Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Natural History, a Latin encyclopedia by Pliny the Elder, a scholar in Ancient Rome, Ageladas of Argos was his teacher.
The Discobolus by Myron is an ancient Greek sculpture completed at the start of the Classical period in around 460–450 BC that depicts an ancient Greek athlete throwing a discus. Though the original Greek bronze cast is lost, the work is known through numerous Roman copies, both full-scale ones in marble, which is cheaper than bronze, such as the Palombara Discobolus, the first to be recovered, and smaller scaled versions in bronze.
Myron's Discobolus was long known from descriptions, such as the dialogue in Lucian of Samosata's work Philopseudes: When you came into the hall," he said, "didn't you notice a totally gorgeous statue up there, by Demetrios the portraitist?" "Surely you don't mean the discus-thrower," said I, "the one bent over into the throwing-position, with his head turned back to the hand that holds the discus, and the opposite knee slightly flexed, like one who will spring up again after the throw? Reputation in the past →
Prior to this statue's discovery, the term Discobolus had been applied in the 17th and 18th centuries to a standing figure holding a discus, a Discophoros, which Ennio Quirino Visconti identified as the Discobolus of Naukydes of Argos, mentioned by Pliny (Haskell and Penny 1981:200). Discobolus and Discophorus →
The Discobolus Palombara, the first copy of this famous sculpture to have been discovered, was found in 1781. It is a 1st-century AD copy of Myron's original bronze. Discobolus Palombara or Lancellotti →
The Athena Marsyas Group was a bronze sculptural group by Myron that stood on the Acropolis of Athens in the high classical period, dated to c 450 BCE. Now lost, it has been reconstructed from copies, coins, other visual sources and literary testimonia. The work depicted the satyr Marsyas picking up an aulos dropped by Athena.
There is no information about who commissioned the statue or the occasion of its dedication, but attempts have been repeatedly made to try to put the work in its historical context. Interpretation →
In Greek mythology, Athena was thought to be the inventor of the aulos, with which, according to the poet Pindar, she imitated the funeral dirge of the Gorgons after the beheading of her mortal sister Medusa and gave it as a gift to humans for this purpose. Myth and auletics →
Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica.
Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze and his fame rested principally upon his representations of athletes (including his iconic Diskobolos), in which he made a revolution, according to commentators in Antiquity, by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more perfect rhythm, subordinating the parts to the whole. Reputation →
According to Pliny's Natural History, Myron's most famous works included "heifer, a dog (canem, Cerberus?), a Perseus, a satyr (Marsyas) admiring the flute and Minerva (Athena), a Hercules, which was taken to the shrine dedicated by Pompey the Great at the Circus Maximus, Discobolus (the discus thrower), and an Apollo for Ephesus, "which Antony the triumvir took from the Ephesians, but the deified Augustus restored it again after being warned in a dream". Works →
An epigram on Ladas, the fleetest runner of his time, notes that he was commemorated in a sculpture by Myron; of Myron's Ladas there is no known copy. A description by Lucian conclusively identifies as Myron's the Discobolus or "Discus-Thrower", of which several copies exist, of which the best is in the Palazzo Massimi alle Terme, Rome. Attributions →
Discus Thrower is a bronze sculpture in Washington, D.C. A copy of Myron's Discobolus, it is located in Edward J. Kelly Park, at 21st Street and Virginia Avenue, N.W.
Roman copy of Myron's heifer, Capitoline Museums. Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity.
Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze and his fame rested principally upon his representations of athletes (including his iconic Diskobolos), in which he made a revolution, according to commentators in Antiquity, by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more perfect rhythm, subordinating the parts to the whole. Reputation →
According to Pliny's Natural History, Myron's most famous works included "heifer, a dog (canem, Cerberus?), a Perseus, a satyr (Marsyas) admiring the flute and Minerva (Athena), a Hercules, which was taken to the shrine dedicated by Pompey the Great at the Circus Maximus, Discobolus (the discus thrower), and an Apollo for Ephesus, "which Antony the triumvir took from the Ephesians, but the deified Augustus restored it again after being warned in a dream". Works →
An epigram on Ladas, the fleetest runner of his time, notes that he was commemorated in a sculpture by Myron; of Myron's Ladas there is no known copy. A description by Lucian conclusively identifies as Myron's the Discobolus or "Discus-Thrower", of which several copies exist, of which the best is in the Palazzo Massimi alle Terme, Rome. Attributions →
Roman marble copy of Myron's most famous work, the Discobolus. Towneley Marbles, British Museum. Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity.
Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze and his fame rested principally upon his representations of athletes (including his iconic Diskobolos), in which he made a revolution, according to commentators in Antiquity, by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more perfect rhythm, subordinating the parts to the whole. Reputation →
According to Pliny's Natural History, Myron's most famous works included "heifer, a dog (canem, Cerberus?), a Perseus, a satyr (Marsyas) admiring the flute and Minerva (Athena), a Hercules, which was taken to the shrine dedicated by Pompey the Great at the Circus Maximus, Discobolus (the discus thrower), and an Apollo for Ephesus, "which Antony the triumvir took from the Ephesians, but the deified Augustus restored it again after being warned in a dream". Works →
An epigram on Ladas, the fleetest runner of his time, notes that he was commemorated in a sculpture by Myron; of Myron's Ladas there is no known copy. A description by Lucian conclusively identifies as Myron's the Discobolus or "Discus-Thrower", of which several copies exist, of which the best is in the Palazzo Massimi alle Terme, Rome. Attributions →
Head of a boxer, Capitoline Museums. Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity.
Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze and his fame rested principally upon his representations of athletes (including his iconic Diskobolos), in which he made a revolution, according to commentators in Antiquity, by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more perfect rhythm, subordinating the parts to the whole. Reputation →
According to Pliny's Natural History, Myron's most famous works included "heifer, a dog (canem, Cerberus?), a Perseus, a satyr (Marsyas) admiring the flute and Minerva (Athena), a Hercules, which was taken to the shrine dedicated by Pompey the Great at the Circus Maximus, Discobolus (the discus thrower), and an Apollo for Ephesus, "which Antony the triumvir took from the Ephesians, but the deified Augustus restored it again after being warned in a dream". Works →
An epigram on Ladas, the fleetest runner of his time, notes that he was commemorated in a sculpture by Myron; of Myron's Ladas there is no known copy. A description by Lucian conclusively identifies as Myron's the Discobolus or "Discus-Thrower", of which several copies exist, of which the best is in the Palazzo Massimi alle Terme, Rome. Attributions →
Mirone, athena e marsia, copia romana di originale greco del 450 ac. circa
Athena and Marsyas, Roman copies, Vatican Museums. Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity.
Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze and his fame rested principally upon his representations of athletes (including his iconic Diskobolos), in which he made a revolution, according to commentators in Antiquity, by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more perfect rhythm, subordinating the parts to the whole. Reputation →
According to Pliny's Natural History, Myron's most famous works included "heifer, a dog (canem, Cerberus?), a Perseus, a satyr (Marsyas) admiring the flute and Minerva (Athena), a Hercules, which was taken to the shrine dedicated by Pompey the Great at the Circus Maximus, Discobolus (the discus thrower), and an Apollo for Ephesus, "which Antony the triumvir took from the Ephesians, but the deified Augustus restored it again after being warned in a dream". Works →
An epigram on Ladas, the fleetest runner of his time, notes that he was commemorated in a sculpture by Myron; of Myron's Ladas there is no known copy. A description by Lucian conclusively identifies as Myron's the Discobolus or "Discus-Thrower", of which several copies exist, of which the best is in the Palazzo Massimi alle Terme, Rome. Attributions →
Minotaur, from a fountain in Athens, a Roman copy of Myron's lost group of…
Minotaur, from a fountain in Athens, a Roman copy of Myron's lost group of Theseus and the Minotaur, National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Myron of Eleutherae was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. Alongside three other Greek sculptors, Polykleitos, Pheidias, and Praxiteles, Myron is considered as one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity.
Myron worked almost exclusively in bronze and his fame rested principally upon his representations of athletes (including his iconic Diskobolos), in which he made a revolution, according to commentators in Antiquity, by introducing greater boldness of pose and a more perfect rhythm, subordinating the parts to the whole. Reputation →
According to Pliny's Natural History, Myron's most famous works included "heifer, a dog (canem, Cerberus?), a Perseus, a satyr (Marsyas) admiring the flute and Minerva (Athena), a Hercules, which was taken to the shrine dedicated by Pompey the Great at the Circus Maximus, Discobolus (the discus thrower), and an Apollo for Ephesus, "which Antony the triumvir took from the Ephesians, but the deified Augustus restored it again after being warned in a dream". Works →
An epigram on Ladas, the fleetest runner of his time, notes that he was commemorated in a sculpture by Myron; of Myron's Ladas there is no known copy. A description by Lucian conclusively identifies as Myron's the Discobolus or "Discus-Thrower", of which several copies exist, of which the best is in the Palazzo Massimi alle Terme, Rome. Attributions →
Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) ·
Images: Wikimedia Commons,
public domain or Creative Commons (attribution with each work) ·
Part of The Museum at THEODORA
