A-Level Breakdown

BREAKDOWN - The Stadium and Hippodrome

The surviving stadium at Olympia is the second, constructed during the expansion of the site during the late 6th/early 5th century BC. Now situated outside of the altis, it is no longer within the sacred area of the sanctuary, but instead sits to the side of it, beyond the echo stoa. 

It measures 212.M by 28.5 M and, like Greek theatres, it made use of the natural contours of the ground for seating, estimated to hold 45,000 people on the earthen banks each side of it. On the south side there were stone seats for the presidents of the games, and a white stone altar “on which a married woman sits, the priestess of Demeter”. According to Pausanias, virgin girls were able to witness the games, but married women other than the priestess were barred on pain of death. (This account does strike modern historians as bizarre, as women on the whole would have been banned elsewhere due to athletes competing in the nude).

BREAKDOWN

The Treasuries and Zanes were elements of the sanctuary designed to tell the viewer a story or to demonstrate a moral. The treasuries were built in the late archaic period and overlooked the track athletes would take into the stadium, which the Zanes lined.

image from http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/ 

BREAKDOWN

The Echo Stoa at Olympia was a long, thin building located between the hippodrome and the main religious area (the altis). It is a late classical structure built in 350 BC, and was approximately 97 M long, and 12 M wide.

  image from http://www.pausanias-footsteps.nl/english/olympia-eng.html

BREAKDOWN

The Ash Altar of Zeus was one of over 60 altars in and around the Altis of the Sanctuary at Olympia. It served as the main altar, sitting before the two main temples.

image from http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415498647/images15.asp

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - Pheidias

Pheidias was a renowned sculptor, credited with the creation of the chryselephantine statue of Zeus in his temple at Olympia, and two statues of Athena on the Acropolis - the statue of Athena Parthenous in the Parthenon, and a 9 M tall statue of Athena Promachos.

At Olympia, Pheidias had a large (38 by 18 M) workshop west of the Temple of Zeus, where he constructed his famed chryselephantine cult statue of Zeus, before it was disassembled and transferred into its home as the cult statue of the temple. With a high ceiling and limestone walls, the workshop matched most of the buildings of the sanctuary, and was complete with an east/west orientation to provide an environment that would reflect the statue’s eventual home.

We know that the workshop belongs to Pheidias through literary and physical evidence. Gold pieces, ivory fragments and precious stones were found on site, materials needed for any chryselephantine structure, and a cup inscribed with “I belong to Pheidias” was also found. Whether this was genuine or just  a tourist trinket is unknown.

Image from the GTP (Greek Travel Pages) website

The Chryselephantine Statue of Zeus

The Zeus of Pheidias is a 12 meter high figure of ivory and gold with a wooden core (chryselephantine). Seated to give the illusion of further height, Zeus is crowned with wild olive and his ivory flesh was covered with a golden robe, decorated with animals and lily-flowers. in one hand was a Victory (nike) and in the other, a sceptre, flowering with precious metals and topped with Zeus’ eagle.

The statue was heavily adorned with mythical characters and with a gold finish with ebony, ivory and coloured gems for variation. The ancient chryselephantine technique created an otherworldly effect that was perfect for representing divinity. 

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN 

The West pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia is a roughly 3M tall Marble representation of a centauromachy - a clash between the Centaurs and the Lapiths that took place after the Centaurs got drunk and rowdy at the wedding of Deidomeia and Parithous, and began groping the women and young boys. The men, lead by Parithous and his best man Theseus, are brawling with the centaurs, and are the only armed men. This scene is commonly represented in Greek art. In these circumstances it is representing the fight between the Greeks and the uncivilised Persians.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN

The Temple of Zeus’ East Pediment is decorated with fully in-the-round, early Classical figures of Parian Marble. The pediment shows a scene during the preparation for the chariot race between Oinomaos and Pelops for the hand of Oinomaos’ daughter, Hippodamia. Oinomaos had been challenged by thirteen young suitors, who would win Hippodamia’s hand if they won, and would die if they lost. The difference this time, is that Hippodamia falls in love with Pelops, and Pelops eventually wins, defeating Oinomaos through trickery, luck or sabotage - it depends on the myth. The scene depicted shows Oinomaos and Pelops, standing with their respective brides, either side of Zeus (representing Justice) with their respective chariot teams.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - The Temple of Zeus at Olympia

The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, constructed between 470-458/7 BC, was an Early Classical temple, built to bring an appropriate sense of style to an important Panhellenic sanctuary. Prior to its construction, the sanctuary was for the most part plain and very archaic, with the Temple of Hera and the Ash Altar of Zeus as the main structures.

 The Temple of Zeus bought an element of prestige to the sanctuary. The biggest ancient temple of its time, approximately 28 M by 64 M, with 10.4 M tall columns and another approximately five metres of entablature above this. Standing twice as tall as the neighbouring Temple of Hera, the Temple of Zeus also looks out onto the Ash Altar, and with its East/West Orientation, also looks over towards the Hippodrome, so that the cult statue within can view the sunrise, Altar and games.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - The Temple of Hera at Olympia

The Temple of Hera at Olympia is a Doric Order Peripteral Temple, from the Archaic Period (c. 580 BC) , dedicated to the Goddess Hera, and possibly at one point her husband, Zeus. The Temple was located to the north of the sanctuary, south of an area known as the Hill of Kronos, and west of the area where classicists place the infamous Ash Altar of Zeus.

The Temple itself is something of an anomaly. Most temples of the age were made from mud-brick and terracotta, and therefore have been lost to time. This Temple however, consisted of local limestone alongside these and therefore has survived in part. Archaeological evidence tells us that the temple was originally made from local limestone, providing the bases of the walls and the columns holding up the entablature (literally just the area above the columns). Mud-Bricks made up the internal walls and superstructure, whilst the architrave (the main beam supported by the columns), frieze and pediment were a combination of wood and terracotta. On each of the points of the pediment would have been an acroterion, however only one remains, a 2.3 m wide disk decorated with geometric patterns, reminiscent of Spartan Style, depicted below.

Within the cella was an internal colonnade, with additional wings (antae) supporting them. These spur walls were both to increase the inner space and to support the mud-bricks of the superstructure, and within them the Hermes and Dionysus of Praxiteles was displayed, as a votive offering to Hera and as an aesthetic addition to the temple. Internally, sources suggest , the temple was something of an art gallery.

The ground plan of the temple reveals two porches with columns between the wings (distyle-in-antis), along with a full external peristyle, marking the temple as peripteral. The colonnade runs sixteen columns in length, and six in width, each spaced approximately 3.5m (again suggestive of a wooden architrave). The overall area of the two-step stylobate is 19 M by 50 M.

The irregular spacing of the columns is down to the fact that columns were not uniform. The design of the columns suggests a metope and triglyph frieze, something that matches the suggested Doric style. Literary evidence suggests that the columns, though initially wooden, were replaced from different sources in different styles over time, all made from limestone. They were funded by different people and poleis, which was indicated by inscriptions described on them by Pausanias, a Roman travel writer, who told us of a single wooden column remaining in his time, meaning that the columns were in the process of being updated. Overall the columns had a 4.2:1 height to width ratio.

The temple most definitely had a cult statue, or possibly two. An over life-size archaic head was found nearby, believed to be Hera. The general consensus is that Hera was seated with Zeus stood behind her, but the cult statue of Zeus was likely transferred to the Temple of Zeus nearby before the completion of Pheidias’ chryselephantine Zeus.

The Doric Order was a style from the Western Greek Poleis. Described as “simple and massive”, the Doric Order was known for its plain, undecorated columns, which tended to be stocky (only four to six times as high as they were wide). Each Doric Temple was built on a raised, levelled platform, which was almost always made up of three steps, the top step (the stylobate) and two others, making for a three-step stereobate in total. The three steps were deliberate, as most people would start and end with their right foot, therefore avoiding the bad luck of landing on their left. The total height of the steps was proportionate to the temple - the taller the temple the taller the steps. This was obviously impractical and efforts were made to counter this on temples where it presented a problem.

Doric columns descended directly onto the stylobate, and were not decorated with bases of any kind. They were not truly straight, but bulged towards the bottom, swelling with entasis to make them seem stronger and make the temple look less top heavy from a distance. Doric Temples had other optical refinements - they rarely had any true horizontals, and were instead often bulged in the middle to stop them from appearing to sag; and all the columns lean slightly towards the centre, again to prevent a top-heavy feeling.

Early Doric columns were monolithic - made from a single piece of stone, reflecting the wooden origins of the temples, however later temples relied on a series of column drums placed atop each other to build height, and locked together by metal spikes. Either way, the columns were decorated with fluting, now synonymous with Greek art. Originally conceived to make the tree trunk columns appear more elegant, they became a standard of Greek columns, with Doric columns always having exactly 20 flutes.

On the top of each column was a capital, consisting of a pad shape called the echinus and a rectangular block - the abacus. On Doric columns they were always plain, directly supporting the architrave. Above the plain architrave was a frieze consisting of alternating metopes and triglyphs, plain areas and sets of three grooves to break them apart. Metopes were sometimes decorated with sculpture. Triglyphs were not always equally spaced, as they were designed to go over every column and also on the very corners of the building, meaning that metopes varied in width to accommodate this.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - The Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia

The Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia is a cult site dedicated to Zeus that has been occupied since the 10th Century BC. Said to have been founded where Zeus threw a thunderbolt, and located in a valley between two rival Greek Poleis, Pisa and Elis, the sanctuary was a contested site, until Elis took control having conquered Pisa during a war.

Olympia is perhaps best known for the eponymous Olympic Games, which first began in the year 776 BC, and were revived in 1886, and have continued quadrennially since, the most recent of which having been in 2016. Olympia served as a fixed site for these games, and the games likely established the site as a Pan-Hellenic Sanctuary.

“An ancient Greek sanctuary was a marked out sacred area (temnos) where temples - and a range of other specialised structures - might be found” (Emerson, 2007).

Sanctuaries were focal points of religious worship, both local, such as the Acropolis of Athens, and Pan-hellenic - belonging to all of Greece. The most basic elements of which were the temnos (described above) and the altar, the centre of religious festivals. 

Religious festivals were not their sole use however. Sanctuaries and the shrines within belonged to the citizen body as a whole, meaning that the sanctuaries would be used as a part of rituals within a citizen’s day-to-day life. Local Sanctuaries were a part of a citizen’s identity as a resident of that city, in the same way that Pan-hellenic sanctuaries were a part of Greek identity on the whole. 

Typical sanctuaries had a monumental gateway (propylon) marking the entrance point, and the transition onto sacred ground, in order to create a heightened sense of religious significance (numinos). The propylon marked the beginning of the Sacred Way, which traditionally lead to the main altar of the sanctuary. To heighten importance, the adjacent to the altar would be a temple, which would house a cult statue, facing towards the altar. The temple would be the religious and stylistic hub of the sanctuary, and would serve as the home of the god, and a storage facility for precious offerings made to the god.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - Kore 675

Kore 675 (c. 520 BC) is one of the most advanced female figures of the archaic period. By this time it was standard for rich decoration and complex drapery - this statue and others like it are the precursors to the complex female figures now synonymous with Classical Greek Art.

This statue is considerably shorter than others of the period, but is not short enough to be considered a statuette. In its current state, Kore 675 comes to 0.55 M, though with its legs attached in its metal sockets as designed, the statue is likely closer to 0.75 M. That said, the legs are lost, likely destroyed in the Athenian Acropolis’ destruction and reconstruction.

In terms of pose, the statue is is similar to the Peplos Kore. It stands with it arm raised, this time the arm on the statue’s right (image left). This arm holds an offering dish, breaking the frontal plane. The other arm (image right), pulls the skirt of the statue’s chiton to one side, in a way that is risque for statues of this time. Both arms would have been fitted with metal threads, Tenons, for both practicality for repairs and to show the sculptor’s techne.

The statue is remarkably frontal, compared to its predecessors. In contrast with the complex drapery of the front, the rear of the statue is virtually unrendered, telling us that the statue was likely located in a corner, against a wall or within a column. There is still a hint of anatomy on the rear, as the hair continues down the back, curving over the shoulders and upper torso, and there is a hint of a curve lower down the statue’s back. The front of the statue is for the most part anatomically correct. There is a clear bust, a far cry from the flat planes of the earlier statues of the period.

Accurate anatomy naturally leads to more realistic drapery. The chiton is heavily fluted, and incredibly naturalistic, increasing the statue’s aesthetic. This is in turn decorated with polychromy, including patterns of blue and red detailing the anatomy. Other coloured areas include the eyes, mouth and hair.

The facial structure of the statue is comparable to earlier statues. The statue still has almond shaped, insectoid eyes and an archaic smile. It, like other late archaic statues, no longer has volute ears, but instead interestingly has earrings. In terms of geometry in the hair, Kore 675 has four or five different patterns across the scalp and beading down the back. The statue’s fringe is undulating, looping up and down, and the statue has the typical beaded hair. Other patterns are hidden under the statue’s hairpiece, a stephane, or are packed close together at the piece’s lip.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - Peplos Kore

The Peplos Kore is small for a korai, under life-size at 1.17m. She is an Archaic statue, and can be dated back to approximately 530BC, and stood on the Acropolis, gleaming in Parian Marble.

Like all archaic korai, she is fully rounded, but her feet are not rendered and she holds a pose similar to the archaic kouroi. Her head is fixed on the horizon, though ever so slightly turned, her almond shaped eyes and slight archaic smile looking dead ahead. Her left leg is slightly forward, beneath her dress and one arm is attached firmly to her side. The other arm, however, breaks the frontal plane, reaching forward towards the user. Her left arm is a clear display of skill, of techne, on the artist’s part, as a metal socket is used to avoid the tensile limitations of marble, and allows her hand to be easily changed, repaired and ultimately lost to time.

The Peplos Kore, as the name suggests, wheres a woollen Peplos, pinned at the shoulders, making the statue a peplophoros (”Peplos wearer”), and, according to some, a linen Chiton as well. She is, however, daring for a female statue of the period, with exposed skin along her forearms being clearly visible.

Her anatomy is more accurate than other archaic sculptures, with a clear bust and some rounding to her planes. There is a slight angle to the fold of her Peplos, and an asymmetry to her body the shows and increase in naturalism compared to her earlier counterparts. This is compounded by her rounded cheeks and her protruding nose, showing the artist’s effort in making her face realistic. There is a richness to her hair, with it draping loosely over her front as well as down her back in the conventional beaded style, and she bares a crown of holes around her upper head, where steaks would have held a wreath in place.

A-LEVEL BREAKDOWN - The Berlin Standing Goddess

The Berlin Standing Goddess (c. 570 - 560 BC) is named for the museum in which it now resides. The statue originated in the Attic area, and was found wrapped in lead to protect it from either an invasion (perhaps the Persians?) or from vandalism when the family became unpopular. Either way this protection has resulted in a mostly undamaged statue.

At a height of 1.93 m, the statue is life size. It does not quite stand in a typical archaic pose, as the female statues are not striding nor nude, however it is overall very compact and locked together. All skin and signs of anatomy are concealed behind a heavy Chiton (dress), with a Himation (cloak) along the statue’s back.The presence of clothing does allow for patterns in drapery. The fully rounded nature of the statue means that on all sides of the legs are decorated with fluting down to the feet (which jut unnaturally out at the bottom of the skirt). A shape like a falling chain, a catenary, is looped across the statues back, with the himation held at the front by one of the statue’s arms (conveniently hiding any bust). The statue’s other arm comes across in front of the figure, holding a symbolic pomegranate, partially covering the battlement crenellations formed by the draped himation. 

The years between 575 and 490 BC are collectively known as the Late Archaic Period. These years saw an increasing move towards naturalism and realism by the Greek Sculptors. They began to experiment with pose and proportions, attempting to counter and work around the technical limitations of the marble, and moving towards sculpting a full sized and clearly human figure from the block, that would not fall or break.

These later statues still show little movement but are more realistic. The bodies are more accurately rendered, moving away from volute ears and hair patterns and becoming more human. The unnatural twists of the forearms is lost, and the hands locked to the sides of the legs begin to move away, and there is more asymmetry in the muscle, rib-cage and chest.