Charioteer of Delphi

Interesting facts

When excavated, the bronze had a bluish sheen, echoing Plutarch's remark on the strange blue patina of bronzes at Delphi; it has since turned largely green.

Around 1907 the Venice-based designer Mariano Fortuny named his finely pleated silk Delphos gown after the statue, whose robes it imitated.

Its Greek name, Heniokhos, simply means the rein-holder.

The sculptor is unknown: Pythagoras of Rhegion and Calamis have both been proposed, though its style links it to Athenian bronzes such as the Piraeus Apollo.

The dedication on the base was composed in hexameter verse and asks Apollo to grant prosperity to the donor.

Some scholars think the monument may originally have honoured the victory of Polyzalus's brother Hieron rather than Polyzalus himself.

Unlike most Greek athletes, who were shown nude, he is fully clothed, suggesting a hired driver of lower rank than the horse owner, possibly even a servant.

Drivers had to be light yet tall, so they were often teenagers, and the soft side curls of the figure mark him as a youth.

Besides the reins, his right hand closes around a small cylindrical object thought to be the remains of a whip or goad.

Like other large Greek bronzes it was cast in separate sections and then joined, which is why it was recovered in pieces.

Why it is worth it

The Charioteer of Delphi is a life-size bronze driver, 1.8 m tall, made around 470 BC and now the centrepiece of the Delphi Archaeological Museum. It belonged to a victory monument at the Sanctuary of Apollo celebrating a chariot win in the Pythian Games of 478 or 474 BC. The inscription on its limestone base names the dedicator as Polyzalus, tyrant of Gela in Sicily. The group originally included the chariot, at least four horses and probably grooms; fragments of the horses were found with the figure. It survived because it was buried under a rockfall, most likely in the earthquake of 373 BC, and French excavators found it in 1896 in three pieces.

The driver is a young man, shown not mid-race but after it, calmly holding the reins on the victory lap. He wears the long tunic of a charioteer, belted high and held with cords across the shoulders and back so it would not billow in the wind; the deep straight folds of the skirt look almost like the fluting of a column, while the folds on the chest turn soft and diagonal. Look at the feet, admired even in antiquity, and at the hand, whose thin fingers still close on the reins. He is one of the few Greek bronzes to keep his inlaid glass eyes, and traces of the copper lips and silver eyelashes remain. The left forearm is lost.

The style is the Severe Style of about 490-450 BC, when sculpture was leaving the rigid archaic kouros behind but had not yet reached classical ease: the head turns slightly, the face is serene and without the archaic smile. The sculptor is unknown; names suggested include Pythagoras of Rhegion and Calamis. The statue also inspired the Delphos gown, the pleated silk dress designed by Mariano Fortuny around 1907.

Getting there

The Charioteer has its own hall in the Delphi Archaeological Museum, beside the archaeological site of Delphi on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The nearest larger town is Livadeia, about 33 km away. Athens is about 120 km in a straight line, and Athens International Airport (ATH) is the practical arrival point; the nearest airport is Nea Anchialos (VOL), about 86 km away.

From the encyclopaedia

The Charioteer of Delphi, also known as Heniokhos, is an ancient Greek bronze statue dating to around 470 BC. Standing 1.8 meters tall, the life-size figure of a chariot driver was originally part of a larger sculptural group that included a chariot, horses, and child attendants, fragments of which were also uncovered among the ruins. The work was dedicated at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, one of the most important religious sites of the Greek world, to commemorate a victory in the panhellenic Pythian Games, which featured both athletic and equestrian competitions.

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Charioteer of Delphi

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

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