7+Wonders-+Statue+of+Zeus

**__The Statue of Zeus__**

**__Creation and Location__**
**The Statue of Zeus is one of the greatest ancient world wonders. It was located in Olympia, an area of the northern Peloponnesus (Krystek). The incredible Olympic games were held here in the ancient world in a stadium ("Cleveleys.co.uk"). Besides the stadium at Olympia there were also numerous temples dedicated to the Greek Olympic gods ("Krystek"). The greatest of these temples was the temple of Zeus, king of the gods ("Cleveleys.co.uk"). It was here in this grand temple that the Statue of Zeus was located (Woods, 47).** **The statue was finally completed in the year 433 B.C. by the sculpter Phidias (Woods, 47). Phidias was one of the greatest sculpters of the ancient Greek world. His incredible sculpture of Zeus would go on to become one of the ancient world's world wonders.**

**__How It Was Taken Care of__**
**The statue of Zeus was kept preserved for a very long time because of the constant care it was given ("Krystek"). After being built, it was taken great care of until Rome came to power (Woods, 47). Before Roman Times, the statue was constantly treated with olive oil to keep it in good condition ("Krystek"). Eventually, this olive oil would become a reflecting pool ("Krystek"). However, during Roman times the statue almost fell apart due to constant neglect ("Krystek"). After Roman times, treating the statue resumed and it was saved from destruction since it was being taken care of again.** **In 170 B.C., the statue was somewhat damaged from a large earthquake ("Krystek"). After that, roman emperor Constantine decreed that the gold be stripped from all pagan shrines because of his conversion of the Romans to Chritianity (Krystek). Eventually the world wonder, the Statue of Zeus would be destroyed during Byzantium times (Woods, 47).**

**__About Phidias and His Works of Art__**
**Phidias not only sculpted this amazing statue of Zeus, but he also sculped the statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, in the Parthenon at Athens ("Cleveleys.co.uk"). Basically, Phidias made his statue of Zeus enormous. The statue itself was about 43 feet tall and 22 feet wide (Woods, 47). This statue also took up the whole width of the temple's aisle. Many people said that if the Zeus in Phidias' sculpture stood up from the throne he was sitting on, his head would have broken through the roof of the temple ("Krystek").** **Phidias, the incredible man, that sculpted the Statue of Zeus**

__**How the Statue Was Built and What It Was Built Out of**__
**Phidias used many expensive materials to make his awesome sculpture (Woods, 47). Zeus' body was carved out of ivory, a material that you could only get from the tusks of elephants (Woods, 47). Phidias sculpted the Zeus' hair and beard out of pure gold (Woods, 47). The statue's eyes were also set with beautiful gemstones (Woods, 47). Also, Zeus' throne had the Greek gods and other mystical animals carved into it, the technique Phidias used to carve was called Chryselephantine ("Krystek").** **Phidias had Zeus holding a much smaller statue of Nike, the winged goddess of victory in his right palm ("Krystek"). This minuscule statue of Nike was made out of glass sheet. Lastly, the statue of Zeus was holding a gorgeous shining scepter in his left hand (Woods, 47). This scepter was made out of gold as well. Phidias finally had sculpted a golden eagle, the animal that represents Zeus on top of the statue's magnificent scepter (Woods, 47). Although the outsides of the statue were made out of magnificent materials, the inside was made of a frame work of wood (Woods, 47). Most definitely this statue was made out of incredible materials.**

**__The Destruction of the Statue__**
**The statue of Zeus was taken great care of except druing Roman times (Woods, 47). The Statue of Zeus was moved to Constantinople by the wealthy Greek Lauses and it became part of his collection of classical Greek art ("Krystek"). The remains of the statue were destroyed in a fire in 475 A.D. ("Krystek"). Another theory to the destruction of this magnificent statue was that in 425 AD, Zeus' Olympic temple burned down and the statue was destroyed along with the temple ("Krystek").** **The ruins of the Temple of Zeus, which held the Statue of Zeus.**

**__What Ancient People Thought of the Statue__**
media type="youtube" key="9w-eteZEGas" height="228" width="349"
 * Many people of the ancient world absolutely loved the statue of Zeus. Some people had very positive thoughts about it while a few others had negative thoughts about it. The Greek historian Strabo was one of the few people who critcized the statue ("Krystek"). He did this by saying Phidias depicted Zeus' head almost level with the ceiling of the temple when Zeus was in a sitting position ("Krystek"). Strabo said Phidias made the proportions of the statue wrong since Zeus' head would unroof the temple if he stood up ("Krystek"). Many others believed that Strabo was incorrect. Other people who viewed the statue believed that the proportions showed Zeus' immense power and size, and that made the sculpture even better ("Krystek"). Some famous people of the ancient world such as Philo of Byzantium and Dio Crysostomos had positive thoughts of the sculpture ("Krystek"). Philo said that whereas we wonder at the other six wonders, we knell before the Statue of Zeus in reverence because the skill of Phidias is as incredible as the image of Zeus is holy ("Krystek" **** ). Dio Crysostomos, another person who loved the Statue of Zeus said that if a man who had many sorrows and was full of grief stood in front of the statue, that man would forget all of those thoughts ("Krystek"). Obviously, many people adored the Statue of Zeus, whereas a few people disliked it. **

__Conclusion__
**In conclusion, obviously the Statue of Zeus is one of the greatest world wonders. One of these reasons is because the genius classical Greek sculpture Phidias sculpted it ("Krystek"). The statue was also great since it was created using such expensice and beautiful materials such as gold and ivory ("Woods, 47"). Also the Statue of Zeus most definitely represents massive godly power through the statues emensity ("Krystek"). Lastly, many people in the ancient Greek world had positive thoughts about the Statue of Zeus and absolutely adored it ("Krystek"). Clearly the Statue of Zeus is a great classical Greek work of art and is one of the greatest world wonders that has ever existed.** 


 * __Work Cited __**

Lee Krystek. “The Statue of Zeus at Olympia.” //Unmuseum.org.// []. (2011.) “The Seven Wonders of the World.” //Cleveleys.co.uk.// []. Woods, Michael. //Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece.// Minneapolis: Lerner publishing group, Inc, 2009.