Zeus and Ganymedes

This is a statue of the deity Zeus, carrying off the young Ganymedes as his wine steward. It is 3.6 ft. [1.1 m.] high and is made of terra cotta. Terra cotta is an earthenware clay that was fired over low heat. Usually is unglazed and an orange-brown color.

It dates to the Classical Period – to about 480–470 B.C. It may have originally served as an acroterion on a temple. “The use of such figures was a feature of Etruscan temple decoration, and this one may have been from the treasury of a Western Greek city.”

Quote from p. 174 from Camp, John, and Fisher, Elizabeth. The World of the Ancient Greeks. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Click here to view for purchase from amazon.com.