Apollon of Olympia

The Apollo of Olympia was part of the group of sculptures that was located in the west pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia. He stood in the center of the gable composition and is therefore also known as Apollo from the west pediment or just west gable - Apollo. He is one of the most important statues of the Severe Style, and is around 460 BC. The statue is located in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

In the west pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia the battle of the Lapiths, was plotted against the Centaurs at the wedding of Pirithous. The Centaurs were in Greek mythology wild forest dwellers with horse's body and a human torso. The Battle of the Lapiths, a mythical people of Thessaly, against the Centaurs often served as a symbol of the conflict between Greeks and barbarians. Most of the characters of this richly moving struggle representation were again found in the German excavations in Olympia since 1875 under Georg Treu.

In the middle of the gable was the youthful Apollo, who turns his gaze to the Lapiths. With his outstretched right hand he seems to be the criminal act - the Centaurs had violated the laws of hospitality, and that women consuming hergemacht on the Lapiths - to halt. However, can we imagine him as a phenomenon. The combatants are unaware of his presence, none of the other pediment sculptures refers in its movement or in her gesture to the appearance of God.

What is remarkable about the sculpture that their back, which had not been visible to the viewer, was edited coarser than the front. This in turn gave about the Greek sculptural technique of diverse information. In discussing whether the admittedly much younger Hermes of Olympia was a Greek original or a Roman copy of a Greek original, this aspect had played a major role.