias was also responsible for the awe-inspiring Statue of Athena in the Parthenon as well as additional smaller sculptures at Plataea and Marathon. The temple of Zeus in Olympia Greece, created by the architect, Libon, was magnificent in itself. It had been constructed to honor Zeus and serve as a more fitting location for the Olympic Games, which until then had been held in Peloponnesus. The temple was as high as a four-story building is today but was determined to still be too simple for the King of Gods and thus Phidias was commissioned to build the Statue of Zeus. The Statue of Zeus was created piece by piece in the workshop of Phidias and was completed around 456 B.C. and assembled in the Temple of Zeus.
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| Statue of Zeus in Olympia (pic: courtesy: Wikipedia) |
The Statue of Zeus was a chryselephantine sculpture that all but overwhelmed the temple. The method for crafting a chryselephantine sculpture involved carving thin sheets of ivory around a wooden frame. The ivory is then accented with sheets of gold leaf to represent hair, armor, etc. Sometimes precious or semi-precious gems are used for eyes, weaponry, and jewelry. Zeus, the god of thunder, was portrayed seated on a throne of cedarwood inlaid with ivory, gold, ebony, and precious stone. Dual engraved sphinxes supported the armrests. According to Pausanias, a 2nd century AD traveler, the Statue of Zeus has embellished with olive shoots worked in gold. In Zeus’s right hand rested a miniature statue of the goddess of victory, Nike.
The small statue of Nike was also chryselephantine in nature. A gold inlaid scepter with an eagle atop it was in Zeus’ left hand. The head of the Statue of Zeus nearly touched the ceiling of the temple which was elevated just over forty feet. Strabo, a noted geographer, stated that if the legendary Zeus were to arise “he would unroof the temple.” Phidias requested an indication of approval of the statue from Zeus himself and legend has it that lightning struck the temple shortly after the statue was completed.
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| Statue of Zeus in Olympia (pic: courtesy: Wikipedia) |
The Statue of Zeus withstood attacks from both nature and competitors for many years. Caligula, the Roman Emperor, attempted to have the Statue of Zeus removed from the temple and relocated to Rome. Caligula, the Roman Emperor, was jealous over the Statue’s apparent hold on his newly subjugated people. He ordered the Statue of Zeus removed from the temple in Olympia and relocated to Rome where he intended to remodel the statue into his own likeness. When contractors arrived and attempted to remove the statue, however, the scaffolding they had erected around the statue shook and broke apart. Legend has it the incident was accompanied by a noise that sounded like laughter. The contractors fled.
The Statue of Zeus remained enduring earthquakes and other attacks by Mother Nature, until eight centuries later when the Roman emperor closed the temple at the urgings of Christian priests. It is generally thought that the Statue of Zeus was taken apart and hauled off to its new home in Constantinople in A.D. 394. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of Lauseion in A.D. 462. During archaeological digs in the 19th and 20th centuries, a mere few columns were unearthed along with evidence of Phidias’ workshop in the location where the Statue of Zeus was said to have been built. These few items are to this date the only remaining evidence of this magnificent monument.
