IGDA/G. Nimatallah LYSIPPUS.
Resting Hermes
Naples, National Archaeological Museum.

Lysippos (c. 390 – c. 300 BC), ancient Greek sculptor, born in Sikyon (Peloponnese). In antiquity it was claimed (Pliny the Elder) that Lysippos created 1,500 statues. Even if this is an exaggeration, it is clear that Lysippos was an extremely prolific and versatile artist. The bulk of his works were predominantly bronze statues depicting gods, Hercules, athletes and other contemporaries, as well as horses and dogs.

Hercules is Lysippos’s favorite character. The colossal seated figure of Hercules on the acropolis of Tarentum depicted the hero in a gloomy mood after he had cleared the Augean stables: Hercules sat on a basket in which he carried dung, his head resting on his arm, his elbow resting on his knee. This statue was taken by Fabius Maximus to Rome after it was destroyed in 209 BC. took Tarentum, and in 325 AD. Constantine the Great transported her to the newly founded Constantinople.

Perhaps the Hercules we see on coins from Sikyon goes back to a lost original, copies of which are both the Farnese Hercules in Naples and the statue signed with the name of Lysippos in Florence. Here we again see the gloomy Hercules, dejectedly leaning on a club, with a lion's skin draped over it. The statue of Hercules Epitrapedius, depicting the hero “at the table,” represented him, according to descriptions and many existing repetitions of different sizes, sitting on stones, with a cup of wine in one hand and a club in the other - probably after he had ascended to Olympus.

Apoxyomenes, an athlete scraping off dirt from himself after exercise (in antiquity they used to anoint themselves before athletic activities), was subsequently placed by Agrippa in front of the baths he built in Rome.

Perhaps its copy is a marble statue in the Vatican. With a scraper held in the left hand, the athlete cleans the right hand extended forward. Thus the left arm crosses the body, which was the first instance of movement in the third dimension that we encounter in ancient Greek sculpture.

The head of the statue is smaller than was customary in the earlier sculpture, the facial features are nervous and delicate; Hair disheveled from exercise is reproduced with great vividness.

Another portrait image of an athlete by Lysippos is the marble Agios found in Delphi (located in the Delphi Museum); the same signature as under it was also found in Pharsal, but no statue was found there. Both inscriptions list the many victories of Agius, the ancestor of the Thessalian ruler Daoch, who commissioned the statue, and the inscription from Pharsalus lists Lysippos as the author of the work. The statue found at Delphi resembles Scopas in style, who in turn was influenced by Polykleitos. Since Lysippos himself called Doryphorus Polycletus his teacher (whose angular proportions he, however, rejected), it is quite possible that he was also influenced by his older contemporary Scopas.

Lysippos is at the same time the last of the great classical masters and the first Hellenistic sculptor. Many of his students, among whom were his own three sons, had a profound impact on the art of the 2nd century. BC.

Materials from the encyclopedia "The World Around Us" were used.
One Hundred Great Treasures. Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great

One Hundred Great Treasures.
Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great

Lysippos. Lifetime

This version was questioned even by ancient historians, and some of them left us information about the violent death of the great commander. So, for example, according to one version, Alexander fell ill with a fever after repeated feasts at Media. The ancient historians Flavius ​​Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus and Justin write about this, differing with each other only in their views on the course of the disease.

Diodorus wrote that Alexander the Great, having drunk a large cup of wine, suddenly (as if struck by a strong blow) screamed loudly and groaned. His friends carried him out in their arms, put him to bed and sat with him all the time. The disease intensified, but the doctors could not help the Macedonian king. Justin, confirming this information, definitely states that the matter is not an oriental disease, but an insidious murder...

Alexander on his deathbed

So far, not a single material monument has been found that directly indicates the date of death of Alexander the Great (as well as the date of his birth). The evidence of ancient authors that has reached us is ambiguous and insufficiently definite: some historians call the date of death of Alexander the Great only as a month in the language of the ancient calendar (without indicating the year of any era), others, on the contrary, only the year - the 113th or 114th Olympiad. It is impossible to accurately translate ancient calendar dates into the Julian calendar, since our knowledge in this matter is incomplete. Therefore, in historical literature you can find more than ten different dates for the death of Alexander the Great according to the Julian calendar - from May 324 to September 323 BC.

Head of Alexander the Great

As soon as Alexander the Great died, disputes and strife began over his inheritance. The military leaders and nobles began to quarrel among themselves: seven days passed, and his body remained unburied. Finally, the body was embalmed, placed in a golden coffin, and a royal crown was placed on the head of the deceased. Alexander the Great was temporarily buried in Babylon, but for another two years the companions argued about where to take the golden sarcophagus of their former master on the triumphal chariot.

Then the sarcophagus was dug up and sent to Macedonia, but in Syria, Ptolemy I attacked the funeral cortege, took the “trophy” and transported it to Memphis, where he buried it near one of the ancient temples of the god Amun. True, other historical evidence suggests that the high priest of Memphis opposed the burial of the body of Alexander the Great in the city: “It cannot be left here. Take him to the city built near Rakotis. For his burial place will be unlucky, marked by wars and bloody battles.”

Bourdon. Sebastian - Augustus before the tomb
Alexander the Great

When the body of Alexander the Great arrived in Alexandria in a luxurious boat, Ptolemy ordered the embalming to be repeated, and the body was placed in a new sarcophagus, which was installed in the mausoleum in the central square. Flavius ​​Arrian describes the funeral procession moving through the streets of Alexandria:

“A chariot with golden spokes and rims on wheels was drawn by 8 mules, decorated with golden crowns, golden bells and necklaces of precious stones. On the chariot stood a structure cast in gold, resembling a palanquin with a vaulted dome, decorated on the inside with rubies, emeralds and carbuncles.

Four paintings hung inside the palanquin. The first depicted a rich chariot of skillful workmanship, in which a warrior sat with a scepter in his hands. The chariot was surrounded by guards in full armor and a detachment of Persians; warriors of the ancient Greek heavily armed infantry walked in front.

The second picture showed a line of elephants in battle dress; Indians sat on their necks, and soldiers from the army of Alexander the Great sat on their rumps.

The third painting depicted a cavalry detachment maneuvering during a battle.

The fourth picture showed ships in battle formation, ready to attack the enemy fleet visible on the horizon.

Under the palanquin was a square golden throne decorated with relief figures; Golden rings hung from it, into which were threaded garlands of fresh flowers, changing every day. When the rays of the sun fell inside the palanquin, the precious stones of the dome sparkled dazzlingly and illuminated the heavy golden sarcophagus in which the body anointed with incense rested.”

Over the course of many centuries, archaeologists from many countries have made more than 100 attempts to trace the tomb of Alexander the Great. Many of them were convinced that the great king was buried in Alexandria. The researchers relied on historical facts, which confirmed that after the death of Alexander, many prominent people came to worship at his tomb. When the Roman Emperor Augustus arrived in Egypt to personally punish the rebellious Antony and Cleopatra, he (on learning of their suicide) demanded to be taken to the tomb of the greatest of the Macedonians. However, for some reason the famous commander of antiquity was already lying in a glass sarcophagus...

Caesar Caligula owned the shield of Alexander the Great, which he (according to legend) took from a burial place during one of his Egyptian trips. However, not a single historical chronicle indicated where the tomb of the invincible commander was located. Maybe that's why all attempts to find her ended in vain.

Golden sarcophagus, glass... And there is also a marble sarcophagus from Sidon, widely known as the “Sarcophagus of Alexander”. It is a work of Hellenic masters from the late 4th century. On one of its longitudinal sides, the battle of Alexander the Great with the Persians is depicted in high relief.

Sarcophagus of Alexander from Sidon. Marble. Around 325-310 BC Archaeological Museum. Istanbul

“The battle was hot on both sides, the Greeks and Persians mercilessly killed each other. Everyone got angry and fought like fierce animals. The Macedonians and Greeks rushed at the Persians with such desperate fury that Darius himself was confused and did not know what to do. Near his chariot there were already piles of dead.”

These scenes of this battle were depicted on the “Sarcophagus of Alexander”. The large composition consists of figures full of movement, very convincingly conveying the height of the fight. The figures of the fighters are full of strength and energy; the lifeless bodies of the dead seem in sharp contrast to them. The ancient sculptor carefully conveyed the differences in clothing and weapons of the Persians and Greeks, only one of the heroically fighting is represented naked.

The figures depicted on the sarcophagus were very well preserved; only parts made of metal and some parts of the warriors’ weapons were lost. The value of the “Sarcophagus of Alexander” also lies in the fact that the polychrome on it is well preserved. The palette that the master used when painting the sarcophagus was very rich: he used lilac, purple, blue, yellow, reddish and brown paints. The saddlecloths of the horses are marked with paint, the clothes and weapons of the warriors, as well as their hair and eyes are colored with them. It was thanks to polychrome that the impression of a lively, concentrated gaze was achieved.

Alexander's head. She is 2000 years old!

In 1989, in search of the tomb of Alexander the Great, specialists from Greece began excavations 25 kilometers from the Siwa oasis, choosing this area not by chance. Alexander the Great visited Siwa to convince the Egyptians and his army that the blood of the god Amun flowed in his veins. In the temple of this god there was a statue of Amun, decorated with gold and precious stones. The head and arms of the statue were attached to the body with hinges.

When Alexander the Great appeared before Amon, the chief priest of the temple informed him that God recognized him as his son. At the words of the priest, the statue seemed to make a movement with its head and arms, which was interpreted as the consent of God.

The name "Miraki" (as scientists have suggested) comes from the ancient Greek word "mirakion", which translated means "a person who died very young." In addition, the oasis itself began to be called Siwa only a few centuries ago, and before that it was known as Santaria. Experts in the field of ancient languages ​​gave the following interpretation of this name: “The place where Alexander rests.”

Coin and image of Alexander the Great

So where is this place? Since 1990, Greek archaeologists have concluded that they are excavating an “extraordinarily magnificent structure” that could only belong to a particularly revered royal person.

Today we can quite accurately imagine what the “tomb” of Alexander the Great looks like. The complex consisted of a temple and the tomb itself. It was surrounded by a wall (2 meters thick) decorated with frescoes and paintings. The main gate led to a spacious room guarded by two stone lions. In a hall with an area of ​​10 square meters, archaeologists unearthed small chambers littered with slabs, which had not been opened by anyone until then. In one of them, according to legend, the remains of King Log were supposed to be kept.

This version is supported not only by the size of the excavated complex. According to experts, all the buildings and paintings are completely uncharacteristic of ancient Egyptian architecture and wall painting, but have much in common with the design of Macedonian tombs. In addition, fragments of an alabaster sarcophagus made outside Egypt were found here.

In the tomb, archaeologists also unearthed a unique image of a lion, the like of which had previously been found only in ancient Greek houses. However, the most convincing evidence is a bas-relief above the entrance to the tomb with an eight-pointed star - the personal symbol of Alexander the Great.

Ancient Sidon (Saida)

At the end of January 1995, objects were discovered that made the hearts of many scientists beat faster. These were three steles with inscriptions in ancient Greek, the deciphering of which almost completely confirmed the assumptions of archaeologists.
The inscription on the first stele reads:

"Alexander. Amon-Ra. In the name of the most venerable Alexander, I make these sacrifices at the direction of God and transfer here a body that is as light as the smallest shield - while I am the lord of Egypt. It was I who was the bearer of his secrets and the executor of his orders. I was honest to him and to all people. And since I am the last one still alive, I declare here that I did all the above for his sake.”
This text was written approximately in 290 BC, and its author is Ptolemy I, the closest ally of the great Alexander, to whom the famous commander bequeathed to transport his remains to Siwa.

The inscription on the second stele reads as follows:
“The first and only one among all who drank poison without a moment’s doubt.”

The third stela testifies:
“400 thousand people live in this area, 100 thousand of them serve in the army and 30 thousand soldiers guard the tomb.”

Bust of Alexander the Great. 4th century BC Marble

After the results of the excavations were announced, the quiet oasis of Siwa began to look more like a multimillion-dollar city. Foreign correspondents and journalists, delegations of Egyptian ministries and societies for the protection of valuables rushed here. The flow of people was so great that a highway was even built to the excavation site.

Meanwhile, despite the sensational finds, the number of skeptics who doubt that the burial in Siwa belongs to Alexander the Great has not decreased. One of the Egyptian historians, for example, believes that there is nothing surprising in the fact that a “Macedonian tomb” was found in Siwa. In his opinion, it only means that the oasis was on a busy route between Egypt and the Greek settlements in Libya.

A similar point of view is shared by M. Jones, director of the Norman archaeological mission, who believes that only Alexandria needs to look for the burial place of the great commander. But in his opinion, Alexander the Great's desire to be buried in Siwa does not yet serve as proof that his body was actually transported from Babylon to this remote oasis.

However, Greek archaeologists hope that further excavations will answer the question that worries world science: where are the remains of the great conqueror buried?

Have you ever climbed a mountain? Then you probably know the feeling of the grandeur of the opening picture from the opportunity to see it from above, the whole thing, and not small fragments of it, as below. What happened? Yes, the angle of view, the perspective just changed, and everything ceased to be ordinary, meaningless, unrelated. It is interesting that the meaning is revealed only after this ascent, after the journey has been made and the angle of view has changed.

Let's look at a painting, a sculpture - the same thing! A secret hidden by canvas or stone is revealed only to an inquisitive eye. Details, fragments, a different perspective - all these are the keys to the secret door that hides the invisible inner world, a world full of meaning.

Let's train our eyes on examples of great masters.

Let's first go to Ancient Greece. Hellenistic era. Macedonia.

Meet Lysippos. Greek sculptor of the 4th century. BC. According to the Roman scientist Pliny the Elder, this is one of the most famous sculptors of antiquity. He was an artist and sculptor at the court of Alexander the Great. Created about 1,500 sculptural works. According to legend, Lysippos died in old age from hunger, because he could not tear himself away from working on his last statue. The most famous of his creations in antiquity were the colossal statue of Zeus in Tarentum, the statue of Helios with a chariot on the island of Rhodes, the allegorical figure of Kairos at Olympia, and numerous images of Hercules and his exploits. He also sculpted his contemporaries - valiant warriors, winners of the Olympics, Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Socrates.

Lysippos rethought the Greek canon of proportions of the human figure in a spatially multidimensional design. The difference between his creations and the works of his predecessors is the reflection in the frozen figure of the hero of movement, impulse of the soul, energy and tension. Lysippos worked in bronze (this material is often melted down), so none of his statues have survived to this day. Only a few marble Roman copies of his works have survived: “Apoxiomenos” (Vatican Museum), “Hermes Resting” (Naples), statue of the athlete Agios (Museum in Delphi), “Hercules with a Lion” (Hermitage), head of Alexander the Great (Archaeological Museum in Istanbul).

Searching for answers to the questions “who is a Man?”, “what nature does he have?”, “what makes him a Hero?” can be read in his works. He depicted people “not as they are, but as they appear to be” (Pliny). He created not a real portrait, but an Ideal Man. But how to depict this? Lysippos finds the answer in myths. Hercules, his exploits - this theme prevails among his works. Lysippos imagined the hero fighting, thoughtful, sitting, feasting, resting after a feat or at a meal. The master seems to be trying to depict what a Hero looks like in life - “a heroic spirit at any moment in life.”

From a series of statues depicting the labors of Hercules and transported from Alysia in Acarnania to Rome, several reproductions have come down to us. The statue of Hercules fighting the Nemean lion, which is now kept in the Hermitage, is very expressive.

Let's take a closer look at it.

So, finding ourselves frontally in front of the sculpture, we find Hercules at the very beginning of the battle. The hero, firmly planting his feet on the ground, grabbed the lion's neck and strangled him, squeezing his throat with his right hand. Knees, shoulders, chest of Hercules - everything is tense. But the lion, leaning on its hind legs, with its bestial nature resists the strength of the Hero. He is strong and angry. His body is powerful, his paw grabbed Hercules' right hand. He is not inferior to man.

Now, walking around the sculpture, let’s see if our impression of the fight changes.

Front view	Right angle
View from the back	Left view

Right angle: the lion rests his paws firmly on the support without losing his verticality. Now his strong paw grabbed Hercules’ left leg, depriving him of movement. The Hero seems to be losing his balance! The whole body tilted forward, succumbing to the pressure of the beast. And although Hercules’ hand strongly squeezes the lion’s neck, it is still far from clear which side will win.

Angle from the back: the Hero's power is finally revealed in full! His powerful back and strong legs occupy almost the entire space of the composition. The lion is almost invisible. The beast's body convulsed. Sticking out his tongue, he makes his last efforts in vain to free himself from the iron grip. The hind legs are already giving way helplessly. The end is near.

Left angle: the outcome of the battle is decided. The beast is defeated. Now we don't see the lion's body. Only the limply hanging paws and muzzle remind of a difficult battle. Hercules, having finished the battle, looks at the defeated beast. The decisive step - to fight, overcoming the fear of the enraged monster and not expecting victory - brought long-awaited success!

The great art of Lysippos made us live this feat with the Hero. The master invites the viewer, simply by walking around the statue, to simultaneously go through an internal battle with his “lion”, his animal nature. Let us remember that, according to Plato, in the human soul there are animal (animal) and human principles. They are in constant confrontation. And which principle prevails in this eternal battle determines the choices and actions of a person. Here he is - Hercules, a man freed from his bestial nature!

This little trip back in time took us back to the era of heroes, to the era of the greatness of Man. Ptolemy Soter, remembering Alexander the Great, said: “When Alexander was alive, we performed miracles. After his death, we still perform feats, but we are no longer capable of performing miracles.” Lysippos even today returns this time - the time of exploits, overcoming oneself. Do it when you don’t want to, don’t say it when you can’t bear it, get up when everything says rest and sleep. These feats may not be great today, but these are real steps towards an inner hero.

And one more thing: we simply changed the angle of view when examining the sculpture, and a completely new perspective on familiar things was revealed to us. Maybe try this in everyday life?

Lysippos is an ancient Greek sculptor, born in Sikyon (Peloponnese). In antiquity it was claimed (Pliny the Elder) that Lysippos created 1,500 statues. Even if this is an exaggeration, it is clear that Lysippos was an extremely prolific and versatile artist. The bulk of his works were predominantly bronze statues depicting gods, Hercules, athletes and other contemporaries, as well as horses and dogs. Lysippos was the court sculptor of Alexander the Great. A colossal statue of Zeus by Lysippos stood in the agora of Tarentum. According to the same Pliny, its height was 40 cubits, i.e. 17.6 m. Other statues of Zeus were erected by Lysippos in the agora of Sicyon, in the temple at Argos and in the temple of Megara, the latter work representing Zeus accompanied by the Muses. An image of a bronze statue of Poseidon with one leg on a raised platform that stood in Sikyon is found on surviving coins; a copy of it is a statue resembling the image on coins in the Lateran Museum (Vatican). The figure of the sun god Helios, created by Lysippos in Rhodes, depicted the god on a chariot drawn by four; this motif was used by the sculptor in other compositions. Copies in the Louvre, the Capitoline Museums and the British Museum depicting Eros loosening the string of a bow probably go back to the Eros of Lysippos at Thespiae. Also located in Sikyon, the statue depicted Kairos (god of luck): the god in winged sandals sat on a wheel, his hair hung forward, but the back of his head was bald; copies of the statue survive on small reliefs and cameos.
Hercules is Lysippos' favorite character. The colossal seated figure of Hercules on the acropolis of Tarentum depicted the hero in a gloomy mood after he had cleared the Augean stables: Hercules sat on a basket in which he carried dung, his head resting on his arm, his elbow resting on his knee. This statue was taken by Fabius Maximus to Rome after it was destroyed in 209 BC. e. took Tarentum, and in 325 AD. e. Constantine the Great transported her to the newly founded Constantinople. Perhaps the Hercules we see on coins from Sikyon goes back to a lost original, copies of which are both the Farnese Hercules in Naples and the statue signed with the name of Lysippos in Florence. Here we again see the gloomy Hercules, dejectedly leaning on a club, with a lion's skin draped over it. The statue of Hercules Epitrapedius, depicting the hero "at the table", represented him, according to the descriptions and the many existing repetitions of different sizes, sitting on stones, with a cup of wine in one hand and a club in the other - probably after he had ascended to Olympus. The figurine, which was originally a table decoration created for Alexander the Great, was subsequently seen in Rome by Statius and Martial.
The portraits of Alexander created by Lysippos were praised for the combination of two qualities. Firstly, they realistically reproduced the model’s appearance, including the unusual turn of the neck, and secondly, the courageous and majestic character of the emperor was clearly expressed here. The figure representing Alexander with a spear appears to have served as the original for both the herm formerly owned by José Nicolas Azar and the bronze figurine (both now in the Louvre). Lysippos depicted Alexander on horseback, both alone and with his comrades who died in the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC. e. An existing equestrian bronze statue of Alexander with a stern oar under his horse, perhaps an allusion to the same battle on the river, may be a replica of the latter statue. Other portraits by Lysippos included that of Socrates (the best copies are perhaps the busts in the Louvre and the Museo Nazionale delle Terme in Naples); portrait of Aesop; there were still portraits of the poetess Praxilla and Seleucus. Together with Leochares, Lysippos created for Craterus a group depicting the scene of a lion hunt, in which Craterus saved Alexander's life; after 321 BC the group was initiated into Delphi.
Apoxyomenes, an athlete scraping off dirt from himself after exercise (in antiquity they used to anoint themselves before athletic activities), was subsequently placed by Agrippa in front of the baths he built in Rome. Perhaps its copy is a marble statue in the Vatican. With a scraper held in the left hand, the athlete cleans the right hand extended forward. Thus the left arm crosses the body, which was the first instance of movement in the third dimension that we encounter in ancient Greek sculpture. The head of the statue is smaller than was customary in the earlier sculpture, the facial features are nervous and delicate; Hair tousled from exercise is reproduced with great vividness.
Another portrait image of an athlete by Lysippos is the marble Agios found in Delphi (located in the Delphi Museum); the same signature as under it was also found in Pharsal, but no statue was found there. Both inscriptions list the many victories of Agius, the ancestor of the Thessalian ruler Daoch, who commissioned the statue, and the inscription from Pharsalus lists Lysippos as the author of the work. The statue found at Delphi resembles Scopas in style, who in turn was influenced by Polykleitos. Since Lysippos himself called Doryphorus Polycletus his teacher (whose angular proportions he, however, rejected), it is quite possible that he was also influenced by his older contemporary Scopas.
Lysippos is at the same time the last of the great classical masters and the first Hellenistic sculptor. Many of his students, including his own three sons, had a profound impact on the art of the 2nd century BC. e.
"Resting Hermes", sculpture made by Lysippos. Not preserved. Known from a Roman copy kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. The colossal seated figure of Hercules on the acropolis of Tarentum depicted the hero in a gloomy mood after he had cleared the Augean stables: Hercules sat on a basket in which he carried dung, his head resting on his arm, his elbow resting on his knee.

"Apoxiomenos", bronze sculpture by Lysippos. Not preserved. Known from a Roman copy made of marble in the 1st century AD. e. The statue depicts an athlete cleaning off dust and sand that had stuck to his naked body during a fight. Compared to the statues of the 5th century, it is distinguished by more elongated proportions, volumetric modeling and detailed rendering of muscles.

"Eros Stretching the Bow", sculpture made by Lysippos. Not preserved. Known from copies. One of the copies is kept in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Eros is depicted as a teenager, whose body has already acquired some angularity, but has not yet lost the childish softness of its forms. The young god pulls the string on his bow. With complete naturalness and life-like truthfulness of the pose, Lysippos created a complex spatial composition in which parts of the figure are located in different intersecting planes. Thanks to this, the image acquires special dynamism.

"Hercules Fighting a Lion", bronze sculptural group made by Lysippos. Not preserved. Destroyed in 1204 by the crusaders, who used it for coinage. She stood on the dividing barrier of the Constantinople hippodrome. The first labor of Hercules is depicted - the strangulation of the Nemean lion, the struggle of Hercules with the lion. A marble copy is kept in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

(4th century BC)

Lysippos was the greatest Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. He managed to raise Greek art to even greater heights. Not much is known about the life of Lysippos.

As Will Durant writes: “Lysippos of Sicyon began as a humble coppersmith. He dreamed of being an artist, but he did not have money for a teacher; he, however, gained courage when he heard the speeches of the painter Eupompus, who declared that it is best to imitate nature, not artists. After this, Lysippos turned to the study of living beings and established a new canon of sculptural proportions, which replaced the strict rules of Polycletus; he lengthened the legs and made the head smaller, extended the limbs into the third dimension and gave the figure more vitality and lightness.”

The main achievement of the sculptor was that he moves from depicting the typical to conveying the characteristic. Lysippos is primarily interested in the no longer constant, stable state of the phenomenon. On the contrary, he is most attracted to originality.

One of the sculptor's most famous works is the statue of Apoxyomenes. G.I. Sokolov vividly talks about this work by Lysippus: “Lysippus managed to plastically completely convey the excitement of the young man, who had not yet cooled down after the fight, who was mobile, shifting from foot to foot. In the sculpture of Apoxyomenos there is not a single calm part of the body: the torso, legs, arms, neck cannot remain for long in the position in which the sculptor showed them. Apoxyomenes's head is slightly tilted to the side, his hair is shown as if stuck together with sweat, one strand of it is thrown up. The mouth is slightly open in heavy breathing, a wrinkle cuts across the forehead, deeply sunken eyes with fatigue imprinted in them. The tremulous nervousness of excitement, which the Roman copyist could not convey in the marble face of Apoxyomenes, was preserved by the bronze statue of Ephebe from Antikythera, perhaps made by some contemporary of Lysippos. Lysippos preferred to work in bronze, and in the original statue of Apoxyomenes there were no supports, which, having appeared in the Roman marble copy, spoil the appearance of the statue and reduce the lightness and mobility of the figure. The highlights on the bronze original also created an additional impression of fragmentation of volumes and disturbance of the image.

Lysippos also significantly complicates the positioning of his body: his right leg is set to the side and slightly back; arms are extended forward, one straight, the other bent at the elbow. The conquest of space by the statue, begun by Skopas with the complex reversal of the Maenad, continues. Lysippos goes further than his predecessor: if the Maenad was mobile within the confines of an imaginary cylinder, then Apoxyomenes breaks its invisible boundaries and strives to enter the spatial environment where the viewer is located. For now, however, the master is limited to only the movement of the athlete’s hand.

Compared to the statues of Polykleitos, the proportions of the Lysippos sculptures are perceived as new: the figure of Apoxyomenes seems elongated and the head is small. The professionalism of the character clearly stands out: here, more specifically than in the statue of Doryphorus, the athlete is represented. But if the Spearman concentrated in himself the qualities of not only an athlete, but also a hoplite, as well as an ideal, perfect Hellene, then the image of Apoxyomenes is less multifaceted and holistic, although more dynamic and mobile.

The sculptor already makes much more complete use of the opportunity to show different human states from different points of view. From the back Apoxyomenes appears tired, from the front he is perceived as excited, on the left and right other nuances are introduced into these states of his, and other impressions are created by the master.”

According to ancient writers, Lysippos sculpted a series of sculptural groups for the city of Alisia in Acarnania (western part of central Greece), depicting the most important labors of Hercules. Made in bronze and life-size, they were later transported to Rome. Numerous copies were made from them here.

The fight with the Nemean lion is the first and one of the most difficult labors of Hercules. In the Nemean Valley, Hercules waylaid a lion at the entrance to his cave. The arrow fired by Hercules did not harm the lion, becoming entangled in the thick fur. When the enraged beast rushed at Hercules, he first stunned the lion with a club, and then, grabbing him by the neck, entered into mortal combat with him.

The composition of the group has the form of a pyramid formed by the figures of Hercules and a lion, which allows the group to be viewed from all sides.

G. D. Belov talks about the statue: “The hero’s pose is stable - his legs are widely spaced, he feels solid support under him. Hercules grabbed the lion by the neck with his hands and strangled him. The hands of Hercules are a gradually shrinking ring. Will the beast be able to escape from this deadly ring, will the lion be able to free himself from the tight embrace of Hercules?

The struggle has already reached its highest tension. Hercules squeezes the lion's neck with great force. All his muscles were swollen to the limit - on his chest, arms and legs they appeared as elastic mounds. Even on the back - and there all the muscles began to move; here the sculptor deliberately exaggerates them, but in fact on the back they are less developed and do not reach such sizes. But the artist needed to show this excessive swelling of the muscles to express the tension achieved by the struggle of two powerful opponents.

If the pose of Hercules is stable and confident, if the hero is still full of unexhausted strength, then the position of the lion is completely different. The lion rests against Hercules with its front paws, trying with all its might to break away from him, but the beast’s hind legs and long body create the impression of instability. It is unusual for a lion to stand on its hind legs, much less fight in this position. The lion's intention was to jump with such force as to throw the enemy to the ground with a blow from his heavy body and gnaw him in a lying position. But the lion failed to do this - the enemy turned out to be strong enough to withstand the terrible blow of the lion, and not only withstand and stay on his feet, but also move from defense to active struggle. Hercules, intercepting the lion’s leap, forced him to enter into single combat in a position unfavorable for the lion; this circumstance immediately affected the development of the fight - the advantage in it was on the side of Hercules.”

Another copy of the master's original has survived. A small figurine of Hercules depicts the hero sitting on a lion skin thrown over a rock.

Young Hercules feasts on Olympus, among the gods, where he was miraculously transported at the end of his earthly life.

The figurine became a gift from Lysippos to Alexander the Great. Tradition says that Alexander loved this figurine so much that he did not part with it even on campaigns, and when he was dying, he ordered it to be placed before his eyes.

The school of Lysippos includes a statue of resting Hermes. The latter is breathing heavily, sitting on the edge of the cliff. Probably, having rested, he will again continue running quickly. And only the sandals of Hermes with buckles on the feet, in which one cannot run, but only fly, indicate the divinity of the image.

In the same complex, tense pose, Lysippos shows Eros, pulling the string of his bow. This is how G.D. Belov describes this work: “Eros is depicted as a naked boy holding a bow in his hands, to which he is trying to string. To carry out this action, a very great effort was required, which determined the composition of the figure. Eros is strongly bent, his legs and torso are in the same plane, his arms are extended to the left, and his head is turned in the same direction. Parallel lines intersect with the line of the legs and the plane of the torso, the lower part of the figure is directed forward, while the shoulders and torso are tilted to the right; some forces counteract others, all this imparts movement to the figure, making it dynamic. In addition, built in different planes, the figure of Eros requires depth and space. The composition of the statue of Eros in some of its parts resembles the setting of the figure of Apoxyomenes.

The adolescent body of Eros is distinguished by characteristic features: it is not yet fully developed, tender, with a large head, full cheeks, and plump lips of a small mouth. Eros is one of the first attempts to depict a child figure in Greek art."

Having parted with the type for the sake of the individual, with convention for the sake of impressionism, Lysippos managed to make a breakthrough into new areas, almost becoming the founder of Greek portrait sculpture. Alexander the Great liked the busts of his work so much that he appointed Lysippos his court sculptor, just as he had previously granted the exclusive right to paint his portraits to Apelles and carve them on gems to Pyrgotelus.

The following poems have been preserved about the sculptor’s royal portraits:

Alexander's look and his whole appearance full of courage
Lysippos poured it out of copper. It’s as if this copper lives.
It seems that, looking at Zeus, the statue says to him:
“I take the land for myself, you own Olympus.”

In the later copies that have reached us, one can see a portrait of a strong man, whose consciousness was stirred up by inner turmoil and excitement. Anxiety appears in the pathetic features of the commander. It is perceived either as a harbinger of the dramatic centuries of Hellenism, or as a flash of longing for the confidence and peace that was once characteristic of classical man and has now been lost.

The artistic heritage of Lysippos was enormous in quantity. An ancient legend says that Lysippos set aside one gold coin from the payment he received for each of his works. After his death there were 1500 of them! And this despite the fact that some of Lysippos’ works were multi-figured. Such, for example, is the group of Alexander and his soldiers, participants in the battle of Granicus - the first big battle with the Persians during Alexander’s campaign in Asia. There are twenty horsemen depicted there. Some of the statues of Lysippos even reached colossal sizes: the statue of Zeus in Tarentum (in southern Italy) reached a height of over 20 meters.

It is likely that the legend exaggerates the number of works of Lysippos. His sons, assistants and students also worked in his workshop. But there is no doubt about the enormous creative energy of Lysippos. The same legend says: in an effort to finish his last work, the master brought himself to exhaustion, as a result of which he died.

The nature of Lysippos's work ensured his fame far beyond the Greek world. He was often compared to Phidias himself. Martial wrote in one of his epigrams:

I asked Vindex about Alcides:
“Whose hand made it so well?”
As always, he smiled and winked:
“Don’t you know Greek, poet?
There’s a name at the foot of it.”
I read Lysippos, but thought it was Phidias.”