The Statue of Zeus

The Statue of Zeus

This gold and bejeweled statue was commissioned in 438 B.C. by the Council of Olympia in reverence for Zeus, the ruler and most powerful of the Olympian gods. The great statue was the work of the Athenian sculptor Phidias and was constructed inside the Parthenon, the great temple overlooking the city. According to Philo of Byzantium, this was the most inspiring of all the seven wonders of the ancient world: 'Whereas we greatly admire the other six wonders, we kneel in front of this one in reverence...'. The statue of Zeus was later destroyed along with its temple after an earthquake in 170 B.C.