Olympic Victor Monuments and Greek Athletic Art

Book excerpt: While today's Olympic victors are awarded with the iconic gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals, Olympic champions in the ancient Greek world were memorialized in monuments erected at Olympia and elsewhere. In this 1921 volume, Walter Woodburn Hyde provides a thorough study of statues and other works of art completed in honor of Olympic victors, examining the general characteristics of victor statues found in Olympia and other Greek sites, the features of victor statues represented at rest, and the elements of victor statues represented in motion (think the famous "Discus Thrower.") For art historians, historians of ancient Greece or anyone just curious about the perks of being a famous athlete in the ancient Greek world, this richly illustrated work offers an interesting look at this little-known aspect of the ancient Greek Olympics.