Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic ArtHyde, Walter Woodburn
History
Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art
Hyde, Walter Woodburn
Olympics; Sculpture, Greek; Sports -- Greece
The various events are common on r.-f. vases,[1506] though these may
not represent the pentathlon contests, but merely gymnasium scenes,
showing that such contests were important. We have already said that
the pentathlon represented the whole physical training of Greek
youths; consequently the pentathlete was looked upon as the typical
athlete, being superior to all others in all-round development, even
if surpassed by them in certain special events. It was for this reason
that Polykleitos, in order to embody the principles of his athlete
canon, made a statue of a javelin-thrower (the _Doryphoros_) as the
best example of an all-round man.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.—Pentathletes. Scene from a Panathenaic Amphora
in the British Museum, London.]
None of the statues of pentathletes at Olympia has been recovered
with certainty in Roman copies. That some of them were represented
at rest is shown by the base of the statue of the victor Pythokles
of Elis, by the elder Polykleitos, which has been recovered.[1507]
This base supported two different statues in succession. The feet of
the earlier one by Polykleitos were riveted into circular holes, and
behind the right foot on the upper surface of the base was inscribed
the artist’s name, while the victor’s appeared on the vertical front.
This statue was later removed and was replaced by another, whose pose
was different, as we see from the footmarks, which show that the feet
were attached with lead in hollows. Probably the old inscription was
renewed in archaic letters when this second statue was set up, the
older letters being retained, perhaps, to conceal the theft. The
original statue was removed by the first century B. C., or perhaps
under Nero;[1508] the new one was also inscribed as the work of
Polykleitos. A base of the Hadrianic or Antonine age has been found in
Rome, inscribed with the names Polykleitos and Pythokles.[1509] Since
the footmarks do not agree with those of either one of the Olympia
statues, Petersen believes that the existing footmarks are due to an
older use of the base and that they have nothing to do with the statue
of Pythokles. Perhaps the statue on the Roman base was the original
one by Polykleitos removed from Olympia to Rome, though it is possible
that it was only a copy, the original being elsewhere in Rome. While
the later statue at Olympia had the feet squarely on the ground, the
original one stood on the right foot, the left being drawn back and
turned out, touching the ground only with the ball. Hence the left
knee must have turned outwards, a natural position, if the head of
the statue was turned slightly to the left. In other words, this is
the usual Polykleitan scheme. Furtwaengler has made a strong though
hardly convincing attempt to identify this original statue with a copy
surviving in two replicas at Rome and Munich, which, as he believes,
fit the conditions of the statue of Pythokles.[1510] These copies
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account