Statue of Zeus Burnt Down By Aidanus Leeus 425 A.D.
The great and almighty statue of Zeus has been burned to a crisp along with the temple that it sits on. The statue, which took a huge amount of time to build (40 years 460-420 B.C.), was admired for its sheer size and decorations. It stood at a whopping twelve metres tall and had a robe made out of pure gold. Not only that, but it was just who it was built after that brought so many flocks of tourists to this temple. Zeus, the king of the gods, the greatest of them all; it was just fitting to build him a statue. But now it is gone, diminished, burnt into ashes. Never to be seen again.
And now we are happy to bring you an exclusive interview with an eye witness who was at the scene of the crime, I bring you Hay. D. Ees.
A:"So Hay, was what it like when you saw the temple burning down like that?"
H:" Well at first I thought they were doing some Olympic festival , as Olympia is the site for the Olympic Games and Zeus is the god its dedicated to,l thing because I saw a light coming from the distance. As I got closer and closer, I finally realized that there wasn't a festival.There was a HUGE FIRE!!! WHY THE ZEUS WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO BURN DOWN A TEMPLE HOLDING A GIANT STATUE OF ZEUS! YOU KNOW HOW HIGH THEY RAISED TAXES FOR THAT THING! THAT ROBE IS MADE OUT OF SOLID GOLD! SOLID GOLD! IF I FIND THE PERSON WHO DID THIS I WILL LITERALLY-"
A:"Okay, thank you for your time I think ,we all think, that this is lots of info you're providing us and you can go home now and rage or curse all you want." This ends our interview with Hay. D. Ees.
The remains of our beloved Statue of Zeus are unknown though people were there to see it. We also don't know how the fire started. Sources tell us that there could have been an earthquake, but that means that Hay. D. Ees is crazy, but none are one hundred percent sure. After all this, it is unsure where our tax money will go to now.A new statue? Who knows, maybe the current ruler will raise taxes and say it will go to a new statue but it will actually go to him. This is Aidanus Leeus reporting from Olympia.
And now we are happy to bring you an exclusive interview with an eye witness who was at the scene of the crime, I bring you Hay. D. Ees.
A:"So Hay, was what it like when you saw the temple burning down like that?"
H:" Well at first I thought they were doing some Olympic festival , as Olympia is the site for the Olympic Games and Zeus is the god its dedicated to,l thing because I saw a light coming from the distance. As I got closer and closer, I finally realized that there wasn't a festival.There was a HUGE FIRE!!! WHY THE ZEUS WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO BURN DOWN A TEMPLE HOLDING A GIANT STATUE OF ZEUS! YOU KNOW HOW HIGH THEY RAISED TAXES FOR THAT THING! THAT ROBE IS MADE OUT OF SOLID GOLD! SOLID GOLD! IF I FIND THE PERSON WHO DID THIS I WILL LITERALLY-"
A:"Okay, thank you for your time I think ,we all think, that this is lots of info you're providing us and you can go home now and rage or curse all you want." This ends our interview with Hay. D. Ees.
The remains of our beloved Statue of Zeus are unknown though people were there to see it. We also don't know how the fire started. Sources tell us that there could have been an earthquake, but that means that Hay. D. Ees is crazy, but none are one hundred percent sure. After all this, it is unsure where our tax money will go to now.A new statue? Who knows, maybe the current ruler will raise taxes and say it will go to a new statue but it will actually go to him. This is Aidanus Leeus reporting from Olympia.
"On his head is a sculpted wreath of olive sprays. In his right hand he holds a figure of Victory made from ivory and gold... In his left hand, he holds a sceptre inlaid with every kind of metal, with an eagle perched on the sceptre. His sandals are made of gold, as is his robe. His garments are carved with animals and with lilies. The throne is decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony, and ivory."- Pausanias, travel writer.
The Master behind the Statue
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was built by the Athenian sculptor, Pheidias or Phidias. Phidias is considered one of the greatest sculptors of our time so it was decided that he was going to build the Statue of Zeus. It was to be built in the Doric Temple which was built by the architect, Libon. We have yet another exclusive interview with Phidias, the master behind the Statue.
A:"So, Phidias, how did you come up with an idea so brilliant?"
P:"Well, Aidanus, it was simple. The statue was for Zeus, the king god and the most powerful. Of course he needed a 40 foot statue to honour his greatness. That height is only sitting down, so imagine how tall it would be if it were standing up! I've heard some people say that the statue looks like it would stand up and lift the roof!"
A:"How did you feel when your statue was burnt down?"
P:"Say what now."
A:"Your statue, it was burnt down recently in a huge fire, or maybe an earthquake."
P:"........Hmmm......HA......HA.....Nice try Aidanus, but I'm not going to fall for that."
A:" No Phidias, I'm not pulling your leg, the Statue of Zeus burnt down. We have an exclusive interview with Hay. D. Ees. You can check it out on our website."
P:" Well you know what Aidanus, you know what," Phidias cried," YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME THAT I COULD HAVE JUST FOUND THAT OUT MYSELF WAHHHHHHH WAAAAHHHH. And to think *sob *sob* I was going to go see it again this weekend. Just write this article already I'm just going to the corner to cry."
Well now that we don't have Phidias to tell his life stories by himself, I'm just going to write down whatever I know below.
Phidias is the son of Charmides and is one of the greatest sculptors or our time. There aren't that many things that we know about Phidias' life, but if he would stop being such a crybaby then we would know right here on the Golden Fleece; however we do know a few facts. There aren't that many originals of his works to see but we know he is talented and great because of the writers who wrote about how awesome they were. Phidias not only built the Statue of Zeus, but he also built the Athena at the Parthenon (we'll talk about that later), which also cannot be found today. Phidias had many pupils but we only know of two which are Agoracritus and Pantarkes.
Agoracritus continued to sculpt and went on to make the statue of Nemesis at Rhamnus . The other pupil, Pantarkes, won the boy's wrestling competition at Olympia in 436 B.C. and is greatly praised by Phidias himself. Pausanias wrote that Pantarkes was used as a model for one of the decorations on the Statue of Zeus. The decoration was an athlete that stood at the base of the former statue. It has also been confirmed that Phidias wrote the words 'Kalos Pantarkes', which means Pantarkes is beautiful, on Zeus' finger. Phidias is also friends with Pericles, leader of Athens and responsible for the rebuilding after the Persian wars. After the victory against the Persians, Pericles wanted to make Athens beautiful once more so he found Phidias and made him in charge of all artistic activities. He was told to build all the major statues in the city and was to be paid by Pericles with money. I'm not sure but it is generally believed that Phidias was in charge of building the Parthenon too.
Along with the Parthenon, Phidias built the statue if Athena at the Parthenon as well. Known as Athena Parthenos by many, it was recognized as the symbol of Athens from 447 - 439 B.C. As the original has been lost, there has been many reports from travel writers that there have been copies seen in Rome. Athena Parthenos stood at 38 feet high, displaying the goddess holding a spear in her left hand and a winged Nike in her right. She was also wearing a helmet and a tunic covered up by snake aegis (Athena's breastplate). Athena also carries a shield and a serpent. We know that these features were present in the statue because of the Roman copies and its picture on golden coins.
This is almost all we know about Phidias' life and he is still crying in the corner so we can't get any more information.
A:"So, Phidias, how did you come up with an idea so brilliant?"
P:"Well, Aidanus, it was simple. The statue was for Zeus, the king god and the most powerful. Of course he needed a 40 foot statue to honour his greatness. That height is only sitting down, so imagine how tall it would be if it were standing up! I've heard some people say that the statue looks like it would stand up and lift the roof!"
A:"How did you feel when your statue was burnt down?"
P:"Say what now."
A:"Your statue, it was burnt down recently in a huge fire, or maybe an earthquake."
P:"........Hmmm......HA......HA.....Nice try Aidanus, but I'm not going to fall for that."
A:" No Phidias, I'm not pulling your leg, the Statue of Zeus burnt down. We have an exclusive interview with Hay. D. Ees. You can check it out on our website."
P:" Well you know what Aidanus, you know what," Phidias cried," YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME THAT I COULD HAVE JUST FOUND THAT OUT MYSELF WAHHHHHHH WAAAAHHHH. And to think *sob *sob* I was going to go see it again this weekend. Just write this article already I'm just going to the corner to cry."
Well now that we don't have Phidias to tell his life stories by himself, I'm just going to write down whatever I know below.
Phidias is the son of Charmides and is one of the greatest sculptors or our time. There aren't that many things that we know about Phidias' life, but if he would stop being such a crybaby then we would know right here on the Golden Fleece; however we do know a few facts. There aren't that many originals of his works to see but we know he is talented and great because of the writers who wrote about how awesome they were. Phidias not only built the Statue of Zeus, but he also built the Athena at the Parthenon (we'll talk about that later), which also cannot be found today. Phidias had many pupils but we only know of two which are Agoracritus and Pantarkes.
Agoracritus continued to sculpt and went on to make the statue of Nemesis at Rhamnus . The other pupil, Pantarkes, won the boy's wrestling competition at Olympia in 436 B.C. and is greatly praised by Phidias himself. Pausanias wrote that Pantarkes was used as a model for one of the decorations on the Statue of Zeus. The decoration was an athlete that stood at the base of the former statue. It has also been confirmed that Phidias wrote the words 'Kalos Pantarkes', which means Pantarkes is beautiful, on Zeus' finger. Phidias is also friends with Pericles, leader of Athens and responsible for the rebuilding after the Persian wars. After the victory against the Persians, Pericles wanted to make Athens beautiful once more so he found Phidias and made him in charge of all artistic activities. He was told to build all the major statues in the city and was to be paid by Pericles with money. I'm not sure but it is generally believed that Phidias was in charge of building the Parthenon too.
Along with the Parthenon, Phidias built the statue if Athena at the Parthenon as well. Known as Athena Parthenos by many, it was recognized as the symbol of Athens from 447 - 439 B.C. As the original has been lost, there has been many reports from travel writers that there have been copies seen in Rome. Athena Parthenos stood at 38 feet high, displaying the goddess holding a spear in her left hand and a winged Nike in her right. She was also wearing a helmet and a tunic covered up by snake aegis (Athena's breastplate). Athena also carries a shield and a serpent. We know that these features were present in the statue because of the Roman copies and its picture on golden coins.
This is almost all we know about Phidias' life and he is still crying in the corner so we can't get any more information.