This temple is located in an area south of the Acropolis.
The building of the Temple of Olympian Zeus was attempted by multiple rulers in different time periods. Deucalion initiated the building of this temple in its current location. Pesistratos, 6th century tyrant of Athens, was next to build in the spot. He wanted it to be one of the largest temples in Athens of the era. Only the foundation can be linked to his time period.
"In the Politics (E 1313b 18-25), Aristotle, uses the Olympieion of the Pesistratids as an example of how tyrannies engage the populace in great works for the state and keep them in such poverty that they have no time, energy or means to rebel."
In 510 BC, worked stopped when the last tyrant, Hippias was expelled. Several of the unfluted columns were then taken and used in the Thermistoclean Wall. Next was the Persian invasion; following it was the time in which Athenian workforce and state money geared towards Pericle's building program on the Acropolis.
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Antiochus Epiphanes, Hellenistic king (174 -165 BC), attempted the project next, but when he dies it was left half finished.
In 86 BC, Sulla took a couple of columns to Rome and built Jupiter Capitolinus. Speculation has it, that these columns have some influence on the Corinthian style in Rome.
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The columns of the temple were each 17 meters high (apporx. 56 ft). There were 104 columns at the time of completion. Here is the close up to show the Corinthian style flutes and leaf carvings. The Corinthian style gives it its massive bulky look. |
| This a map showing the relation and location of the completed Temple of Olympian Zeus to the rest of the buildings around it. ( #1 on this map) |
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The temple was completed 700 years after its initial ground breaking. It was completed under Hadrian. The finished product was the largest temple in Greece, just as Pesistratos had originally dreamed. When finished, it had triple column rows on the east and west ends with double rows of columns on the north and south ends. There were four more rows inside the antae. It was patterned after the plan under Antiochus as opposed to the Doric design of Pesistratos.
In AD 130, Hadrian dedicated the Temple of Olympian Zeus along side a statue of himself.
The Arch of Hadrian lies directly in between the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Dipylon Gate. It is the spot between the ancient classical city of Athens and the new city of Hadrian.
To mark the distinction between the old and the new, the inscription on the western side reads, "This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus." The inscription on the eastern side reads, "This is the city of Hadrian, not of Theseus."
Bibliographical citations:
http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/sites/athens/OlympianZeus/lecture.htm
http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/andersje/zeus_temple.htm
http://www.grisel.net/zeus.htm
