DOI article:
Essay II: The spirit of the art of Pheidias, in its relation to his age, life, and character
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11444#0090
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ESSAYS ON THE ART OE PHEIDIAS.
[II.
The work however in which Pheidias appears to have been
most himself, was the Olympian Zeus. It is here that he
distinctly brought out the qualities of his art to which we have
drawn attention before, those which were recognised by the
ancients. An oracle1 addressed to Sulla combines Beauty (to
/caXA.09) with Grandeur (to fie<ye9os), as the chief characteristic
of this work. Dionysius of Halicarnassus2 praises in it its
solemnity, grandeur, and dignity (to aefivov kal fieyaXorexvov
kclI agicofiaTitcop). And still with all its grandeur it had perfect
simplicity, as is shown by the effect it produced upon others,
who were chiefly struck with the beauty and sweetness (the
%api<i rrj<; Te-xyw) of the " peaceful and benign " god. Its effect
upon the spectator was quite magical: Arrian3 and Dio Chryso-
stomos4 look upon it as a magic draught which banishes all care
and pain. "I think," says the latter, "that even a man who is
quite cumbered in spirit, who in his life has drunk often of the cup
of adversity and sorrow, and to whom even the sweet solace of
sleep never comes,—I think that even he, when he stands before
this statue, forgets all the cruel and alarming accidents that
beset the life of man. So happy hast thou (Pheidias) been in
inventing and contriving a spectacle that is simply
Griefs cure, vexation's antidote,
Making forgetfulness of every care6.
and such surpassing radiance and charm has thy art conveyed
to the work." Pausanias6 relates the story that, when Pheidias
had completed his work and implored Zeus for a token mani-
festing whether he was contented with the work of the artist,
Zeus sent through the hypaethral opening of the temple flashes
of lightning, and a slab of black marble on the white pavement
of the temple indicated to posterity the spot where Zeus had
marked his approbation of his image. Plotinus7 says that
" Pheidias had conceived Zeus in his imagination as Zeus would
have been if he had appeared to him face to face." Even upon
1 SQ. 720 (Plut. Syll. xvii.).
2 De Isocr. p. 95, Ed. Sylb.; Brunn, Ccsc/i. d. Gr. Kiinstler 1. p. 204.
3 SQ. 717 (Epict. 1. vi. 24). 4 SQ. 707 (Dion Chr. Oral. xii. 51).
5 Horn. Od. iv. 221. 0 SQ. 696 (Pausan. v. xi. 70).
7 SQ. 716 {Enncad. v. viii. p. 1002. Ed. Creuzer).
ESSAYS ON THE ART OE PHEIDIAS.
[II.
The work however in which Pheidias appears to have been
most himself, was the Olympian Zeus. It is here that he
distinctly brought out the qualities of his art to which we have
drawn attention before, those which were recognised by the
ancients. An oracle1 addressed to Sulla combines Beauty (to
/caXA.09) with Grandeur (to fie<ye9os), as the chief characteristic
of this work. Dionysius of Halicarnassus2 praises in it its
solemnity, grandeur, and dignity (to aefivov kal fieyaXorexvov
kclI agicofiaTitcop). And still with all its grandeur it had perfect
simplicity, as is shown by the effect it produced upon others,
who were chiefly struck with the beauty and sweetness (the
%api<i rrj<; Te-xyw) of the " peaceful and benign " god. Its effect
upon the spectator was quite magical: Arrian3 and Dio Chryso-
stomos4 look upon it as a magic draught which banishes all care
and pain. "I think," says the latter, "that even a man who is
quite cumbered in spirit, who in his life has drunk often of the cup
of adversity and sorrow, and to whom even the sweet solace of
sleep never comes,—I think that even he, when he stands before
this statue, forgets all the cruel and alarming accidents that
beset the life of man. So happy hast thou (Pheidias) been in
inventing and contriving a spectacle that is simply
Griefs cure, vexation's antidote,
Making forgetfulness of every care6.
and such surpassing radiance and charm has thy art conveyed
to the work." Pausanias6 relates the story that, when Pheidias
had completed his work and implored Zeus for a token mani-
festing whether he was contented with the work of the artist,
Zeus sent through the hypaethral opening of the temple flashes
of lightning, and a slab of black marble on the white pavement
of the temple indicated to posterity the spot where Zeus had
marked his approbation of his image. Plotinus7 says that
" Pheidias had conceived Zeus in his imagination as Zeus would
have been if he had appeared to him face to face." Even upon
1 SQ. 720 (Plut. Syll. xvii.).
2 De Isocr. p. 95, Ed. Sylb.; Brunn, Ccsc/i. d. Gr. Kiinstler 1. p. 204.
3 SQ. 717 (Epict. 1. vi. 24). 4 SQ. 707 (Dion Chr. Oral. xii. 51).
5 Horn. Od. iv. 221. 0 SQ. 696 (Pausan. v. xi. 70).
7 SQ. 716 {Enncad. v. viii. p. 1002. Ed. Creuzer).