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Zeus has always been an important figure in Greek mythology. He was the most powerful son of Kronos and became king of the gods. His symbol was a thunderbolt, and he carried the aegis, the magical shield used by both Athena and him. In one of his hymns, Homer wrote:

I shall sing of Zeus, the best and the greatest of gods,
far-seeing, mighty, fulfiller of designs who confides
his tight-knit schemes to Themis as she sits leaning upon
him.
Have mercy, far-seeing Kronides, most glorious and great!

With his influence over the myths and legends, and his renowned authority, it is little wonder he was praised in poetry and art. In the latter of these, he was portrayed steadily through the evolving eras of Greek history in various forms. The Early Classical stage was no exception, with its bronze statues and statuettes of the ruler of the gods. The figure of Zeus found off the Cape of Artemesia was perhaps the most important depiction.

This over-life-sized figure of Zeus was found in an ancient shipwreck, thus giving us no indication to its original origin or placement--the clues having been lost over the centuries. The sculpture"s ambiguous history at first led art historians to believe it to be a statue of Poseidon, god of the sea. However, this theory was disregarded with closer consideration. The placement of the right hand and the angle in which he would have been holding the object being thrown could not have been the three-pronged trident--the symbol closely connected with Poseidon. This object would have obscured the face--something Greek artists would not have done. More likely, the figure is Zeus, hurling a bolt of lightening in bold demonstration of his power. The lightening bolt, also cast of bronze or another metal, might have been a stylized version of the actual phenomena and shorter than the trident would have been. Clues are given to support this in other versions of Zeus, these also hurling thunderbolts.

The bronze statues, like the "Artemesian Zeus" were made by the cire perdue, or lost-wax method. In this method, the figure is first modeled out of clay. Over this is applied a thin layer of wax, and then another layer of clay. When the whole model is fired, the clay hardens and the wax melts away, becoming a mold for molten bronze. Because of various factors concerning large figures, such as weight, cost, and the possibility of the bronze becoming disfigured when used in large amounts, it became necessary to cast the figures in sections, then weld the pieces together to form a whole. Then the eyes were inlaid with a different material to produce a life-like quality. This method was used in other statues, like the "Riace Warriors" and the "Charioteer."

Standing 6 feet 10 inches, the figure sculpted in the severe style is impressive in his stance. However, there are problems in his position and proportions. Zeus seems to be teetering a bit, with the weight on his front foot and his right heel raised, and with the body seemingly rigid, arms outstretched. There is no curvature of the spine, no forward-leaning movement of the upper torso to make the weight shift seem plausible. Concerning the proportions, the right arm, outstretched in front of the figure, is a bit long. If there was a way to position the arm so that it hung vertically, parallel to the body, the fingers would reach closer to the knee than is physically normal in a person.

One interesting aspect of the development of Greek sculpture this figure represents is its self-sufficiency. Until the Early Classical or Severe Style came about, figures were meant to be seen with a background behind them, not in the round. For example, the figures on the Temple of Aphaia were carved, almost in (as Janson states) a "super-relief," figures separate from the architecture, seen only from the front. "Artemesian Zeus" was sculptured so as to give the viewer the opportunity to see the figure from all sides. This was certainly a development that prompted artists of later years to be more adventurous with their sculpture and break away from those conventions which had previously been the standards in Greek art.

The frontal positioning of "Artemesian Zeus" is significant as well. Through the transformation of Greek sculpture, the artists gradually evolved their work from stiff, unmoving figures to figures that turned and twisted upon their axis in contorted manners. The bronze Zeus is caught somewhere in between these two phases, showing a greater freedom than the "Kouros" from Attica or the "Kroisos" from Anavysos, both earlier Archaic sculptures of the male nude which stand upright, unmoving, and seemingly unwilling to shift from their timeless stances. On the other hand, it is less bold than Lysippos"s "Scraper," a sculpture from the Late Classical Period, which extends its arms forward, breaking away from the boundaries of earlier times. The figure of Zeus stays completely behind an imaginary, invisible sort of wall--none of the limbs project out into the space in front of him. The result of this is a figure moving with the confines of a flat space, much like Myron"s "Diskobolos" from around the same time, 450 BC.

It is interesting to compare the figure of Zeus to some works from earlier times and other places. The "Palatte of Narmar" shows the Pharaoh in much the same position that Zeus has been sculptured. One arm is raised, ready to strike the head from the Egyptian subject in a gesture of authority, much like Zeus and the thunderbolt, the latter ready to be hurled from Olympus. The figure of the Pharaoh, though relatively stiff and formal, still seems to be in a posture that would anticipate a forward movement or weight shift.

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Written by: Dorothy Edison
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