Temples at Olympia

Temples at Olympia

1. Temple Of Zeus 468-460

   • Doric temple with a ratio of 6x13 it was destroyed but was eventually rebuilt
   • The cella has a double two-tier doric colonnade of seven columns. Metopes below the pediments were left blank as they didn't want to take the focus away from the pediment
     • opisthodomos and pronaos are in distyle in antis
     • Alterations were made to the cella to accomnodate the cult statue of zeus
   • It contains an approach ramp but the custom of varying intercolumniation is scrapped and instead has equal spacing all about
   • Architectural sculpture
     • Metopes- The 12 Labours of Hercules
       • Nemean Lion
         • The struggle is presented as over with the lion dead on the floor. Herakles stand with on foot atop the lion, but does not hold a triumphant pose instead he has his elbow to his thigh as though he is weary, he is clearly exhausted
         • Revolutionary as a majority of sculptures portray Herakles as indestructible, here the sculptor looks at the price that had to be paid for those victories the fear/fatigue that revealed the humanity of the hero and lend moral dimensions to his labour
         • Athena stand by looking sympathetic and fragments of a foot show Hermes may have been present
       • Cleaning the stables
         • Herakles seems to have matured he has a beard and is presented as more confident (this metope did not appear in chronological order)
         • Athenas calm vertical figure closes of the composition. Herakles activity is vividly conveyed by the strong opposing diagonals formed by his arms and lefs She holds her arm roughly parallel to Herakles' as a subtle gesture of support
           • Athenas peplos falls in broad simple fold yet reveal distribution of her weight
       • Cretan Bull
         • Herakles is alone and all the action and the power of the full composition is based on two crossing diagonals . It's relief on relief
         • The two contestants strain away from each other, yet Herakles has pulled the bulls head round so that man and beast confront each other and interest it brought to both the front and corners of the metope
       • Apples of Hesperides
         • Herakles is holding up the sky while atlas stands to the side holding the fruit in his hand.
         • Herakles enforced stillness contrasts with Atlas' freedom of movement. Athena turns towards Herakles with one arm raised to help ease his burden
           • Again Athena is wearing a heavy peplos which falls in deep sparse folds. Straight fold uninterrupted fall other her legs. The simplicity of the plain undecorated areas contrasts with the sharply cut details and the severity is enlivened by the calligraphic elegance of the line at the bottom of the over fold which falls to just below Athenas waist

2. Temple Of Hera (600 BC)

   • Is one of the earliest Doric temples and was originally made of wood but the columns were gradually replaced by stone ones and for this reason all the columns are slightly different
   • Has a column plan of 16 x 6 with a stereobate of only two steps and wide intercolumniation
   • Some columns are monolithic and the echinus displays all profiles from the archaic bulge to the classical near straight line
   • Angle contraction demonstrates the presence of a triglyph frieze
   • Cella walls are incredibly thick and the end of the pronaos and the opisthodomos wall were encased in timber for added strength Thus providing a prototype of anate
   • The interior columns are arranged in two rows of eight which is the same height as exterior columns ( so the roof beams could receive support) They divided the width of the temple into three. Alternate columns were attached to the cella wall by spur walls to give the temple extra strength

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