| Marathon Boy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Material | Bronze |
| Height | 1.3 meters |
| Created | 340 – 330 BC |
| Discovered | June 1925 Aegean Sea |
| Present location | Athens,Attica,Greece |
TheMarathon Boy orEphebe of Marathon is aGreek bronze sculpture found in theAegean Sea in thebay of Marathon in 1925.
The sculpture is conserved in theNational Archaeological Museum of Athens where it is dated to around 340–330 BC.[1] The Museum suggests that the subject is the winner of an athletic competition. With its soft musculature and exaggeratedcontrapposto, its style is associated with the school ofPraxiteles. The upraised arm and the distribution of weight indicate that in his original context, thisephebe was leaning against a vertical support, such as a column.[2]
Before the advent ofscuba diving, its chance recovery suggested the possibility that artistic as well as archaeological treasures had been preserved from human destruction in underwater sites. Other well-known underwater bronze finds have been retrieved, generally fromshipwreck sites, in the Aegean and Mediterranean: theAntikythera mechanism, theAntikythera Ephebe and the portrait head of aStoic discovered by sponge-divers in 1900, theMahdia shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia, 1907; the standingPoseidon of Cape Artemision found off Cape Artemision in northern Euboea, 1926; thehorse andRider found off Cape Artemision, 1928 and 1937; theGetty Victorious Youth dredged up off the coast of Fano, Italy; theRiace bronzes, found in 1972; theDancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo, in the Sicily Channel, 2003; and theApoxyomenos recovered from the sea off the Croatian island ofLošinj in 1999.
Media related toMarathon Boy, NAMA X15118 at Wikimedia Commons
