Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art

by Walter Woodburn Hyde

STATUES NOT MENTIONED BY PAUSANIAS, BUT KNOWN FROM RECOVERED BASES.

Having established these data, it is not difficult, from the positions of the many inscribed fragmentary bases found at Olympia and referred to victor statues not mentioned by Pausanias, from the approximate dates of the victories as gained from the age of the inscriptions, and by again employing the system of groups already mentioned, to state quite definitely where many of these other statues stood. Pausanias, who mentions 187 victors with 192 monuments in his two ἔφοδοι, expressly states that he enumerates only those “who had some title to fame or whose statues were better made.”[2364] The reasons for his selection and the fact that he mentions the statue of no athlete certainly later than the middle of the second century B. C. (although we know from inscriptions that statues were set up far into the third century A. D., at least)[2365] have been subjects of much discussion, but hardly concern us here.[2366] The three latest statues of victors mentioned by Pausanias, whose dates are fixed, may be given: those of Kleitomachos, who won παγκράτιον and πύξ in Ols. 141 and 142 ( = 216 and 212 B. C.);[2367] of Kapros, victor in παγκράτιον and πάλη in Ol. 142 ( = 212 B. C.);[2368] and of Akestorides, victor πώλων ἅρματι sometime between Ols. 142 and 144 ( = 212 and 204 B. C.).[2369] Still later statues of victors named by Pausanias, whose dates can not be exactly determined, are those of Sodamas, who won παίδων στάδιον some time between Ols. 142 and 145 ( = 212 and 200 B. C.);[2370] of Amyntas, victor in παίδων παγκράτιον in Ol. (?) 146 ( = 196 B. C.);[2371] of Timon, victor in πένταθλον in Ols. 146 or 147 ( = 196 or 192 B. C.);[2372] and of Lysippos, victor in παίδων πάλη some time between Ols. 149 and 157 ( = 184 and 152 B. C.).[2373] Of the first century A. D., Pausanias mentions three victors without statues: Artemidoros, who won παγκράτιον in Ol. 212 ( = 69 A. D.);[2374] Polites, victor in στάδιον, δίαυλος and δόλιχος in Ol. 212;[2375] and Hermogenes, victor in στάδιον twice, δίαυλος once, and as ὁπλίτης thrice, in Ols. 215, 216, 217 ( = 81–89 A. D.).[2376] The words of Pliny, Olympiae, ubi omnium qui vicissent statuas dicari mos erat[2377] refer, of course, as we have already pointed out, only to the privilege and not to the actual fact, for many victors would have no statues, as it was necessary for them or their relatives or city-states to meet the expenses of their erection.[2378] No more is the rest of his statement to be taken literally, i. e., that those victors who were victorious three times had the right to erect portrait statues in their honor; for we have, as has already been shown, at least one exception.[2379] Besides we know that portrait statues were practically unknown before the fourth century B. C. Most of the victor statues were mere types—those of Hermes and Herakles being common—without individualized features, simply representing the various contests by position or some characteristic, e. g., the helmet and shield for “hoplite” victors.[2380]

Five of these inscriptions have been referred to the sixth and fifth centuries B. C.[2381] Of these the inscribed base of Pantares was found near the South Altis wall, and the statue must originally have stood east of the temple of Zeus, near the chariot of Gelo (90), for these two were the only victors from Gela, and won in the same kind of contest and at nearly the same date.[2382] The statues of Phrikias of Pelinna and Phanas of Pellene, both representing victors in the heavy-armed race, to which I have ascribed the two archaic marble heads (Fig. [30]), the former found west of the temple of Zeus and the latter to the south of it, must originally have stood in the area of the later temple and then have been removed.[2383] That of an unknown victor, whose name ended in ... αδας,[2384] the two fragments of whose base were found, one near the Heraion and the other to the east of the temple of Zeus, should have stood near the statues of the only other pancratiasts of a similar age, either near those of Dorieus (61), who won in Ols. 87 to 89 ( = 432 to 424 B. C.), and Damagetos (62), who won in Ols. 82 and 83 ( = 452 and 448 B. C.), in the zone of the Bull, or near that of Timasitheos (82), who won some time between Ols. (?) 65 and 67 inclusive ( = 520 and 512 B. C.), in the zone of the Victory. Lastly, the second inscribed base of Xenombrotos (133), found near the Council-house outside the South Altis wall, doubtless once stood near the first (the epigram from which is preserved by Pausanias, VI, 14.12), along this wall to the east of the base of Telemachos.[2385]

No inscribed fragments of bases dating from the fourth century B. C. have been found.

Beginning with the third century B. C., we shall see that most of the recovered bases were found either in the western part of the Altis, in the neighborhood of the Philippeion, Theekoleon, and Leonidaion, on both sides of the West Altis wall, or still farther west and northwest, especially in or near the Palaistra and Prytaneion. We have already seen that most of the statues named by Pausanias dating from Alexander’s time stood to the west (and north) of the temple of Zeus. As Pausanias enumerates only statues ἐν δεξιᾷ of his route around the temple to the Great Altar, these statues farther west and northwest are omitted from his account. Of the four bases of statues referred to the third century, all belong to Elean victors; three were found west and northwest of the Prytaneion and beyond, showing that these statues once stood in the vicinity of this building, and the fourth was found farther south, by the Palaistra, where it probably stood. Thus the base of the wrestler Nikarchos, son of Physsias, was found in a late wall west of the Prytaneion;[2386] that of the statue of an unknown victor, son of Taurinos, was found at the southeast corner of the Palaistra;[2387] that of another unknown victor, the son of ... phinos, was found in the Nordwestgraben;[2388] the base of the statue of Thersonides, son of Paianodoros, victor κέλητι πωλικῷ, was found northwest of the Prytaneion, between the Roman baths and east hall of the Gymnasion.[2389]

Of the four statues referred with certainty to the second century B. C., all but one were found to the west of the Altis, in a region ranging from the Philippeion, northwest of the temple of Zeus, to the Leonidaion southwest of it. Two of them were found outside the West Altis wall, between the Leonidaion and the Byzantine church. Thus the base of the statue of D ... gonos, twice victor in πύξ, was found outside the apse of the Byzantine church and west of the West Altis wall;[2390] the fragments of that of an unknown boy victor in wrestling or the pankration were found in the East Byzantine wall;[2391] that of an unknown victor, συνωρίδι τελείᾳ (twice), and ἅρματι τελείῳ, was found south of the Philippeion.[2392] The fragment of the base of the statue of another unknown victor in wrestling, the son of the Elean Aigyptos, was found to the northeast of the Leonidaion.[2393]

Of the seven bases referred to the second and first centuries B. C., three were found in or near the Byzantine church, showing that such statues may have stood in the Greek building which was later converted into the church.[2394] Two more were found near the southwest corner of the Altis, and therefore may once have stood near the statue of Philonides, which Pausanias mentions as standing in that vicinity. Two others stood farther away, one inside the Prytaneion, the other northeast of the temple of Zeus. Thus the base of an unknown victor, the son of Aristotle, συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, was found in front of the north side of the Byzantine church;[2395] that of Aristodamos, the son of Aleximachos of Elis, was found in the floor of the church;[2396] that of an unknown victor was found northeast of the temple of Zeus;[2397] that of a victor συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, whose name ended in ... chos, the son of the Elean Nikodromos, was found southwest of the Altis before the West Altis wall;[2398] the base of two unknown victors from Elis were found respectively in the Prytaneion[2399] and northwest of the Byzantine church,[2400] while that of another Elean, Antigenes, the son of Jason, victor συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, was found in the southwest corner of the Altis.[2401]

The positions of the twenty-four bases (belonging to monuments of twenty-two victors) with certainty referred to the first pre-Christian century were very scattered. One large Pentelic marble bathron, supporting the monuments of seven victors of the family of Philistos, must have stood just south of the Philippeion, where most of the fragments were found. The bases of the statues of two other sons and a grandson of the same victor have been recovered, and doubtless stood near by, thus forming a family group of ten, outnumbering that of Diagoras (59–63 and 52) mentioned by Pausanias. The omission of so important a monument in the description of the Periegete has, of course, been used as an indication of his employment of earlier lists. Of the other bases, two were found outside the South Altis wall, west of the Council-house, and two east of it; two east of the temple of Zeus (one of them that of the youthful Tiberius, afterwards Roman emperor, which must have stood near the Eretrian Bull, where it was found); one southwest of the temple, along the South Terrace wall, pointing to a position among the statues there named by Pausanias; one east of the Byzantine church, pointing to a position south of the Theekoleon, two to the northwest of the Altis in the vicinity of the Prytaneion; while the others were found scattered all the way from the northeastern part of the Altis to the bed of the Kladeos. Thus over half (13) of these statue-bases were found in the west and northwest of the Altis and beyond; the space to the east of the temple of Zeus—called frequentissimus celeberrimusque by Scherer—seems now not to have been greatly prized. Most of these victories were gained in hippic contests. Horse-racing had early been discontinued, but was revived at the end of the first century B. C., when members of the imperial family, emulating the earlier triumphs of the princes of Sicily and Macedonia, became competitors. Thus Tiberius won in the chariot-race, and a few years later his nephew Germanicus in the same event. The list of these bases of victor statues of the first century B. C. and their provenience follows. A fragment of the base of the victor Agilochos, son of Nikeas of Elis, victor κέλητι πωλικῷ, was found in the East Byzantine wall.[2402] One fragment of the bathron of the family group of the Elean Philistos,[2403] victors in hippic contests, was found southwest of the Pelopion, while four others were discovered south of the Philippeion; the base of the statue of Philonikos, a son of Philistos, was also found south of the Philippeion,[2404] and that of another unnamed son was discovered to the west of the Prytaneion,[2405] while the place of finding of that of Charops, the son of Telemachos, has not been recorded.[2406] The base of the monument of Aristarchos was found east of the Byzantine church,[2407] that of Damaithidas, son of Menippos of Elis, a victor συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, west of the Council-house (south building),[2408] and that of Thrasymachos (or Thrasymedes) in the Nordostgraben.[2409] A fragment of the base of the statue of Demokrates of Antioch in Karia was found in the bed of the river Kladeos,[2410] that of a victor whose name began with Demo..., northeast of the Prytaneion,[2411] while that of Thaliarchos, the son of Soterichos of Elis, victor πὺξ παίδων καὶ ἀνδρῶν, was found east of the Council-house.[2412] Bases from two statues of Menedemos, son of Menedemos of Elis, victor συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, were found, one east of the temple of Zeus, the other inside the Heraion.[2413] Lykomedes, the son of Aristodemos of Elis, victor συνωρίδι πωλικῇ, also had two statues; the base of one was found in front of the West Byzantine wall on the south side of the temple of Zeus, that of the other in the Westgraben.[2414] The front part of the base of the statue of Archiadas, the son of Timolas of Elis, who won κέλητι πωλικῷ, was discovered southwest of the temple of Zeus, on the Terrace wall.[2415] That of an unknown victor in the δίαυλος, the son of ... krates of Miletos, was found near the Osthalle,[2416] while that inscribed with the name of Tiberius Claudius Nero of Rome, who won a victory τεθρίππῳ just before the end of the century, was found south of the Eretrian Bull.[2417]

Nineteen inscribed base-fragments have been referred to the post-Christian centuries, thirteen to the first, three to the second, and three to the third. The spaces around the temple of Zeus (especially its eastern front) are again the favorite ones. Thus the bases of three statues were found east of the temple (one in situ), two near its southeastern corner, three at the northeastern corner (one, that of Germanicus Cæsar, the nephew of Tiberius, just to the north of the Eretrian Bull, and so originally standing here near that of his uncle), while another stood opposite the fifth column from the east on the north side of the temple. Most of these statues must have been passed by Pausanias in his first ἔφοδος, which is, perhaps, another evidence of his dependence on older lists in compiling his own. Two other bases were found to the southwest of the temple, one of them near its corner, and the other nearer the corner of the Altis, i. e., near the base of the statue of Philonides (154a). Thus eleven statues stood near the temple. Of the others, four were found in the vicinity of the Palaistra (one inside in situ), one to the northeast of the Prytaneion, another northeast of the Byzantine church, while the two remaining ones were found in the eastern part of the Altis, near the entrance to the Stadion and before the Echo Colonnade respectively. The base of the last statue of a victor known to have been erected at Olympia, that of Valerios Eklektos of Sinope, previously mentioned, was found in situ in the Palaistra. We append a detailed list of these bases, giving the provenience of each.

Of the first century A. D., the fore part of the base of the monument of Germanicus, son of Nero Claudius Drusus, was found east of the temple of Zeus, north of the Eretrian Bull;[2418] the base of that of Gnaios Markios was found opposite the southeast corner of the temple;[2419] that of Markos Antonios Kallippos Peisanos, son of M. Antonios Alexion of Elis, who won κέλητι πωλικῷ in Ol. 177 ( = 72 A. D.), was found in the West Byzantine wall at the southwest corner of the temple.[2420] The base of the monument of Polyxenos, son of Apollophanes of Zakynthos, victor in πάλη παίδων, was discovered at the southwest corner of the Altis far from its probable original location;[2421] that of P. Kornelios Ariston, son of Eirenaios of Ephesos, victor in παγκράτιον παίδων in Ol. 207 = 49 A. D.), in front of the north wall of the Palaistra;[2422] the marble plate from that of Tiberios Klaudios Aphrodeisios of Elis (?), who won κέλητι τελείῳ in Ol. 208 ( = 53 A. D.), was unearthed near its semicircular base, which was found in situ east of the temple.[2423] Four fragments of the base of the monument of the boy pancratiast Nikanor, son of Sokles of Ephesos, were recovered east of the temple, and another one near its southeastern corner.[2424] The base of that of Markos Deida of Antioch, victor in πάλη παίδων in Ol. 219 ( = 97 A. D.), was found southeast of the temple;[2425] that of an unknown victor in the δίαυλος and as ὁπλίτης (three times) in the North Byzantine wall;[2426] that of Hermas, son of Ision of Antioch, a victor in παγκράτιον, between the West Altis wall and the southeastern corner of the Palaistra;[2427] that of Diogenes, son of Dionysios of Ephesos, victor σαλπίγγι five times, before the centre of the Echo Colonnade.[2428] The inscribed fragments of the bronze legs of the statues of two unknown victors have also been excavated, the one near the starting-place in the Stadion,[2429] the other near the fifth column from the east on the north side of the temple of Zeus.[2430]