The statue of Zeus is the third wonder of the world, which, unfortunately, has not survived to this day. It was located in Olympia - the ancient Greek city, 150 km west of Athens. The city was known for hosting the Olympic Games. Competitions began to be held in the 7th century BC, but then they were not large-scale in nature. Over time, the news of competitions between men for strength and dexterity spread throughout many countries, and representatives from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Sicily began to gather in Olympia. The games acquired a political character, and in order to emphasize their importance, it was decided to build a temple to the main god Zeus and create his statue.
At first the temple was built, a talented
Greek architect Lebon worked on its construction for more than 15 years. The construction resembled the Greek sanctuaries of that time, but it was only much larger and more luxurious. The length of the temple of Zeus was 64 m, width - 28 m, and height - 20 m. Its roof rested on 13 huge 10-meter columns. But the Greeks did not have one sanctuary, they wanted Zeus himself to be present at their Olympic Games, so it was decided to create his statue.
The statue of Olympian Zeus is the creation of the Athenian sculptor Phidias. According to preserved eyewitness accounts, its height was about 15 m, which is why it barely fit into the temple. It seemed that if Zeus rises from the throne, then his head rests directly on the ceiling. The figure of the Thunderer was carved from wood. Then, on a wooden frame, Phidias attached plates of pink ivory, so the body of God seemed alive. The beard, cloak, scepter with an eagle and a figure of Nicky were cast in pure gold. A wreath of olive branches adorning the head of Zeus was also created from this precious metal. The creation of the sculpture took more than 200 kg of gold, which is almost 9 million dollars.
The statue of Zeus at Olympia was such a unique masterpiece at that time that many countries spread the word about it, people came from nearby states to look at this magnificence. God looked so natural that it seemed he was about to get up. According to legend, after Phidius finished work on the statue, he asked: "Zeus, are you satisfied?" At the same time, thunder struck, and the Greeks took this sign as a satisfactory answer.
For seven centuries, the statue of Zeus smiled favorably on all participants in the Olympic Games. In 391 A.D. the temple was closed by the Romans, who adopted Christianity at that time. The Roman emperor Theodosius I, who was a Christian, negatively related to everything related to paganism, he forbade the holding of competitions and the worship of Zeus.
The statue of Zeus at that time was plundered, and what was left of it was sent to Constantinople. But the sculpture was not destined to survive, there it completely burned down during the fire. The remains of the temple were discovered in 1875, and in 1950 archaeologists were lucky to find the workshop of the ingenious sculptor Phidias. These places were carefully researched, as a result of which scientists were able to find out what the statue of Zeus looked like, as well as to revive the thunders temple itself.