The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Author: Janette McWilliam

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2011-05-25

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1443830321

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This book began to take shape following a conference on the Statue of Zeus at Olympia held at the University of Queensland in July 2008. In line with the main themes of the conference, the book has two fundamental aims: the first is to recognise the unsurpassed reputation of the Zeus in antiquity, to move beyond the framework provided by the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and to treat the famous statue in depth, as befits its unique importance in ancient times; the second aim is to employ a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives in the hope of capturing more accurately than before something of that unique importance. The book is aimed at academic specialists in a variety of disciplines (such as art, archaeology, history, literature, and cultural poetics), though it is also intended to be accessible to undergraduates and certainly to research students. The audience will primarily be one interested in classical antiquity, but there are chapters which trace the story and influence of the Zeus through the Byzantine, Renaissance, and early modern periods, and into more recent centuries in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

New Approaches to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia
New Approaches to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia

Author: András Patay-Horváth

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2015-09-04

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1443881910

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This volume brings together the proceedings of an international and interdisciplinary symposium held at Budapest between 8th and 10th May 2014. It was the first event dealing exclusively with the temple of Zeus at Olympia, which was, at the time of its construction, the largest temple in mainland Greece, and which has remained the largest ancient building of the Peloponnese ever since. Contributors come from eight countries, namely Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and the UK, and from several different fields of classical studies, including archaeology, ancient history, numismatics, epigraphy and architecture. The contributions deal with widely different aspects of the building and its sculptural decoration, including masons’ marks, metrology, the usage of different marbles, and depictions of invisible gods, and approach these issues from new and unique perspectives. Some papers focus on the cult of Zeus, or on inscriptions found in or on coins associated with the sanctuary; others describe how later authors might have used the monument, or bridge the gap between classical studies and the latest digital technologies applied to archaeology and cultural heritage. As such, all of the essays gathered here will inspire classical scholars to make use of these new research paths.

Olympia
Olympia

Author: Judith M. Barringer

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-11-02

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 0691218536

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A comprehensive and richly illustrated history of one of the most important athletic, religious, and political sites in the ancient Greek and Roman world The memory of ancient Olympia lives on in the form of the modern Olympic Games. But in the ancient era, Olympia was renowned for far more than its athletic contests. In Olympia, Judith Barringer provides a comprehensive and richly illustrated history of one of the most important sites in the ancient Greek and Roman world, where athletic competitions took place alongside—and were closely connected with—crucial religious and political activities. Barringer describes the development of the Altis, the most sacred area of Olympia, where monuments to athletes successful in the games joined those erected to the gods and battlefield victories. Rival city-states and rulers built monuments to establish eminence, tout alliances, and join this illustrious company in a rich intergenerational dialogue. The political importance of Olympia was matched by its place as the largest sanctuary dedicated to Zeus, king of the gods. Befitting Zeus’s role as god of warfare, the Olympian oracle was consulted to ensure good omens for war, and the athletic games embodied the fierce competition of battle. Other gods and heroes were worshipped at Olympia too, Hera, Artemis, and Herakles among them. Drawing on a comprehensive knowledge of the archaeological record, Barringer describes the full span of Olympia’s history, from the first monumental building around 600 BC to the site’s gradual eclipse in the late Christianized Roman empire. Extensively illustrated with maps and diagrams, Olympia brings the development of Olympia vividly to life for modern readers.

Artists and Signatures in Ancient Greece
Artists and Signatures in Ancient Greece

Author: Jeffrey M. Hurwit

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-06-30

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1107105714

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This book offers insight into Greek conceptions of art, the artist, and artistic originality by examining artists' signatures in ancient Greece.

Early Greek Portraiture
Early Greek Portraiture

Author: Catherine M. Keesling

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-05-03

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1108211275

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In this book, Catherine M. Keesling lends new insight into the origins of civic honorific portraits that emerged at the end of the fifth century BC in ancient Greece. Surveying the subjects, motives and display contexts of Archaic and Classical portrait sculpture, she demonstrates that the phenomenon of portrait representation in Greek culture is complex and without a single, unifying history. Bringing a multi-disciplinary approach to the topic, Keesling grounds her study in contemporary texts such as Herodotus' Histories and situates portrait representation within the context of contemporary debates about the nature of arete (excellence), the value of historical commemoration and the relationship between the human individual and the gods and heroes. She argues that often the goal of Classical portraiture was to link the individual to divine or heroic models. Offering an overview of the role of portraits in Archaic and Classical Greece, her study includes local histories of the development of Greek portraiture in sanctuaries such as Olympia, Delphi and the Athenian Acropolis.

The Gods of Olympus
The Gods of Olympus

Author: Barbara Graziosi

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2014-03-11

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0805091572

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Chronicles the transformations of the Greek gods throughout history, evaluating their changing characters, stories and symbolic relevance in a variety of cultures spanning the ancient world through the Renaissance era.

Handbook of Greek Sculpture
Handbook of Greek Sculpture

Author: Olga Palagia

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2019-07-22

Total Pages: 800

ISBN-13: 1614513538

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The Handbook of Greek Sculpture aims to provide a detailed examination of current research and directions in the field. Bringing together an international cast of contributors from Greece, Italy, France, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, the volume incorporates new areas of research, such as the sculptures of Messene and Macedonia, sculpture in Roman Greece, and the contribution of Greek sculptors in Rome, as well as important aspects of Greek sculpture like techniques and patronage. The written sources (literary and epigraphical) are explored in dedicated chapters, as are function and iconography and the reception of Greek sculpture in modern Europe. Inspired by recent exhibitions on Lysippos and Praxiteles, the book also revisits the style and the personal contributions of the great masters.

Olympia
Olympia

Author: Robin Waterfield

Publisher: Landmark Library

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9781786691910

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In the northwestern corner of the great peninsula of the Peloponnese, close to the meeting point of the Cladeus and Alpheus rivers, lies a peaceful river valley overlooked by the steep-sided Hill of Cronus. Here, between the eighth century BCE and the fourth century CE, rival athletes competed for glory in the ancient Olympic Games. Every four years, and from every corner of the Mediterranean world - from Samos to Syracuse and from Sparta to Smyrna - they descended on this quiet corner of southern Greece sacred to Zeus, seeking to excel in disciplines as diverse as sprinting, boxing, wrestling, trumpet blowing and chariot and mulecart racing. The victors of these ancient games may have been awarded crowns of olive leaves in recognition of their achievements, but these original Olympics were no idealistic celebration of the classical aesthetic of grace and beauty shared by all of the participating Greek city-states, but often a bitterly contested struggle between political rivals. Robin Waterfield paints a vivid picture of the reality of the ancient Olympic Games; describes the events in which competitors took part; explores their purpose, rituals and politics; and charts the vicissitudes of their remarkable thousand-year history.