Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about 12.4 m (41 ft) tall, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, and erected in the Temple of Zeus there.
The statue depicted the god of thunder, Zeus seated bare-chested at a cedar wood throne ornamented with ebony, ivory, gold and precious stones. Holding up the thrones’ armrests were two carved sphinxes, mythical creatures with the head and chest of a woman, the body of lion and the wings of a bird.
According to legend, the sculptor Phidias asked Zeus for a sign of his approval after finishing the statue. Soon after, the temple was struck by lightning.
The Zeus statue graced the temple at Olympia for more than eight centuries before Christian priests persuaded the Roman emperor to close the temple in the fourth century A.D. At that time, the statue was moved to a temple in Constantinople, where it is believed to have been destroyed in a fire in the year 462
