Poseidon or Zeus

This statue, retrieved from the Aegean Sea off Cape Artemision and preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, is probably a representation of Poseidon. The bronze statue (480-470 bc), whose head is shown here, represents a god in the act of hurling an object, unfortunately now lost. If, as some believe, the object was a thunderbolt rather than Poseidon’s trident, the work could have been an image of Zeus.

National Archaeological Museum, Athens/Bernard Cox/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York

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Greek Mythology; Greek Art and Architecture

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