Thanks to the detailed descriptions of the Temple of Olympian Zeus left to us by
Diodorus Siculus
and Polybius, it was possible to speculate about reproductions not only of the temple’s structure, but also of the decorations that embellished it during its heyday.
The temple’s
pediments
housed the narration of two different events: on the east and main side, a Gigantomachy was depicted, the war between the rebellious giants and the gods; on the west side, the Greeks’ capture of Troy. There were two
in the round
sculptural groups, probably in white marble, which were reminiscent of the white columns.
Some unconfirmed hypotheses suggest that the
Agrigento Warrior
, whose marble fragments were found between the area of the temples of Zeus and Heracles, could have been part of one of the two majestic sculptural groups.
As for all the temples in the Valley, it is reasonable to suggest that the Temple of Zeus did not have the yellow ochre colour of
calcarenite
typical of buildings in the Agrigento area, but rather was colourful and conveyed elegance and vivacity. From the reproductions made by the Archaeological Museum we see that the columns would have been white in colour, as were the telamons, while higher up, on the frieze, the
triglyphs
were the classic blue, completed by a red strip at the bottom.
