The Temple of Jonathan

(The Muses Hegemon)

Jon Peterson
4/17/15

The Temple of Jonathan was erected in Olympia, Greece in the fourth

century BCE. It is believed to have been built by the citizens of Olympia
during the Late Classical Period which was between 400-323 BCE. Shortly
after the Persians Wars had ended, the citizens built the Temple of Zeus
which the citizens modeled this temple after. While the Temple of Zeus was
built to showcase the power of Zeus, Apollo and Athena, the Temple of
Jonathan was built to bring calmness and peace to the city. The temple had
been built in a Doric hybrid style and was erected near the Sanctuary of
Zeus. The reason the citizens of Olympia decided to erect it near the
sanctuary of Zeus is because Jonathan was appointed by Zeus to be the
second leader (hegemon) of his nine daughters, The Muses. Although Apollo
was the initial appointed leader of the Muses, he was not to be bothered by
trivial things. Zeus felt his daughters needed a second male leader over
them that could handle the daughters calmly because at times they argued
relentlessly over trivial issues. Zeus wanted clam and peace among his
daughters that ruled over the arts and sciences. The daughters offered
inspiration in the subjects of Arts and Sciences and Zeus thought that these
daughters must remain calm in their influence of the people. The temple
design not only encompassed the Doric style but also incorporated some of
the features of the Ionic and Corinthian orders as well. The bottom of the
pillars of the temple were classic Doric, with no base between the pillar and
the stylobate as was used on the Temple of Hera. Although the bottom of the
pillar was of Doric style, the top of the pillar had the astragal from the

Corinthian order and the scrolled volute capital of the Ionic order capped off
by the boss which was designed also in the Corinthian fashion. Along with
the pillars being a mix of the three orders, the entablature was also a hybrid
mix of styles. The architrave was of the Doric order, while the frieze was of
the Ionic order, with elements of trigylphs and metopes from the Doric order
placed strategically along the sculptures of each of the nine muses to
maintain the hybrid look and feel. The citizens of Olympia wanted all three
orders mixed to symbolize the different styles of their culture. The west
pediment was designed in the similar architectural fashion as the Temple of
Zeus. The pediment at center, stood almost nine feet tall and incorporated
the hieratic scale with Jonathan being dramatically larger the other figures on
the pediment. In the center was a high relief marble sculpture of Jonathan,
both arms outstretched with palms facing downward as to offer calm and
tranquility to the daughters. Along the length of the pediment, the nine
daughters were featured with each of their subjects. Calliope the goddess of
epic poetry was shown sitting calmly thinking of the next wonderful and
inspirational words she was about to vocalize. Clio, the muse of history was
sculpting a figure of Apollo offering calm during the Battle of the Lapiths and
Centaurs. Erato, the goddess of love poetry was, like Calliope, thinking of the
next poem with the most passionate words she could think of. In between
Erato and Calliope was Zeus tenth daughter Mnemosyne, Mnemosyne was
important for the Muses because she represented memory. Memory was
important in those times because there were no books, poets had to carry

their work in their memories. Euterpe, the goddess of music was shown
playing a harp. Melpomene, the goddess of tragedy was shown singing a
melodious song, Melpomene was often invoked by those looking to create
beautiful lyrical phrases. Polyhymnia, the goddess of sacred poetry was
shown with her left hand over her heart to symbolize the sacred poetry she
would create. Terpischore, the goddess of dance was shown dancing. Thalia,
the goddess of comedy was shown laughing and finally Urania, the goddess
of astronomy, was shown holding the heavens in her hands. All of the
sculptures on the west Pediment were constructed in marble. The east
pediment was designed using the nine goddesses all happily getting along
celebrating the peace the ending of the Persian wars brought to the region.
The East Pediment was featured with another large sculpture of Jonathan in
the center, again with arms outstretched offering calm to the nine muses.
The layout and architecture of the Temple of Jonathan was designed in the
peripteral style as the Parthenon in Athens was designed. The peristyle
colonnade stood at only half the height of the Temple of Zeus as to not
overshadow Zeus temple. The temple also featured a number of acroterions
at the apex of the pediments. These acroterions were designed with classical
style plinths. The acroterions were small sculptures of the Griffin which were
similar to the acroterions on the temple of Minerva. The cella in the center of
the temple, featured a large 12 foot tall statue of Jonathan with his
outstretched arms, offering calm to the people of Greece. Jonathan was a
kind soul which resonated among the people of Greece. His calm and kind

demeanor was adopted by many which brought an overall melancholy

attitude among the peoples. It is said that Jonathan would walk among the
Muses and discuss the heavens with Zeus daughters. His driving force
behind him helping Zeus and his daughters was to form a working
relationship with the Gods and hence, his place in the Heavens would be
saved. The story goes on to tell of a tale where Jonathan gained the affection
of all of the daughters so much that Zeus would invite him into the Heavens
for many gathering of the Gods. Jonathans place in the Heavens was
reserved. The story of Jonathan would be told by many and would influence
many people to be kind, calm and gentle in hopes of gaining a place in the
heavens.
Jonathan was sculpted using the bronze hollow-casting technique as
used in the sculpture Charioteer from the Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi. The
sculptor used The Canon rule of law developed by Ploykleitos of Argo. Not
only was the canon ratio in relation to body parts used but also the
contrapposto was used in displaying the weight balancing as was used in the
Spear Bearer (Doryphoros) and the Kritian Boy from 480 BCE. The sculpture
of Jonathan has the right leg relaxed with the left leg taking the brunt of the
weight. His hips are also tilted to show the weight distribution. The overall
design and aesthetics of the temple was something the citizens reveled
about. As soon as the citizens would near the temple, the sense of calm that
overcame them became a sought after experience. The Temple of Jonathan
also became a gathering place for the citizens that were interested in the

Arts and Sciences. It and Jonathan became a staple of serenity, knowledge

and calm for the people of Olympia.

Image #1 Temple Plans

Twelve foot Statue of Jonathan

Acroterion on the Temple of Jonathan