Leonidas
ArtistUnknown
Year480–470 BC
MediumParian marble
Dimensions78 cm (31 in)
LocationArchaeological Museum of Sparta

Leonidas is a sculpture of a hoplite made of Parian marble in 480–470 BC and unearthed in 1926. The sculpture was dubbed "Leonidas" by a local Greek workman after its discovery, in reference to Spartan king Leonidas I.[1] It was found southwest of peribolos of the Athena Chalkioikos on the Acropolis of Sparta.[2] The sculpture is housed in the Archaeological Museum of Sparta, which acquired it from the British School at Athens in 1926.[3] The sculpture features a Corinthian helmet with ram-shaped cheek pieces. While most of the plume is a restoration, fragments of a leg, foot, shield and helmet were also found nearby.[3]

The sculpture was part of a group, probably affixed to the sanctuary pediment. According to several scholars, it formed part of the memorial on the Spartan acropolis to honor Leonidas on his reburial.[4] Paul Cartledge, however, argued it would have represented a mythical hero or a god rather than the historical person of Leonidas.[1] One estimation dates the sculpture before rather than after 480 BC, the year of the Battle of Thermopylae where Leonidas died.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Paul Cartledge (2006). Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World. The Overlook Press. ISBN 1590208404.
  2. ^ "New York, USA. "Athens-Sparta: from the 8th to the 5th Centuries B.C." – Exhibition" (PDF). Onassis.org. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b ""Leonidas"". University of Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  4. ^ Nic Fields (2007). Thermopylae 480 BC. Osprey Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-184176-180-0.
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