Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a very big seated figure, about 12.4 m (41 ft) tall. It was made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece. The statue was placed in the Temple of Zeus.

Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion. He rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.

The statue was made of ivory plates and gold panels on a wooden frame. Zeus sat on a throne made of painted cedarwood, decorated with ebony, ivory, gold, and precious stones. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The statue was lost and destroyed before the end of the 6th century AD. We know about it only from old Greek descriptions and pictures on coins and art.

History

The statue of Zeus was made for the people of Elis, who organized the Olympic Games. They wanted to create something amazing in their new Temple of Zeus, so they asked the famous sculptor Phidias to build it. Phidias had already made a huge statue of Athena for a building in Athens.

The statue of Zeus was very large—about as wide as the aisle of the temple. A traveler named Strabo said it looked like if Zeus stood up, he might break the roof of the temple! The statue was made with special materials: ivory for the skin and gold panels for clothing, all set on a wooden frame. We can see rough images of it on old coins from the area of Elis and from Roman artwork.

A visitor named Pausanias described the statue. Zeus wore a golden robe with pictures of animals and flowers. In one hand, he held a small statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, and in the other, a scepter with an eagle on top. The chair Zeus sat on was beautifully decorated with paintings, gold, shiny stones, dark wood, and ivory. His golden shoes rested on a small stool. The space under the chair had painted screens to block the view.

Pausanias told us that the statue was regularly rubbed with olive oil to keep the ivory looking good. The floor in front of the statue was covered with black tiles and had a marble edge to catch any oil that spilled.

A Roman general named Aemilius Paullus saw the statue and felt it was so lifelike that he thought he was seeing a real god. Another speaker, Dio Chrysostom, said just one look at the statue could make someone forget all their worries.

Phidias was once asked how he would make his statue of Zeus look. He said he would use words from an old poem by Homer to guide him.

Loss and destruction

The Roman emperor Caligula wanted to take famous statues of the gods, but he died before he could do this.

In 391 AD, the emperor Theodosius I banned participation in pagan cults and closed the temples. The sanctuary at Olympia was no longer used. The statue was lost, but we do not know exactly how it happened. One story says it was taken to Constantinople and destroyed in a big fire. Another story says the temple caught fire and the statue was destroyed.

Even earlier, a writer named Lucian of Samosata said the statue had already been harmed.

Phidias' workshop

In the 1950s, people found the place where the sculptor Phidias made the Statue of Zeus. They found tools for working with gold and ivory. They also found pieces of ivory and precious stones. They found moulds that may have been used to make glass pieces for the statue’s robe. A cup with writing that said “I belong to Phidias” was found, but some people think it might not be real.