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
Our next fixed point is the _Victory_ of Paionios, whose foundation
is still standing in its original position, 37 meters due east of
the southeast corner of the temple of Zeus.[2323] For, of the next
few statues mentioned, the base of that of Sosikrates (71) was found
“somewhere” east of the temple, that of Kritodamos (80) before
the “Southeast Building,” and that of Xenokles (85), 4 meters to
the northeast of the _Victory_ base, presumably near its original
position.[2324] Pausanias groups the three Arkadian athletes,
Euthymenes-Kritodamos (78-80, P., VI, 8.5); then, after naming four
statues of victors from other states, he mentions two more Arkadians
together, Xenokles and Alketos (85-86, VI, 9.2); and he continues by
saying that the statues of the Argives Aristeus and Cheimon (87-88, VI,
9.3) stood together. One more statue, that of Phillen or Philys[2325]
of Elis (89), is named before he comes to the chariot of Gelo. Thus we
may conclude that the series of statues denoted by the numbers 71-89
(P., VI, 8.1-9.4) stood to the south of the _Eretrian Bull_ in the
parallel zone of the _Victory_.
We next come to the series of statues mentioned between the chariots
of Gelo and Kleosthenes (90-99). The position of the bases of these
chariots is practically certain. In describing the statues of Zeus in
Book V, Pausanias says he is proceeding north from the Council-house
(23.1), and first mentions a statue of Zeus set up by the Greeks who
fought at Platæa; in describing the victor statues he says that the
chariot of Kleosthenes stands behind this statue of Zeus (P., VI,
10.6). After describing the _Zeus_ of Platæa, he mentions a bronze
inscribed tablet as standing in front of it (V, 23.4), which recorded
the thirty years’ treaty of peace between Sparta and Athens, and
then says that the statue of the _Zeus_ of the Megarians stands near
the chariot of Kleosthenes (23.5). As he is proceeding north, this
Megarian _Zeus_ must have stood north of the Platæan one; thus in one
group we have the two statues of Zeus and the chariot of Kleosthenes.
Immediately to the north he next mentions the chariot of the Syracusan
tyrant Gelo (90), which he says is near the statue of the _Zeus_ of
the Hyblæans (23.6). Now in coming south, in the athlete _periegesis_,
he names eight statues between these chariots. Doerpfeld[2326] has
identified the base of the Platæan _Zeus_ with a large pedestal to the
northwest of that of the victor Telemachos (122) found _in situ_ near
the South Altis wall,[2327] a position which is in harmony with the
description of the statues of Zeus; just behind it he has identified
two large foundations near together as those of the two chariots. So
the eight intervening statues stood here. Of the statues between the
chariot of Kleosthenes and the base of the statue of Telemachos, the
base of that of Tellon (102) was found in the East Byzantine wall near
the South Altis wall; that of Aristion (115) nearby, embedded in the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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