Plutarch discusses Phidias's friendship with the Greek statesmanPericles, recording that enemies of Pericles tried to attack him through Phidias – who was accused of stealing gold intended for the Parthenon's statue of Athena, and of impiously portraying himself and Pericles on the shield of the statue. The historical value of this account, as well as the legend about accusations against the 'Periclean circle', is debatable, butAristophanes mentions an incident with Phidias around that time.[citation needed]
Phidias is often credited as the main instigator of theClassical Greek sculptural design. Today, most critics and historians consider him one of the greatest of all ancient Greek sculptors.[5][6]
In this painting by artistPaul Delaroche, Phidias is depicted enthroned on the right.
TheVarvakeion Athena, a Roman-era statue of Athena Parthenos considered to be the most faithful reproduction of the chryselephantine statue made by Phidias and his assistants, as displayed in theNational Archaeological Museum, Athens
Of Phidias's life, little is known apart from his works. Although no original works exist that can be attributed to him with certainty, numerous Roman copies of varying degrees of fidelity are known to exist.
The earliest of Phidias's works were dedications in memory ofMarathon, celebrating the Greek victory. His first commission was a group of national heroes withMiltiades as a central figure. AtDelphi he created a great group in bronze including the figures ofGreek godsApollo andAthena, severalAttic heroes, and GeneralMiltiades the Younger. On the Acropolis of Athens, Phidias constructed a colossal bronze statue of Athena, theAthena Promachos, which was visible far out at sea. Athena was thegoddess of wisdom and warriors and the protector of Athens. AtPellene inAchaea, and atPlataea, Phidias made two other statues of Athena, as well as a statue of the goddessAphrodite in ivory and gold for the people of Elis.
Inantiquity, Phidias was celebrated for his statues in bronze and hischryselephantine works (statues made of gold and ivory). In theHippias Major, Plato claims that Phidias seldom, if ever, executed works inmarble unlike many sculptors of his time.Plutarch writes that he superintended the great works ordered by Greek statesmanPericles on theAcropolis.[7] Ancient critics take a very high view of the merits of Phidias. They especially praise theethos or permanent moral level of his works as compared with those of the later so called "pathetic" school. BothPausanias and Plutarch mention works of his depicting the warlikeAthena Areia.Demetrius calls his statues sublime, and at the same time precise.[citation needed]
In 447 BC, Pericles commissioned several sculptures for Athens from Phidias to celebrate the Greek victory against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon during theGreco-Persian Wars (490 BC). Pericles used some of the money from the maritimeLeague of Delos,[8] to rebuild and decorate Athens to celebrate this victory. Inscriptions prove that the marble blocks intended for the pedimental statues of theParthenon were not brought to Athens until 433–434BC.[9] It is therefore possible that most of sculptural decoration of the Parthenon was the work of Phidias's workshop including pupils of Phidias, such asAlcamenes andAgoracritus.[citation needed]
According to Pausanias (1.28.2), the original bronzeAthena Lemnia was created by Phidias (c. 450–440BC) for Athenians living onLemnos. He described it as "the best of all Pheidias's works to see".Adolf Furtwängler suggested that he found a copy of theAthena Lemnia in a statue of which the head is located inBologna and the body is atDresden. Some 5th-centuryBC torsos of Athena have been found at Athens. The torso of Athena in theÉcole des Beaux-Arts at Paris, which has lost its head, gives some idea of what the original statue may have looked like.[citation needed]
For the ancient Greeks, two works of Phidias far outshone all others: the colossalchryselephantineStatue of Zeus (c. 432BC), which was erected in theTemple of Zeus atOlympia, and theAthena Parthenos (lit. "Athena the Virgin"), a sculpture of the virgin goddess Athena, which was housed in theParthenon in Athens. Both sculptures belong to about the middle of the 5th century BC. A number of replicas and works inspired by it, both ancient and modern, have been made. Upon completing theAthena Parthenos, Phidias was accused of embezzlement.[10] Specifically, he was charged with shortchanging the amount of gold that was supposed to be used for the statue and keeping the extra for himself. It seems that the charge was politically motivated – a result of his friendship with Pericles, who had many enemies in Athens.[11]
Phidias supposedly weighed the gold robe of theAthena Parthenos to prove his innocence, but was then accused of impiously portraying himself and Pericles on the shield of the statue, which was apparently true.[12]
Plutarch records that Phidias was imprisoned and died in jail.[13][a]
According toPhilochorus, as quoted by a scholiast on Aristophanes, Phidias was put to death by theEleans after he completed the Statue of Zeus at Olympia for them.[16][17]From the late 5th century BC, small copies of the statue of Zeus were found on coins from Elis, which give a general notion of the pose and the character of the head. The god was seated on a throne, every part of which was used for sculptural decoration. His body was of ivory, his robe of gold. His head was of a somewhat archaic type; the bust of Zeus found atOtricoli, which used to be regarded as a copy of the head of the Olympian statue, is certainly more than a century later in style.[citation needed]
A significant advancement in the knowledge of Phidias's working methodology came during 1954–58 with the excavation of the workshop at Olympia where he created the Statue of Zeus. Tools, terracotta molds and a cup inscribed on the bottom "Φειδίου εἰμί" (Pheidíou eimí) – "I belong to Phidias"; literally: "of Phidias I am", were found here, just where Pausanias said the statue was constructed.[18][19][20] The discovery has enabled archaeologists to re-create the techniques used to make the statue and confirm its date.[citation needed]
By 1910, mathematicianMark Barr began using theGreek letterPhi (φ) as asymbol for thegolden ratio after Phidias.[21][22] However, Barr later wrote that he thought it unlikely that Phidias actually used the golden ratio.[23]
^According to Plutarch, Phidias was made an object of attack by the political enemies of Pericles. His workman Menon is said to have been at least partially responsible for his downfall: Plutarch states that Menon sat in the marketplace begging for protection in exchange for bringing charges against Phidias. He was subsequently provided with safety by the state and exempted from public duties. Accordingly, Phidias was imprisoned and died in prison at Athens.[14]
Citations
^Birte Lundgreen, "A Methodological Enquiry: The Great Bronze Athena by Phidias"The Journal of Hellenic Studies
^Not theCharmides who participated in the tyranny at Athens.
^Not to be confused withHegias the neoplatonic philosopher.
^Cunningham, Lawrence S.; Reich, John J.; Fichner-Rathus, Lois (2016).Culture and Values: A Survey of the Humanities, Volume I. Cengage Learning. p. 88.ISBN978-1337514941.
^The Delian team was an association of approximately 150 Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire.
^Neils, Jenifer (2005).The Parthenon: from antiquity to the present. Cambridge (GB): Cambridge university press.ISBN978-0-521-82093-6.
^Barr, Mark (1929). "Parameters of beauty".Architecture (NY). Vol. 60. p. 325. Reprinted:"Parameters of beauty".Think. Vol. 10–11. International Business Machines Corporation. 1944.
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