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| Description | | Exhibits |

View of the Polydamas statue base with the relief representation. In the picture, king Darios and four women are watching Polydamas defeating one of his opponents.
Base of the statue of Polydamas

A relief base of the statue of the famous Olympic champion of pancration Polydamas of Skotoussa. It is the work of the great Sikyonian sculptor Lysippos. The statue does not survive. Pausanias, however, describes it, during his visit to the sanctuary of Olympia, emphasizing that the athlete was the largest man of his time (Pausanias 6.5.1). The base is broken horizontally into two large pieces. A relief decoration illustrating the visit of Polydamas to King Darius Ochus is preserved on the three sides of the pedestal. The King had invited the famous athlete to compete with three men from the league of the immortals. On one side Darius and four women watch Polydamas holding one of his opponents up in the air. On the second side Polydamas breaks a lion, and on the third he is sits on top of the defeated animal. The athlete did not have a glorified death. He overestimated his power and was buried alive when the roof of a cave collapsed.

Exhibit Features
Date: Classical period, 2nd half of 4th c. B.C.
Creators:
Place of discovery: Ancient Olympia
Dimensions: length: 1,00 m, height: 0,38 m
Material: marble
Inventory number: Λ 45
Exhibition hole: Exhibition hall 6
Copyright: Hellenic Ministry of Culture
 
 
 
  Suggestive Bibliography
 
Olympia III, Berlin, 1894, 211, Taf. LV 1-3
 
Λεονάρδος B., Ολυμπία, Αθήνα, 1911, 58-60, 313
 
Lippold G., Die griechische Plastik, Munchen, 1950, 278, σημ. 7 και 284
 
Γιαλούρη Α., Γιαλούρης Ν., Ολυμπία. Το μουσείο και το ιερό, Αθήνα, 1991, 174
 
Αραπογιάννη Ξ., Ολυμπία. Η κοιτίδα των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων, Αθήνα, 2001, 380, 389
 
 
 
Other views
In the pictured representation, Polydamas is taming a lion