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
Pellene.[299] We know of three state dedications of statues at Olympia
from inscriptions, those of Aristophon of Athens,[300] of Epitherses of
Erythrai,[301] and of Polyxenos by the people of Zakynthos.[302] Lichas
of Sparta, at a date when the Spartans were excluded from the games,
entered his chariot in the name of the Theban people, and Pausanias
says that his victory was so entered on the Elean register.[303] We
learn from the _OxyrhynchusPapyri_ that the public horse of the Argives
won at Olympia in Ol. 75 (= 480 _B. C._) and the public chariot in
Ol. 77 (= 472 _B. C._).[304] In these latter two cases the public
was directly interested, and had there been monuments erected to
commemorate the victories they would naturally have been set up by the
state.
It has been wrongly assumed that monuments of boy victors were
dedicated in the name of their parents or relatives.[305] On the
contrary, we have examples dating back to the fifth century B. C. of
boys setting up statues at Olympia. Thus the inscription from the
base of the statue of Tellon, who won in the boys’ boxing match in
Ol. 77 (= 472 B. C.), states that he dedicated his own statue.[306]
Pausanias says that the Eleans allowed the boy wrestler Kratinos from
Aigeira to erect a statue of his trainer.[307] Of course the boy might
need assistance in the undertaking, but this again was no concern of
the Elean officials, who granted the privilege to the victor and not
to his relatives. Usually the statue of a victor was erected soon
after the victory. We have some examples of the statue being erected
immediately after the victory, especially in the case of men victors.
Thus Pausanias says that the victor Eubotas of Kyrene, in consequence
of a Libyan oracle foretelling his victory in the foot-race, had
his statue made before coming to Olympia and erected it “the very day
on which he was proclaimed victor.”[308] The famous Milo of Kroton
spectacularly carried his statue into the Altis on his back before he
entered the contest.[309] There are also examples of statues being
erected long after the victory, sometimes centuries later. We have
already mentioned that a statue was erected to Oibotas in Ol. 80,
though his victory was won in Ol. 6. Chionis, who won in running races
in Ols. 28-31 (= 668-656 B. C.) had a statue by Myron erected to his
memory Ol. 77 or 78 (= 472 or 468 B. C.).[310] Cheilon of Patrai, twice
victor in wrestling between Ols. (?) 103 and 115 (= 368 and 320 B. C.),
had his statue set up after his death.[311] Polydamas of Skotoussa won
his victory in the pankration in Ol. 93 (= 408 B. C.), but his statue
by Lysippos could not have been erected until many years later.[312]
Glaukos, who won the boys’ boxing-match in Ol. 65 (= 520 B. C.), had a
statue by the Aeginetan sculptor Glaukias much later.[313] In the case
of boy victors, the time between boyhood and coming of age was often so
short that in many cases we may assume that the statue was set up some
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