'Telamon' stone giant stands again
STORY: Placed as a guardian of the temple, the giant was reconstructed by joining together the remains of several large statues, the same ones that were placed between the columns of the famous temple.
The statue, dating back to the fifth century B.C., represents a figurative representation of Zeus' powers who, according to a legend, forced the defeated giants to bear eternally the weight of the temple erected in his honor.
It has been reassembled from 90 fragments located from 1920 to the present day and has been positioned in the northeast area of the temple.
The temple of Olympian Zeud stood south of the ancient city was erected to celebrate the city's victory over the Carthaginians after 480 B.C. and to celebrate the prestige of the tyrant Theron. It was irreparably damaged by an earthquake in 1401, then looted in the 18th century and its blocks were used to build the pier at Porto Empedocle.
