DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0332
CHAPTER XVII.
PHEIDIAS AND HIS WORKS.
Pheidias' Youth. — Condition of Athens. — Pheidias' Teachers. — His Early Works. — Amazon.—
Statues of Athena. — Athena Promachos. — Olympic Zeus and its Sculptural Adornments. — Its
Poetic Thought. — Reflexes of this Work. — Otricoli Head, etc. — Pheidias under Pericles. — Art-
activity in Athens. — Change in the Times. — Athena Parthenos. — Its Vicissitudes. — Description
of the Statue. — Its Shield, etc. — Its Artistic Character. — Other Statues. — Copies. — Roman
Reports concerning Pheidias. — Other Works attributed to Pheidias. — His Fate.
The course of Greek art, as it has thus far been followed, brings us to the
threshold, as it were, of the highest sculptural achievements. As we enter
upon their contemplation, the master who leads the way is Pheidias, son of
Charmides, an Athenian by birth, as he inscribed himself on his colossal
Zeus at Olympia.554 Numerous and able were his pupils and rivals, and yet
it is around his sublime genius that the memories of the Golden Age of Attic
art cluster.
Calculating from the events of his life, and the fact that he represented
himself as a bald old man on the shield of Athena Parthenos, it is supposed that
he was born about 500 B.C., this making him a few years the senior of Sopho-
cles. When the word Marathon was sounding from the lips of every exulting
Athenian, he was probably a mere lad. During the years of his approaching
manhood, the vengeance of the Persians broke out afresh upon his native land.
The immense army of Xerxes crossed the Hellespont, and approached on the
north, while Persian galleys swarmed in Greek waters. Anguish and distress
accompanied their course: Athens became a waste; and the Athenians were
fugitives on the neighboring shores, their homes and sacred places a prey to
the flames. The Persians again were driven back, but carried off many art-
treasures sacred to the Athenians. Such memories could not fail to leave
their impression on the young Pheidias. His pulse must have quickened with
feverish anxiety when the news came, that Greek soldiery had defended to
the death the Pass of Thermopylae ; and his soul must have glowed with
patriotic fervor as the shouts of victory rang through the streets after the
battles of Plataiai, Salamis, and Mycale. Old Athens was destroyed ; but, fired
with new life, she was to be made powerful and glorious for the future. Her
port, the Peiraieus, was laid out as became the centre of a great naval power;
299
PHEIDIAS AND HIS WORKS.
Pheidias' Youth. — Condition of Athens. — Pheidias' Teachers. — His Early Works. — Amazon.—
Statues of Athena. — Athena Promachos. — Olympic Zeus and its Sculptural Adornments. — Its
Poetic Thought. — Reflexes of this Work. — Otricoli Head, etc. — Pheidias under Pericles. — Art-
activity in Athens. — Change in the Times. — Athena Parthenos. — Its Vicissitudes. — Description
of the Statue. — Its Shield, etc. — Its Artistic Character. — Other Statues. — Copies. — Roman
Reports concerning Pheidias. — Other Works attributed to Pheidias. — His Fate.
The course of Greek art, as it has thus far been followed, brings us to the
threshold, as it were, of the highest sculptural achievements. As we enter
upon their contemplation, the master who leads the way is Pheidias, son of
Charmides, an Athenian by birth, as he inscribed himself on his colossal
Zeus at Olympia.554 Numerous and able were his pupils and rivals, and yet
it is around his sublime genius that the memories of the Golden Age of Attic
art cluster.
Calculating from the events of his life, and the fact that he represented
himself as a bald old man on the shield of Athena Parthenos, it is supposed that
he was born about 500 B.C., this making him a few years the senior of Sopho-
cles. When the word Marathon was sounding from the lips of every exulting
Athenian, he was probably a mere lad. During the years of his approaching
manhood, the vengeance of the Persians broke out afresh upon his native land.
The immense army of Xerxes crossed the Hellespont, and approached on the
north, while Persian galleys swarmed in Greek waters. Anguish and distress
accompanied their course: Athens became a waste; and the Athenians were
fugitives on the neighboring shores, their homes and sacred places a prey to
the flames. The Persians again were driven back, but carried off many art-
treasures sacred to the Athenians. Such memories could not fail to leave
their impression on the young Pheidias. His pulse must have quickened with
feverish anxiety when the news came, that Greek soldiery had defended to
the death the Pass of Thermopylae ; and his soul must have glowed with
patriotic fervor as the shouts of victory rang through the streets after the
battles of Plataiai, Salamis, and Mycale. Old Athens was destroyed ; but, fired
with new life, she was to be made powerful and glorious for the future. Her
port, the Peiraieus, was laid out as became the centre of a great naval power;
299