Chapter XXII: The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

IMAGINE that you see before you a majestic white statue of gigantic size, made of ivory, seated upon an immense throne of ebony, ivory, gold and precious stones, and wearing upon his golden hair a crown of enamelled green olive leaves. Over one shoulder is thrown a mantle of glittering gold, embroidered in white lilies, which falls down over his ivory body across the knees. In one hand he holds the winged figure of Victory, in the other a long, slender sceptre crowned with an eagle, and on his feet are rich golden sandals. There: Was not that worth seeing? You have been looking at Zeus of Olympia, the most beautiful and wonderful statue ever made by Phidias, who lived ages ago and modelled Zeus about the year 439 B.C.

You can make a little statue of Zeus, but you must pretend that

=You Are the Sculptor Phidias=

and that you are actually modelling the real giant statue. Make believe that hundreds of elephant tusks have been sent to you from distant regions to supply enough ivory for the work, and that you have an abundance of gold, precious stones and ebony. Make Zeus of a doll (Fig. 332) five and one-half or six inches in length. Pry off its wig, then give the doll a coat of varnish. Should the arms be flat, round them out with a layer of raw cotton glued on and paint the doll white all over. You must make the entire doll absolutely white.

=Gild Hair, Beard and Mustache=

on the head (Figs. 333 and 334). Gild the sandals (Fig. 335). Make a crown of green tissue paper olive leaves. Fold and cut like Figs. 336 and 337, and fasten together on the back of the head with glue. Bend and bind Fig. 338 into a sitting position with feet crossed; keep the statue so until you glue it on the throne. Cut the

=Throne of White Cardboard=

(Fig. 339); the back, seat and front from top of centre ornament to extreme edge of front are six and three-quarter inches. The seat is one and one-quarter inch wide and two and three-quarter inches long. The arms are one inch high and the top of arm half an inch wide; the length of arm is an inch and a quarter. The front is one inch wide, the feet G and F, on each side are half an inch long not including the flaps. Length of back of throne is four and one-half inches. Each side is an inch and one-quarter wide; their greatest length, counting the entire length of one of the feet, is an inch and a half. The width of back piece (Fig. 340), not including X and X, is two and three-quarter inches. The sides X and X are one and one-half inch in length, as they fit exactly the under side of the throne sides J and J.

=Lightly Score,=

then bend dotted lines and cut heavy lines. Bend inward the side part A (Fig. 339) including D and L; then bend forward the top part B; slide C through D from outside and bend inward the box-like arm at E. Bend the other arm likewise. Bend backward the sides extending along the dotted lines F F and G G, then the front along dotted line H; at the same time slide I and I against the inner sides of the throne J and J. Bend forward the back of the throne at K. Bring forward the arms and run L and L through M and M, then pass L and L forward through N and N, and slide them back through O and O. Bring the extension P, including T and Q, across the front; run the tongue Q through R. Bend the left side, passing S through T and U, which fits directly under T; S must go through the two slits to the under side of the chair.

=Use the Blade of a Penknife=

in sliding tongues and flaps through slits and use it to straighten out the points of tongues after they are through the slits. Bend down and backward W and W (Fig. 340); then bend back X and X and fasten Fig. 340 to the throne by sliding V through Y on back of throne. Rest the seat of throne over W and W and the sides J and J (Fig. 339) over X and X (Fig. 340). Attach the throne to the

=Upper Dais=

by lower flaps. Fig. 341 shows the upper dais. The four sides are each one inch high, its top is three and one-half inches on each of the sides; all four extensions are one inch and a quarter long, tongues not counted, and the four slits are each an inch and one-quarter from the edges of the sides.

The two slits marked, one with a square, the other with a diamond, hold the flaps of the footstool (Fig. 342) marked with same designs. In the diagrams of footstool and dais the slits are marked with designs like the designs on flaps and tongues, which slide through them.

Bring the two correct parts of the upper dais (Fig. 341) together by matching them, as heart to heart, etc. Cut heavy lines, lightly score and bend dotted lines of the upper dais and put it in shape. Make the top of

=Footstool=

(Fig. 342) an inch and a half long and one inch wide; let the front, back and sides each be half an inch high, the back extensions one inch long, the two side flaps each one inch long, front extensions an inch and a half long, not including tongues. Cut heavy lines, score lightly and bend dotted lines and slip tongues through slits.

=Attach the Stool=

to upper dais by bottom side flaps; bend the flaps up flat against the under part of the dais. In the same way fasten the throne on the upper dais by sliding the four down-hanging extensions through the four remaining slits on top of the upper dais marked with the same designs. Bend and put together the lower dais (Fig. 343) and fasten the upper dais on it. Make the lower dais five inches square on top and one inch high. Glue the bottom flaps of lower dais down on stiff cardboard or thin wood, in size about eight by ten inches.

=Inlay the Throne with Ebony=

by painting a black band across the top, down each side of the back and down the front of the arms; keep the lines straight and neat. Gild the centre and two side ornaments on top of the throne.

Trace the panel with the two lions (Fig. 344), gild the lions and gum the panel on the front of footstool; then unbend Zeus and place him on his throne, bringing him well to the front that his feet may rest on the footstool. Fasten the statue firmly in place with glue and pins. Pin one folded end of a strip of smoothly ironed starched cloth on the back of Zeus, bring the cloth up over the left shoulder down across the knees in folds like those in Fig. 345, the statue of Zeus, and with glue and pins

=Fasten the Drapery=

loosely here and there, then gild the entire strip of cloth. Make the sceptre of a headless hat-pin. Trace the gold eagle from Fig. 346; gild and cut it out, then taking a stitch through the eagle’s body with the hat-pin, slide the eagle up to the top of the pin and glue it in place. Make Zeus grasp the eagle-crowned sceptre by binding his hand and sceptre tightly together with thread. Add a little glue to make sure they stick fast; steady the sceptre by running its point down into the small needle hole that has been previously punctured in the dais, and paint the sceptre white.

Trace and cut out the

=Winged Figure of Victory=

(Fig. 347), glue it to the empty hand of Zeus and glue the hand tight on the top of the arm of the throne. Then, to give an idea of the immense size of the statue, place a one-inch doll in front of the throne, glue a bit of drapery on it, and let the doll represent a worshipper at the shrine of Zeus. Play that the ivory, gold and ebony throne is glittering with precious stones and golden pictures from the stories of the gods, and that the arms of the throne are supported by two sphinxes.

The real statue was in the chief temple of Olympia in Greece, where the Olympic games were held every fourth year, and Zeus was so large, it was said, that

=Should He Rise from His Throne=

he would lift the roof off the building; also, that the statue was the supreme masterpiece of art. Everyone was anxious to see it. The people believed that should one stand before the figure and gaze upon it, he would immediately forget all worry and care. Possibly this charm may be transmitted to your little Zeus. The next time you are worried, try it, and see if you do not find yourself smiling as you contemplate the little statues.

You might let your young friends come to see your Zeus for four successive days and play that each day is a century, because for four centuries the real Zeus attracted crowds of people, as it was held a calamity to die without having seen Zeus of Olympia.