Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art by Walter Woodburn Hyde

(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: