Group of Zeus and Ganymede

The Group of Zeus and Ganymede is a multi-figure terracotta statue group. The late archaic artwork depicting Zeus taking the youthful Ganymede to Mount Olympus was created in the first quarter of the fifth century and is now displayed near where it was originally found in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

The group was probably the acroterion of one of the treasuries at Olympia; earlier theories suggested it was contemporary with the Temple of Zeus. The size of the figure is unusual - it is less than life size, but well over the normal size for a terracotta figure. The work is dated to around 480-470 BC, the transitional period between the archaic and the classical periods, and is attributed to a Corinthian workshop.

The first parts of the fragmentary group was found in 1878 in the southwestern and western area of the stadium at Olympia, near the surface. Further pieces were found in the same location up to 1938. Today, the statue group, which has been reconstructed as far as possible but is not complete, is kept in the local archaeological museum, where it is listed under inventory number T 2. On account of the fragmented nature of the statue during its discovery, parts of it were assigned further inventory numbers and as a result, Ganymede is sometimes referred to under inventory number 106.

The two figures are connected to one another. The larger figure, Zeus, holds the smaller figure, clutching him tightly with his right arm. Zeus's right arm went under Ganymede's own right arm, which is broken below the shoulder and is almost entirely lost. In his left hand, Zeus holds a wooden walkingstick. Zeus wears a long tunic which hangs loosely over his left arm and his hips. His upper body is exposed, but the tunic completely covers his back. The legs of the god are in a striding posture, his left leg poking out through a gap in his tunic. He is barefoot. Part of the left leg is poorly preserved, like the edge of the tunic and there is damage to his right foot, left elbow and head. His damaged head, which is made from a separate piece of clay, is decorated with a hat with orderly locks of hair issuing from underneath it. The sharpness of his chin is striking. His restrained smile is a late form of the so-called "archaic smile".

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