Faculty of Classics - University of Cambridge

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Olympia Pediments

These pediments from Olympia are among the best surviving examples of early Classical sculpture, completed c. 460 BCE. They come from the temple of Zeus at Olympia, and comprise 42 figures in total. The subject of the east pediment is pertinent to the sporting competitions that took place at Olympia from 776 BCE to 393 CE: preparations are here being made for a chariot-race, which explains why there are horses flanking the five central figures. On the west pediment is depicted a battle between Centaurs and Lapiths: despite the chaos surrounding him, the god Apollo stands supreme in the centre of the pediment, promising to restore order. Set beneath the pediments, designed to be viewed against them, were a series of carved metopes depicting the Labours of Heracles: whatever the human agonies depicted above in the pediments, whether implied or shown, here is testimony to the endurance of the human spirit even when faced with the most strenuous of trials.

Although this temple was built in the fifth century BCE, it continued in use until the closure of the Olympic games in 393 CE: in fact, one of the best descriptions of it was made in the second century CE, written by a Greek traveller named Pausanias.

Further reading:
R. Osborne, Archaic and Classical Greek Art, 169–174
N. Spivey, Greek Art, 217–224
S. Woodford, An Introduction to Greek Art, 91–103
J. Boardman (ed.) The Oxford History of Classical Art, 92–94