Passing by Amalias avenue it's impossible not to notice the huge Columns
of the Olympian Zeus! Located south-
east of Athens' acropolis,
near the river Ilissos, the Temple of
Olympian Zeus, also known as the
Olympieion would
become the largest temple the city had ever seen…
The
building of the temple actually began in the 6th century by the
tyrant Peisistratus, but the project has never been completed. The
Greeks of the classical period left it unfinished because they
believed it was too big and symbolized the arrogance of people who
believed they were equal to the Gods. Aristotle
in his “Politics” cited the
temple as an example of how tyrannies engaged the populace in great
works for the state and left them no time, energy or means to rebel.
However,
the temple was not finished until the emperor Hadrian, the great
philhellene, finally brought to completion one of the biggest ever
ancient temples in 131 AD, 638 years after the project had begun!
Hadrian dedicated the colossal marble temple to Zeus after he
associated himself with the father of the gods and adopted the title
of “Olympios”. So he erected a giant gold and ivory status of
Zeus inside the temple with an equally large one of himself next to
it. Nothing remains of the interior of the temple. Nearby the columns
stands the Arch of Hadrian which was erected in 132 AD as a gate
between the ancient city and the Roman city of Athens.
In
the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, the temple was
extensively quarried for building materials to supply building
projects elsewhere in the city. Today only 15 of the 104 temple’s
Corinthian columns (17 meters high) are still standing. One of the
columns actually blew down in a storm in 1852 and it is still lying
where it fell.
In
the early 1800s, a “stylite” (the word comes from the Greek
“stylos” for
column and refers to the group of ascetics who spent long periods
standing on the top of columns) built his dwelling on top of one of
the columns of the temple. This unusual incident can be seen in early
paintings and drawings.
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| "View of Athens from the river Ilissos", Michael Wittmer 1833 |
