The Temple Of Zeus At Olympia, Heroes, And Athletes

Idara Rodriguez. Review of J.M Barringer, â€Å"The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Heroes, and Athletes†, 2005, pp. 211-241 I chose to review Judith Barringer’s article on the topic of why the sculpture works inside the Temple of Zeus should be looked at as a whole collective ensemble. This is because they would provide insight into how these works were seen and how they were closely related to Olympia and all the activity that occurred there. Judith Barringer also discusses how these sculptures literally acted as positive role models for the Olympic athletes that participated in the Olympic Games at the time. Throughout this essay we will take a look at how exactly she goes about proving her points and her reasoning behind them. The author of†¦show more content†¦The athletes would then leave their own offerings in front of the statue of Zeus and the hero shrine to Pelops, the Pelopion. The author goes on to discuss how many of the athletes would peer down through colonnades at the Temple of Zeus where they would also catch glimpses of the towering, immense, and an almighty seated Zeus overlaid with gold and ivory in the temples cella. Barringer questions what these athletes would have seen when looking at these massive works. She raises questions regarding what the myths depicted and conveyed back to them and what meaning and purpose did the patrons of the temple intend. The article surges us back to the present day and discusses how the architectural remains of the Temple of Zeus may leave it quite difficult for the imagination to conjure up the likeness of the once massive architectural spectacle. Though the sculptures remain in good condition they still received intense scrutiny from early scholars. Barringer rears a good point on how these scholars would treat these sculptures and pediments as not only separate entities from each other but all together separate from the activities that took place at Olympia. The au thor states that her point for writing this article is to show that these sculptures should be read as a whole meaningful ensemble coinciding within and with Olympia and the famous Olympic Games by looking not only at the Temple of Zeus itself or