DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0368
TEMPLE OF JUPITER OLYMPIOS. 335
Pausanias are extremely interesting to the architect, but not quite
so clear as might be wished.
It was built of the stone called Poros, which was found near the
spot,1 and of which Theophrastusz and Pliny' compare the hardness
and colour to that of Parian marble, though it was of less specific
gravity.
The stone, however, of which the ruins are composed, retains none
of the characteristics mentioned by these authors, except its light-
ness. It is of a sand colour, soft, brittle, and full of holes; as it is
composed of shells and concretions which probably owe their forma-
tion to the waters of the Alpheios. Some remains, which are still
visible, render it evident that the columns were covered with a fine
white stucco, about the tenth of an inch in thickness, which gave
them the appearance of marble; and which might easily have im-
posed upon inaccurate observers. Not only the great dimensions
of the columns, which are found amongst the ruins, corroborate a
supposition that this is actually the temple of Jupiter, but the con-
jecture seems to be confirmed by the black marble which we found
in excavating, and which, according to Pausanias, composed the
pavement in front of the statue. We found several fragments of
the slabs, which appear to have been about six inches in thickness.
It is perfectly black, and takes a fine polish, but is friable, and not
of a very hard quality. This celebrated temple has of late years
suffered considerable demolitions. The Lalliotes, who inhabit the
neighbouring town of Lalla, have even rooted up some of the
foundations of this once celebrated sanctuary in order to use the
materials in the construction of their houses. The statue of the
god, the finest that the world ever beheld, was sixty feet in height,
and was reckoned aniono- the great wonders.4 Indeed it seems to
1 vtiyptpw rwptv. Pausan. b. 5. c. 10. 2 De lapid.
5 Nat. Hist. b. 36. c. 17. Pausanias in another place calls it itwpms Ai8o*, b. 6. c 19.
See Hesych. Lexic. vol. 2. p. 1091. in wtuiptvov Xifavtv, and note 19 of same page.
• See Hyginus, fab. 223. Dr. Chandler asserts that the statue was removed to
Pausanias are extremely interesting to the architect, but not quite
so clear as might be wished.
It was built of the stone called Poros, which was found near the
spot,1 and of which Theophrastusz and Pliny' compare the hardness
and colour to that of Parian marble, though it was of less specific
gravity.
The stone, however, of which the ruins are composed, retains none
of the characteristics mentioned by these authors, except its light-
ness. It is of a sand colour, soft, brittle, and full of holes; as it is
composed of shells and concretions which probably owe their forma-
tion to the waters of the Alpheios. Some remains, which are still
visible, render it evident that the columns were covered with a fine
white stucco, about the tenth of an inch in thickness, which gave
them the appearance of marble; and which might easily have im-
posed upon inaccurate observers. Not only the great dimensions
of the columns, which are found amongst the ruins, corroborate a
supposition that this is actually the temple of Jupiter, but the con-
jecture seems to be confirmed by the black marble which we found
in excavating, and which, according to Pausanias, composed the
pavement in front of the statue. We found several fragments of
the slabs, which appear to have been about six inches in thickness.
It is perfectly black, and takes a fine polish, but is friable, and not
of a very hard quality. This celebrated temple has of late years
suffered considerable demolitions. The Lalliotes, who inhabit the
neighbouring town of Lalla, have even rooted up some of the
foundations of this once celebrated sanctuary in order to use the
materials in the construction of their houses. The statue of the
god, the finest that the world ever beheld, was sixty feet in height,
and was reckoned aniono- the great wonders.4 Indeed it seems to
1 vtiyptpw rwptv. Pausan. b. 5. c. 10. 2 De lapid.
5 Nat. Hist. b. 36. c. 17. Pausanias in another place calls it itwpms Ai8o*, b. 6. c 19.
See Hesych. Lexic. vol. 2. p. 1091. in wtuiptvov Xifavtv, and note 19 of same page.
• See Hyginus, fab. 223. Dr. Chandler asserts that the statue was removed to