Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art by Walter Woodburn Hyde
Book V, Pausanias says he is proceeding north from the Council-house
2557 words | Chapter 134
(23.1), and first mentions a statue of Zeus set up by the Greeks who
fought at Platæa; in describing the victor statues he says that the
chariot of Kleosthenes stands behind this statue of Zeus (P., VI,
10.6). After describing the _Zeus_ of Platæa, he mentions a bronze
inscribed tablet as standing in front of it (V, 23.4), which recorded
the thirty years’ treaty of peace between Sparta and Athens, and
then says that the statue of the _Zeus_ of the Megarians stands near
the chariot of Kleosthenes (23.5). As he is proceeding north, this
Megarian _Zeus_ must have stood north of the Platæan one; thus in one
group we have the two statues of Zeus and the chariot of Kleosthenes.
Immediately to the north he next mentions the chariot of the Syracusan
tyrant Gelo (90), which he says is near the statue of the _Zeus_ of
the Hyblæans (23.6). Now in coming south, in the athlete _periegesis_,
he names eight statues between these chariots. Doerpfeld[2326] has
identified the base of the Platæan _Zeus_ with a large pedestal to the
northwest of that of the victor Telemachos (122) found _in situ_ near
the South Altis wall,[2327] a position which is in harmony with the
description of the statues of Zeus; just behind it he has identified
two large foundations near together as those of the two chariots. So
the eight intervening statues stood here. Of the statues between the
chariot of Kleosthenes and the base of the statue of Telemachos, the
base of that of Tellon (102) was found in the East Byzantine wall near
the South Altis wall; that of Aristion (115) nearby, embedded in the
same wall; that of Akestorides (119), whose name I have inserted in the
lacuna in the text of Pausanias (VI, 13.7),[2328] just northeast of the
base of Telemachos.[2329] Thus the series of statues from that of Gelo
to that of Agathinos (90-121a, P., VI, 9.4-13.11) can be grouped in the
zone of the _Chariots_.
As the fragment of the base of the statue of the Athenian pancratiast
Aristophon (123) was found near the base of Telemachos, but to the
east of it, and likewise that which supported the equestrian monument
of Xenombrotos and Xenodikos (133-134) still further to the east near
the Echo Colonnade,[2330] we can conclude that the twenty-one statues
from Aristophon to Prokles (123-138, P., VI, 13.11-14.13), mostly
of the fifth century B. C., stood near the South Altis wall to the
east (and not to the west of the base of Telemachos, where all other
investigators have wrongly placed them),[2331] and thus form a group
which we can call the zone of _Telemachos_. So we conclude that the
long list of statues from Pyrilampes to Prokles (35-138), nearly
two-thirds of all those mentioned in the first ἔφοδος of Pausanias,
stood in the space to the east and southeast of the temple of Zeus,
grouped in the parallel zones of the _Bull_, _Victory_, _Chariots_, and
_Telemachos_.
On the other hand, the statues beginning with the two of Aischines
(139) and extending to that of Philonides (154 a) (P., VI, 14.13-16.5)
must have stood to the west of the base of Telemachos and along the
South Terrace wall some 20 meters south of the temple of Zeus, where
many of the following pedestals were found in the order named by
Pausanias: that of Aischines (139) was found in the Council-house;
that of Archippos (140) nearby between the South Terrace wall and the
north wing of the Council-house; that of Epitherses (147) opposite the
sixth column of the temple from the west, some eleven paces from the
South Terrace wall, and the fragment of the base of the honor statue of
Antigonos (147 f) very near it; the bronze foot of one of the statues
of Kapros (150) was found in the South Terrace wall, 24.40 meters from
the southwest corner of the temple; and lastly, the base of the “honor”
statue of Philonides (154 a), Alexander’s courier, was found in the
southwest corner of the Altis at the extreme west end of the South
Terrace wall, almost, if not exactly, in its original position.[2332]
Thus Pausanias, after coming south to the statue of Telemachos, first
goes eastward as far as the statue of Prokles, then returns, repassing
the two chariots on the way without remark, and then continues westward
to the southwestern corner of the Altis. All statues west of that
of Telemachos are of the fifth and fourth centuries B. C., with the
exception of one, that of Eutelidas (148), who won in Ol. 38. This is
the oldest statue in the Altis, despite Pausanias’ statement,[2333] and
it doubtless originally stood in the area occupied later toward the
middle of the fifth century B. C. by the temple of Zeus, but was then
transferred to its new position south of the temple.
After the statue of Philonides, there are still 19 statues of victors
and “honor” men to dispose of in this first ἔφοδος, those from Brimias
to Glaukon (155-169, P., VI, 16.5-16.9). Of these statues, the base of
that of Leonidas of Naxos (155a), the founder of the great building
just outside the southwestern corner of the Altis named after him, was
discovered in a Byzantine wall before the eastern end of the north
front of that building, while that of Seleadas (159) was unearthed
within the ruins of the same building; the base which supported the
group-monument of Polypeithes and Kalliteles (160-161)—which, owing
to the early dates of their victories, some time between Ols. (?) 66
and 70 (= 516 and 500 B. C.), must have stood originally in the area
later occupied by the temple of Zeus, like that of the above-mentioned
Eutelidas—a little to the south of the Byzantine church, between the
bases of the statues of Leonidas and Glaukon; two fragments of the base
of the statue of Deinosthenes (163) have been found, one east of the
apse of the church, the other in the ruins of the Palaistra further
north; and lastly, that of Glaukon, built into late walls northwest
of the church.[2334] As the statue of Philonides stood at the extreme
western end of the South Altis wall, and as most of these fragments
were found in the vicinity of the Leonidaion, it would be natural to
conclude that the majority of these later statues stood in the spaces
just outside the West Altis wall. But at the end of the first ἔφοδος
(VI, 17.1) Pausanias says that he has so far named statues “within the
Altis”; hence most investigators have placed these 19 statues either
west of the temple of Zeus or in the space at the southwestern corner
of the Altis. A little further on we shall see that many other victor
statues, not mentioned by Pausanias, stood just outside the West Altis
wall, and it is doubtful whether his words ἐν τῇ Ἄλτει (VI, 17.1)
should be taken thus literally, especially on any theory of his use
of earlier accounts in the final compiling of his own. If they were
“within” the Altis, they could scarcely have stood to the west or
southwest of the temple of Zeus, for the second ἔφοδος, as we shall
see, passed there.
A better alternative can be found. In describing the Leonidaion (V,
15.2), Pausanias says that this building stood “outside the sacred
enclosure at the processional entrance into the Altis ... separated
from this entrance by a street; for what the Athenians call lanes,
the Eleans name streets.”[2335] Now Doerpfeld has shown that inside
the West Altis wall and parallel to it—just south of the base of
Philonides’ statue—is a line of bases ending in the later South wall
of the Altis, so that this West wall and row of pedestals form a _cul
de sac_ (see Plan B).[2336] It is clear that no such row of statues
would have been placed leading up to a dead wall; therefore these
statues must have stood there before the wall was built, and must once
have formed the eastern boundary of a broad street skirting the eastern
side of the Leonidaion, which was twice as wide as later, when the wall
cut off half its breadth and made it a “lane,” though the older name
“street” was retained. The later Roman enlargement of the Altis is
well known. The long row of pedestals to the south of and parallel to
those already discussed as standing along the line of the South Terrace
wall, westward of the base of Telemachos, once constituted the southern
boundary of the “Processional Way” (ὁδὸς πομπική), which ran from the
Leonidaion to where it debouched into the Altis at its southeastern
corner. Originally outside the Altis, they were later, together
with the road itself, included in it. The pedestals, then, in the
above-mentioned _cul de sac_, and also the fourteen (among them that
of Metellus Macedonicus; see Plan B) that adorned the south side of
the Processional Way, may be the remains of some of these last statues
mentioned by Pausanias.
THE SECOND EPHODOS OF PAUSANIAS.
We next come to the second ἔφοδος, which is introduced by these
words: Εἰ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Λεωνιδαίου πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν τὸν μέγαν ἀφικέσθαι
τῇ δεξιᾷ θελήσειας, τοσάδε ἔστι σοὶ τῶν ἀνηκόντων ἐς μνήμην.[2337]
The Leonidaion, the site of which was still in dispute till after
the close of the excavations, was finally identified by Treu[2338]
with the so-called _Suedwestbau_, as had been already assumed by many
investigators.[2339] The site of the Great Altar, however, is still
undetermined. The elliptical depression to the east of the Pelopion,
whose dimensions (125 feet in circumference) agree with the figures
of Pausanias[2340] for the _prothysis_, or lowest stage of the
altar, identified with it by most scholars,[2341] must now be given
up since the more recent excavations of Doerpfeld, which prove it to
be the remains of two prehistoric dwelling houses with apse-like
ends.[2342] Nor can the remains of walls lying between the Heraion and
the Pelopion, formerly supposed to be those of an altar, any longer
be referred to the Great Altar (as Puchstein and Wernicke referred
them)[2343] since Doerpfeld’s recent discoveries. So we are dependent
on the words of Pausanias alone for its location, who says that it
stood “equidistant from the Pelopion and the sanctuary of Hera, but in
front of both,”[2344] therefore somewhat northwest of the elliptical
depression nearer the centre of the Altis.[2345] Our problem, then, is
to find Pausanias’ route between these two points, and here again, as
at the beginning of the first ἔφοδος, we must rightly interpret the
words ἐν δεξιᾷ. Michaelis, in his article on the use of ἐν δεξιᾷ and
ἐν ἀριστερᾷ in Pausanias’ work, made these words refer to the southern
side of the Processional Way, _i. e._, to the side at the right of
Pausanias, who was facing east after arriving at the Leonidaion.[2346]
Thus the statues already mentioned along the South Terrace wall
(Aischines to Philonides, 139-154a) would now be on his left side.
On this interpretation both Hirschfeld and Doerpfeld had the second
ἔφοδος follow the Processional Way eastward parallel to the first—thus
including the line of pedestals, which we have referred to the end of
the first—and then, near the Councilhouse, curve northward in front
of the temple of Zeus, which virtually would be a repetition of the
first ἔφοδος. On this theory Doerpfeld[2347] wrongly explained the
first route as containing statues ἐν τῇ Ἄλτει, while the second was
outside the older Altis, and so, though equally long, contained fewer
statues. But against this interpretation it must be urged that the
Periegete is describing the Altis of his day, when the road in question
was included within its boundaries, and that the Great Altar and the
two last statues mentioned (187, 188) as standing near the pillar of
Oinomaos were always inside.[2348] And neither this Processional Way
nor the space before the eastern front of the temple of Zeus were
localities for “unimportant mixed statues.”[2349] Furthermore, if he
had merely retraced his steps after arriving at the Leonidaion—and he
says nothing of returning—he would not have begun a new route[2350],
but would have said something like this: Εἰ δὲ ὀπίσω ἀναστρέψας ἀπὸ τοῦ
Λεωνιδαίου πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν αὖθις ἀφικέσθαι τῇ δεξιᾷ θελήσειας.[2351] So
it is simpler to conclude that the new route wound around the western
and northern sides of the temple of Zeus over the temple terrace.[2352]
As no building is mentioned on the way, and as the north side of the
temple would probably have been called ἀριστερὰ πλευρά (in accordance
with the usage discussed above in connection with the Heraion), and
as the Pelopion faces southwest, the words ἐν δεξιᾷ can refer only
to the right hand of Pausanias, _i. e._, the right side of the road
followed. If we assume that these words originally stood after τοσάδε
ἔστι σοί and were transferred by a later copyist, the difficulty is
resolved.[2353]
Of the nineteen victor statues in this second route (170-188, VI,
17.1-18.7) no bases have been found.[2354] But of the three “honor”
statues included, one base, that of the rhetorician Gorgias of
Leontini (184a), was recovered 10 meters northeast of the temple of
Zeus, and so probably not very far from its original position;[2355]
for Pausanias mentions only three more statues, before he comes to the
last two in this ἔφοδος, which two stood in this vicinity. The parts
of the Altis to the west and north of the temple were unimportant
till the time of Alexander the Great, and were, therefore, remarkably
free of monuments. In the whole description of Pausanias, we know of
only three altars (those of Aphrodite, the Seasons, and the Nymphs)
and a wild olive tree (the “Olive of the Beautiful Crown”) to the
west of the temple (V, 15.3), and only of the votive offerings of a
certain Mikythos or Smikythos to the north of it (V, 26.2).[2356] As
the statue of Gorgias stood among the “unimportant mixed statues”
already mentioned (184-186), these must have stood somewhere north
of the temple near its eastern end. Finally, the two ancient wooden
statues of Praxidamas and Rhexibios (187-188, P., VI, 18.7) are
mentioned by themselves as near the column of Oinomaos, which Pausanias
elsewhere[2357] says stood near the Great Altar of Zeus to the left of
a road running south from it to the temple. Pausanias, after describing
these “mixed” statues, may have finally left the route thus far
followed and introduced these last two statues as quite distinct from
the second ἔφοδος.[2358] But he does not seem to have gone far from his
route, for immediately after ending his account of the victor statues,
he begins his account of the Treasuries, which lay beyond the Great
Altar farther north.[2359] (Plans A and B.)
Thus Pausanias ends his second route somewhere short of the Great
Altar, and it appears after all to be only a continuation of the first,
forming with it one unbroken “_Rundgang_,” though in quite a different
sense of the word from that intended by Doerpfeld.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS.
From a study of these two routes, and a comparison of the dates of the
victorious athletes,[2360] we can draw the following conclusions as to
the positions of the victor statues mentioned by Pausanias as standing
in the Altis at Olympia:
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