Apollo of Olympia
The Apollo of Olympia was part of the group of sculptures that was in the west gable of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia . He was at the center of this gable composition and is therefore also known as Apollo from the west gable or simply west gable Apollo . It is one of the most important statues of the Strict Style and is dated around 460 BC. Dated. The statue is in the Archaeological Museum in Olympia.
In the west pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia the battle of the Lapiths against the Centaurs at the wedding of Peirithoos was depicted. In Greek mythology, the centaurs were wild forest dwellers with horse bodies and human torsos. The battle of the Lapiths, a mythical people of Thessaly , against the Centaurs often served as a symbol of the conflict between Greeks and barbarians. Most of the figures in this richly animated battle representation were found during the German excavations in Olympia since 1875 under Georg Treu .
In the middle of the gable stood the youthful Apollo , who turned his gaze to the Lapiths. With his outstretched right hand he seems to put a stop to the outrageous act - the Centaurs had violated the hospitality law and stole women on the Lapiths. Nevertheless, one can only imagine it as an appearance. The fighters know nothing of his presence, none of the other gable sculptures refer to the appearance of the god in their movement or gesture.
What is remarkable about the sculpture is that its back, which was not visible to the viewer, was more roughly worked than the front. This in turn gave a wide range of information about the Greek sculpting technique. In the discussion as to whether the much younger Hermes of Olympia was a Greek original or a Roman copy of a Greek original, this aspect had played a major role.
