ZEUS OF THE OLYMPIC STATUE, an illustrious statue of the king of gods and men by the great Greek sculptor Phidias; one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The statue was placed in the cult center of the Olympic sanctuary (see Olympia) - the temple of Zeus, in the sacred grove of Altisa.
When the artist Panin asked how Phidias intended to represent the supreme god, the master replied: … Just as Zeus is represented by Homer in the following verses of the Iliad:
Rivers, and Zeus shakes his eyebrows in black in the banner: Quickly the fragrant hair rose up at the Kronid Near the immortal head; and the many-hill Olympus shook."
Phidias executed the statue in the chryso-elephantine technique (see chryso-elephantine sculpture): the exposed parts of the body were lined with ivory plates, the robes were cast in gold, and the base of the sculpture was wood. The height of the statue reached approx. 17 m high. If God "rose", his height would be much higher than the height of the temple itself. Travelers who saw Zeus in Olympia call the combination of power and mercy, wisdom and kindness in his face amazing. In his hand, the thunderer held a statue of Nika (a symbol of victory). The richest throne of Zeus was also made of gold and ivory. The back, armrests and foot were decorated with ivory reliefs, golden images of the gods and goddesses of Olympus. The lower walls of the throne were covered with drawings of Panan, his legs - with images of dancing Nick. Zeus's feet, shod in golden sandals, rested on a bench decorated with golden lions.
In front of the statue's pedestal, the floor was lined with a dark blue Eleusinian stone, a basin for olive oil carved in it to keep the ivory from drying out. The light that penetrated the doors of the dark temple, reflected from the smooth surface of the liquid in the pool, fell on the golden clothes of Zeus and illuminated his head; to those who entered it seemed that the radiance emanated from the very face of the deity.
Perhaps at the end of the 4th century. the statue of Zeus was transported to Constantinople and installed at the capital's hippodrome, where it died during one of the fires.