Olympia, Temple of Zeus: The East Pediment - VIII
Supposed "old seer”, Figure N of the pediment’s reconstruction scheme proposed by Säflund.
With his potbelly, sagging flesh, balding head, puffy eyes, lined forehead, and dramatic gesture of bringing his clenched fist to his cheek, character N has long been recognized as a masterpiece of Early Classical sculpture, the epitome of the period's concern with pathos, its interest in the depiction of youth and age, and its exploration of consciousness.
According to the proposed reconstruction, the old man reclines on the ground behind Pelopos’ chariot and he brings his right hand to his chin supporting his weight with a staff held in his left hand (the lost staff was presumably of bronze): his gesture a sign of grief at the inevitable death of the Oinomaos.
His identifications made over the years have included Myrtilos, a groom (an identification made also by Pausanias), a local deity, Kronos, the paedagogus of Pelops, Killas, and Hellanodica. Interpreting his hand-to-cheek gesture as a sign that he is merely listening to what Oinomaos is saying rather than as a sign of anxiety, dejection, or prophetic gloom, some scholars think he is simply an aged spectator, a representative of the older generation. This identification seems to overlook the anxiety conveyed by the lined forehead - the lines are surely signs of pathos rather than mere wrinkles. This character seems to know and fear something the others do not, and it may not be accident that he seems to have stared directly at the (rigged) wheels and axle of Oinomaos' chariot. For this and other reasons, the majority of scholars have believed N to be a seer. And, if that is what this character is, then this man of foreknowledge and foreboding would neatly bracket virtually the entire pedimental composition, and so personify the inevitability and closure of fate and the dike of Zeus. There will be no escape for Oinomaos - and none for Pelops and his descendants.
Source: Jeffrey M. Hurwit, “Narrative Resonance in the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia”
Marble Statuary group
ca. 470 - 457 BC
Olympia, Archaeological Museum
Olympia, Temple of Zeus: The East Pediment - VIII
Supposed "old seer”, Figure N of the pediment’s reconstruction scheme proposed by Säflund.
With his potbelly, sagging flesh, balding head, puffy eyes, lined forehead, and dramatic gesture of bringing his clenched fist to his cheek, character N has long been recognized as a masterpiece of Early Classical sculpture, the epitome of the period's concern with pathos, its interest in the depiction of youth and age, and its exploration of consciousness.
According to the proposed reconstruction, the old man reclines on the ground behind Pelopos’ chariot and he brings his right hand to his chin supporting his weight with a staff held in his left hand (the lost staff was presumably of bronze): his gesture a sign of grief at the inevitable death of the Oinomaos.
His identifications made over the years have included Myrtilos, a groom (an identification made also by Pausanias), a local deity, Kronos, the paedagogus of Pelops, Killas, and Hellanodica. Interpreting his hand-to-cheek gesture as a sign that he is merely listening to what Oinomaos is saying rather than as a sign of anxiety, dejection, or prophetic gloom, some scholars think he is simply an aged spectator, a representative of the older generation. This identification seems to overlook the anxiety conveyed by the lined forehead - the lines are surely signs of pathos rather than mere wrinkles. This character seems to know and fear something the others do not, and it may not be accident that he seems to have stared directly at the (rigged) wheels and axle of Oinomaos' chariot. For this and other reasons, the majority of scholars have believed N to be a seer. And, if that is what this character is, then this man of foreknowledge and foreboding would neatly bracket virtually the entire pedimental composition, and so personify the inevitability and closure of fate and the dike of Zeus. There will be no escape for Oinomaos - and none for Pelops and his descendants.
Source: Jeffrey M. Hurwit, “Narrative Resonance in the East Pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia”
Marble Statuary group
ca. 470 - 457 BC
Olympia, Archaeological Museum