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[1] The god sits on a throne, and he is made of gold and ivory. On his head is placed a garland, which is an imitation of olive shoots. In his right hand, he holds a Nike, which, like the statue, is of ivory and gold; she wears a ribbon and—on her head—a garland. In the left hand of the god is a scepter, ornamented with every kind of metal, and the bird sitting on the scepter is the eagle. The sandals also of the god are of gold, as is likewise his robe. Worked into the robe [
himation] are figures of animals and the flowers of the lily.
[2] The throne is adorned with gold and with jewels, to say nothing of ebony and ivory. Upon it are painted figures and worked images. There are four Victories, represented as dancing women, one at each foot of the throne, and two others at the base of each foot. On each of the two front feet are set Theban children ravished by sphinxes, while under the sphinxes Apollo and Artemis are shooting down the children of Niobe.
[3] Between the feet of the throne are four rods, each one stretching from foot to foot. The rod straight opposite the entrance has on it seven images; how the eighth of them disappeared nobody knows. These must be intended to be representations [
mīmēmata] of ancient contests [
agōnismata], since in the time of Pheidias, contests for boys had not yet been introduced. The figure of one binding his own head with a ribbon is said to resemble in appearance Pantarkes, a boy of Elis said to have been the love of Pheidias. Pantarkes too won the wrestling bout for boys at the eighty-sixth Festival.
[4] On the other rods is the band that with Hēraklēs fights against the Amazons. The number of figures in the two parties is twenty-nine, and Theseus too is ranged among the allies of Hēraklēs. The throne is supported not only by the feet, but also by an equal number of columns standing between the feet. It is impossible to go under the throne, in the way we enter the inner part of the throne at Amyklai. At Olympia, there are screens constructed like walls which keep people out.
[5] Of these screens the part opposite the doors is only covered with dark blue paint; the other parts show pictures by Panainos. Among them is Atlas, supporting sky [
ouranos] and earth, by whose side stands Hēraklēs ready to receive the load of Atlas, along with Theseus; Peirithoös, Hellas, and Salamis carrying in her hand the ornament made for the top of a ship’s bows; then Hēraklēs’ exploit against the Nemean lion, the outrage committed by Ajax on Cassandra,
[6] Hippodameia, the daughter of Oinomaos with her mother, and Prometheus still held by his chains, though Hēraklēs has been raised up to him. For among the stories told about Hēraklēs is one that he killed the eagle which tormented Prometheus in the Caucasus, and set free Prometheus himself from his chains. Last in the picture come Penthesileia giving up her breath-of-life [
psūkhē] and Achilles supporting her; two Hesperides are carrying the apples, the keeping of which, it is said, had been entrusted to them. This Panainos was a brother of Pheidias; he also painted the picture of the battle of Marathon in the painted portico in Athens.
[7] On the uppermost parts of the throne Pheidias has made, above the head of the statue [
agalma], three Graces on one side and three Seasons on the other. These in epic poetry are included among the daughters of Zeus. Homer too in the
Iliad
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says that the Seasons have been entrusted with the sky, just like guards of a king’s court. The footstool of Zeus, called by the Athenians
thranion, has golden lions and, in relief, the fight of Theseus against the Amazons, the first brave deed of the Athenians against barbarians [
barbaroi].
[8] On the pedestal supporting the throne and Zeus with all his adornments are works in gold: the Sun mounted on a chariot, Zeus and Hērā, Hephaistos, and by his side Grace. Close to her comes Hermes, and close to Hermes, Hestia. After Hestia is Eros receiving Aphrodite as she rises from the sea, and Aphrodite is being garlanded by Persuasion. There are also reliefs of Apollo with Artemis, of Athena and of Hēraklēs; and near the end of the pedestal, Amphitrite and Poseidon, while the Moon is driving what I think is a horse. Some have said that the steed of the goddess is a mule, not a horse, and they tell a naïve [
eu-ēthēs] story about the mule.
[9] I know that the height and width of the Olympian Zeus have been measured and recorded; but I shall not make a citation [
ep-ainos] of those who made the measurements, for even their records fall far short of the impression made by a sight of the statue [
agalma]. No, the god himself according to what is said bore witness to the artistic skill of Pheidias. For when the statue [
agalma] was quite finished Pheidias prayed the god to show by a sign whether the work was to his liking. Immediately, according to what is said, a thunderbolt fell on that part of the floor where down to the present day the bronze jar stood to cover the place.
[10] All the floor in front of the statue [
agalma] is paved, not with white, but with black tiles. In a circle around the black stone runs a raised rim of Parian marble, to keep in the olive oil that is poured out. For olive oil is beneficial to the statue [
agalma] at Olympia, and it is olive oil that keeps the ivory from being harmed by the marshiness of the Altis. On the Athenian Acropolis, the ivory of the statue [
agalma] they call the Maiden [
Parthénos] is benefited not by olive oil but by water. For the Acropolis, owing to its great height, is over-dry, so that the statue [
agalma], being made of ivory, needs water or dampness.
[11] When I asked at Epidaurus why they pour neither water nor olive oil on [the statue [
agalma] of] Asklepios, the attendants at the sanctuary informed me that both the statue [
agalma] of the god and the throne were built over a cistern.
Description of Greece. Pausanias. ed. W. H. S. Jones, ed. H. A. Ormerod, ed. Gregory Nagy. . .