The Statue of Zeus at Olympia - Research Paper

Introduction

It is of great interest to note that Zeus was the king of the Greek gods who were highly adored. Several temples were devoted to the king, but the most outstanding one was the temple situated at Olympia which housed the most talked about seven-wonders of the world. The temple named Zeus at Olympia contained one of the most significant accomplishments of early history (Cook 45). The statue of Zeus symbolized the peak of the classical design of sculptures. It was the blood center of religious worship as well as where the Olympic games commenced. Because the Olympic Games, showed the physical ability and the political will of the Greek government when it started around 776 BC. It was thought that the Olympic Games were part of the religious rituals that were initiated by the king of the Greek gods, Zeus. It was, therefore, a befitting gift to erect a symbol in remembrance for a large number of Greeks who made visits there to worship there god (Calhoun 51).

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This temple was built around 466-456 BC when Greeks majored in architecture and artistic endeavors. The design of the temple was the brainchild of Libon who was one of the best artists of their time. Its construction components were local shell stones were made in the Doric style, which was the commonly used style during that time. The temple always served as the home of the statue of King Zeus. The creation of Zeus was orchestrated by the renowned Greek sculptor Pheidias who had come up with a technique from Athens and straightaway came to Olympia to start work on Zeus (Cook 45).

In constructing Zeus, he used the technique that did not give room for his massive creation of ivory and other precious metals to crumble under their weight. Firstly, Pheidas laid thin plates of ivory put in a liquid to enable them to be moldable on a wooden frame that was on the site. The appearance of the statue of Zeus was inspiring, exciting, eye-catching and very impressive (Barringer 221). The seated figure was over forty feet high, the throne, built of cedar and ivory inside well as gold and a material known as ebony was as impressive as it sounds. King Zeus held the statue of Nike in his left-hand side, which represented the Greek goddess of victory and another staff with eagle put on top of it on his right-hand side. Zeus was so large that geographer Strabo once said that Zeus would unroof the temple of Olympia if any case he were to stand up. It was always topped with the shaped headdress of olive sprays and dressed in the gilded robe that was made from some glass and fixed with animals.

Conclusion

It is believed that the statue of Zeus was always coated using olive oil to secure it from harmful impacts on the ivory as a result of the enclosed grove. The foreground was made with black tiles and circled with an elevated border of marble to contain the oil. This outstanding statue of Zeus made people to reverend for so long at the temple home in Olympia prompting many Kings and Emperors to admire it (Barringer 221). It is even echoed that Caligula, who was the Roman Emperor tried to organize to snatch it but with no success. Later in the 450s CE, the statue was removed from the temple to Constantinople, where it was placed in the palace. Unfortunately, the fire destroyed the castle in 462 CE, and a unit of the Seven Wonders of the World ceased to exist.

Works Cited

Calhoun, Craig. Nations Matter: Culture, history and the cosmopolitan dream. Routledge, 2007.

Cook, Arthur Bernard. Zeus: a study in ancient religion. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Barringer, Judith M. "The temple of Zeus at Olympia, heroes, and athletes." Hesperia 74.2 (2005): 211-241.