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All the theories which have been mentioned are true to a certain
extent. It would therefore be more correct to say that the
mythology of a nation has sprung from all these sources combined
than from any one in particular. We may add also that there are
many myths which have arisen from the desire of man to account for
those natural phenomena which he cannot understand; and not a few
have had their rise from a similar desire of giving a reason for
the names of places and persons.
STATUES OF THE GODS
To adequately represent to the eye the ideas intended to be
conveyed to the mind under the several names of deities was a task
which called into exercise the highest powers of genius and art.
Of the many attempts FOUR have been most celebrated, the first two
known to us only by the descriptions of the ancients, the others
still extant and the acknowledged masterpieces of the sculptor's
art.
THE OLYMPIAN JUPITER
The statue of the Olympian Jupiter by Phidias was considered the
highest achievement of this department of Grecian art. It was of
colossal dimensions, and was what the ancients called
"chryselephantine;" that is, composed of ivory and gold; the parts
representing flesh being of ivory laid on a core of wood or stone,
while the drapery and other ornaments were of gold.
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