Zeus: what did he look like? |
| In Greek mythology, Zeus was the ruler and most-powerful of all the gods. As the ancient Greeks developed these
stories, how would an artist decide how to portray an imaginary character? What kind of "look" would Zeus need in order to show
his power and supreme importance? Artsology did an investigation to see how artists have portrayed Zeus over the centuries, and
have found a variety of depictions below. |
Zeus is seen here as a dark-haired and bearded man on this Greek red figure vase, circa 450 BC |
Zeus has a similar look here in this bronze sculpture from Cape Artemision, circa 460 BC |
This Roman marble sculpture of Zeus gives him much longer hair. |
Colossol sculpture of the head of Zeus, from Nemrut Dagi in Turkey |
A very small terracotta statuette is very vague, but one can still make out the appearance of a beard |
Zeus, as depicted on Greek currency from the 330's BC |
Here we see an unusual depiction of Zeus as an artist (at left), painting a picture of butterflies, as portrayed by Italian Renaissance artist Dosso Dossi, painted circa 1515 |
Thetis Appeals to Zeus, 1811, by the French neoclassical painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, shows a stern Zeus sitting on his throne |
Our last entry here on our study of Zeus is actually not Zeus, but rather George Washington portrayed as Zeus!
This sculpture was created by Horatio Greenough in 1841. The United States Congress commissioned Greenough to create a sculpture of Washington to honor
the centennial of Washington's birth. However, Congress was not aware of how Washington was to be portrayed, so you can imagine their surprise when the
sculpture was delivered and revealed as a muscular, shirtless Washington imitating the role of Zeus, ruler of the gods in Greek mythology! Washington is most-often
seen in military uniform, so this depiction is quite unexpected.
 The bronze sculpture at right
shows a seated Zeus in a pose that was often used by Greek and Roman sculptors, and gives an idea of where Greenough came up with his idea for his
sculpture of Washington as Zeus. |
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