Carpe Diem #329, The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

As we are on our way to the end of this anniversary month of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, we are visiting the Seven Ancient World Wonders and today we arrive at Olympia were the Statue of Zeus once stood.
This colossal statue represented the Greek god of heaven: Zeus. It was ordered in 450 BC. to the Athenian sculptor Phidias by the inhabitants of Olympia who wished to decorate the temple of the old town.

This statue was located on the west coast of Greece at Olympia. In the antiquity, this city was a place of cult which contained numerous treasures of the Greek art: temples, monuments, altars, theaters, statues and marble or bronze votive offerings. It was realized with golden and ivory, measured 12 m (39 feet) height and was placed on a base of 2 m (7 feet). The base of the statue was 6 m (21 feet) wide and 1 m height. The statue's perimeter was 13 m (43 feet). This work touched almost the ceiling of the temple. On the other hand, the throne was decorated with precious stones, ivory, ebony and gold.

Zeus, in sat position, holds, in its right hand, the goddess of Victory, Nike, and, in the left hand, a scepter surmounted by an eagle. The throne was decorated with relief sculptured mythological scenes, notably evoking the murder of the sons of Niobe, the queen of Thebes.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia (an interpretation)

This statue was made,  in honour of the god whom the ancient Olympic Games were created. They took place every four years and were the most famous ancient four games during which the Greeks were involved. The three others were the Isthmian games (at Corinth), the Pythian games (at Delphi) and the Nemean games (at Nemea). Then, we can say that with its greatness and its priceless value, the statue of Zeus distanced itself from the other Greek works. We can add that this is the biggest statue that the Greeks have ever realized.

Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the fire which ravaged the temple in 462. Nowadays, only stony ruins which were used for the construction of the temple remain.

A wonderful kind of ancient Greek art-work, it's a shame that there's nothing less then a few ruines and no physical evidence for this World Wonder.

in honour
of a great haiku poet
Basho's statue

Basho (1644-1694) - the greatest haiku poet ever

As the Statue of Zeus was made to honour the creator of the Olympic Games,  Basho was honoured with the Sumo-games which are wearing his name "Basho-Games".

honoring haiku -

fighting in praise of Basho
sumo warriors

sumo warriors
after their fight retrieving balance
writing haiku

writing haiku
sometimes a struggle sometimes not
just like sumo

A nice series of haiku I think, in praise of Basho, my haiku master, inspired by the Statue of Zeus ... Hope you like the read. Have fun, be inspired and share your haiku with us all here at our Haiku Kai.

This prompt will stay on 'til October 24th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will (try) to post our next episode around 7.00 PM (CET) later on today. That new episode will be our next stop in our journey along the Ancient World Wonders, The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
!! Statue of Zeus is open for your submissions at 7.00 PM (CET) !!