Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamum

This colossal masterpiece was erected to glorify the victories of Pergamum against the Gauls.

Date: Constructed c. 180-175 b. c.e.

Category: Architecture; religion and mythology Locale: Pergamum, in Asia Minor

Summary The powerful city of Pergamum enjoyed a commanding position on the northwest coast of Asia Minor and served as the capital and showcase ofthe Attalid rulers, who gained royal status in the third century b. c.e. King Eumenes II (r. 197-159 b. c.e.) erected the Great Altar on the Pergamene Acropolis to glorify the victories of his father Attalus I (r. 241197 b. c.e.) against marauding Celtic-speaking Gauls (or Galatians), who had crossed from Europe to terrorize Asia Minor.

The altar proper stood on a high base and was surrounded by an Ionic colonnade with projecting wings that flanked a broad staircase. The base below the surmounting colonnade carried a 400-foot (122-meter) encircling marble frieze called Battle ofGods and Giants, a battle in which the gods successfully fought for civilization against the violent forces unleashed by the monstrous giants. The sculptural ensemble suggests a paral-

The Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamum. (F. R. Niglutsch)

Lel between the triumph of the gods and the victories of the Attalids, who saw themselves as preservers of Greek civilization against barbarism. Reflecting the dramatic compositions favored in Pergamene sculptors, the extravagant encircling frieze features larger-than-life figures, carved in high relief, who twist and turn with extraordinary vigor, the dramatic effect being further intensified by violent postures, anguished faces, and unruly hair.

Significance The Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamum is the most famous of all Hellenistic sculptural monuments.

Further Reading

Grummond, Nancy T. de, and Brunilde S. Ridgway. From Pergamum to Sperlonga: Sculpture and Context. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.

Pollitt, J. J. Art in the Hellenistic Age. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Stewart, Andrew. Greek Sculpture: An Exploration. 2 vols. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1990.

William E. Dunstan

See also: Art and Architecture; Attalid Dynasty; Eumenes II.