Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: That Super Humble Statue of Zeus

Summary

Ridiculous History Podcast - Episode Summary: "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: That Super Humble Statue of Zeus"

Release Date: May 27, 2025

Introduction

In this engaging episode of Ridiculous History, hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown embark on an exploration of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World—the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. They delve into its historical significance, the masterful craftsmanship behind its creation, its eventual demise, and the lasting legacy it left on both ancient and modern cultures.

Exploring the Statue of Zeus

The episode begins with Ben and Noel revisiting their journey through the Seven Wonders, having previously covered the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Today, they turn their attention to the imposing Statue of Zeus, setting the stage for a deep dive into its story.

The Legacy of Phidias

Max Williams, the super producer and research associate, joins the conversation early on. He candidly remarks, “I think the Statue of Zeus is the lamest of the seven” (01:28), injecting a dose of humor into the discussion. However, his critical perspective opens the door to a more nuanced exploration of the statue's place among the wonders.

Phidias, the renowned Greek sculptor and architect, is highlighted as the mastermind behind the Statue of Zeus. Active between 465 and 425 BCE, Phidias was already celebrated for supervising the construction of the Parthenon in Athens. The hosts describe him as “the kind of guy who moved to Olympia to ensure the statue was perfect” (07:35), emphasizing his pivotal role in ancient sculpture.

Craftsmanship and Construction

The conversation shifts to the remarkable materials and techniques used in creating the statue. Ben explains, “The statue was a combination of gold and ivory over a wooden core” (23:23), detailing how Zeus's figure was meticulously crafted with ivory for his extremities and gold for his scepter and robes. Noel adds, “It's definitely got some drip,” highlighting the lavish adornments that made the statue a masterpiece of its time (24:08).

Archaeological discoveries, such as Phidias’s workshop containing sculpting tools and personalized items like a wine jug, provide tangible evidence of his contributions (12:02). These findings underscore the statue's historical authenticity and the advanced artistry of ancient Greek sculptors.

Historical Accounts and Destruction

Drawing from Pausanias’s 2nd-century CE descriptions, the hosts paint a vivid picture of the statue: “The God sits on a throne and he is made of gold and ivory” (25:00). This detailed account captures the statue's grandeur and the symbolic elements that conveyed Zeus's power and divinity.

The episode doesn't shy away from the statue's tragic end. Ben narrates the decline of paganism under Emperor Theodosius I, who decreed the closure of pagan temples around 426 CE, leading to the neglect and eventual desecration of the temple housing the statue (28:17). Natural disasters, including earthquakes and river course changes, further contributed to the statue's destruction (29:27).

A particularly intriguing anecdote involves Emperor Caligula's failed attempt to move the statue to Rome. According to Roman writers like Suetonius, the statue mysteriously emitted a roar of laughter, causing the scaffolding to collapse and the project to be abandoned (32:34). This legendary tale adds a mythical dimension to the statue’s history.

Enduring Legacy and Cultural Impact

Despite its physical absence, the Statue of Zeus continues to influence modern culture. Ben muses, “Zeus has inspired so many other renditions. I would say the statue hasn't really disappeared because of the strength of its legacy” (40:20). The statue's representation in various forms of ancient art—pottery, gemstones, coins—laid the foundation for how Zeus is depicted in Western culture today.

Noel draws parallels between ancient and modern symbolic representations, noting how the statue serves as a “link between the mortal coil and the world of the gods” (21:35). This enduring symbolism underscores the statue’s significance beyond its immediate historical context.

Modern Reflections: Video Games and Civilization

Transitioning to a lighter topic, the hosts discuss whether players should build the Statue of Zeus in the popular video game Sid Meier's Civilization. Max comments, “In Civilization 6, the Statue of Zeus is probably the most worthless wonder in the game because of what it gives you” (42:26). This critique highlights the differing values assigned to historical wonders in contemporary gaming versus their monumental status in history.

Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, Ben and Noel reflect on the intertwined nature of spirituality and politics in the ancient world. They tease future episodes that will delve into the criteria for selecting the Seven Wonders and explore additional ancient marvels. The hosts extend their gratitude to Max Williams for his research contributions and hint at upcoming adventures and guest appearances.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Max Williams: “I think the Statue of Zeus is the lamest of the seven.” 01:28
• Mark Cartwright: “This statue was worshiped by pilgrims from across the Mediterranean. It inspired countless imitations.” 07:01
• Ben Bowlin: “Zeus has inspired so many other renditions. I would say the statue hasn't really disappeared because of the strength of its legacy.” 40:20
• Noel Brown: “Phidias is kind of like a Gutson Borglum of his day.” 08:44

Final Thoughts

This episode of Ridiculous History provides a comprehensive and entertaining examination of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Through lively discussions, historical insights, and humorous banter, Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown bring the ancient wonder to life, making it accessible and fascinating for listeners. Whether you're a history buff or simply curious about the myths and legends of the past, this episode offers a rich and engaging narrative that underscores the enduring impact of one of history's greatest sculptures.

Transcript

[Ben Bullen]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to the show, fellow ridiculous historians. Thank you as always so much for tuning in.

[Noel Brown]

In.

[Ben Bullen]

Let's hear it for our super producer, Mr. Max Williams.

[Noel Brown]

Zeus. Zeus. Zeus. Zeus. Zeus. Zeus. Is that a thing people chant?

[Ben Bullen]

You can chant anything. That's true.

[Noel Brown]

Zeus just has a good mouth feel to it when you chant, it makes you want to pump your fist.

[Ben Bullen]

And hopefully there are a few people in the audience tonight who are chanting Ben Bullen. I'm kidding. That's a bridge too far in the.

[Noel Brown]

Mirror on a regular basis.

[Ben Bullen]

That's very.

[Noel Brown]

In the hopes of summoning you like the candy man.

[Ben Bullen]

And you are. Noel Brown. And today we are continuing our exploration of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Now, previously we talked about the Hanging gardens of Babylon. We also talked about a pretty sick mausoleum. And today, Noel, we're exploring a statue.

[Noel Brown]

You know, it's a cool statue. It's an imposing statue. It looms large in both history and like, you know, physically.

[Max Williams]

To jump in here as a research associate on these. I'm going to say this right now at the top, I think statue of Zeus is the lamest of the seven.

[Noel Brown]

Ones of the ancient world. I take back. I was trying to big up the statue of Zeus, you know, but I just deflated it. That's cool. You're right, it's. You're right.

[Ben Bullen]

So you think it's. You think it's lamer than the. The one that doesn't exist? Yeah, the one that doesn't exist.

[Max Williams]

I mean, that one's really cool because legend and lore and stuff like that, obviously, if it doesn't exist, I mean, some, something like it definitely did exist, but I think it's actually probably very likely that people were confusing just things in Babylon to being something bigger or in that area.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, yeah, 100%. Like Archimedes didn't really invent Archimedes screw. Right.

[Noel Brown]

Didn't invent the Archimedes screw. Why is it called that?

[Ben Bullen]

It's just branding at that point, like Pythagorean theorem.

[Noel Brown]

But wait a second. Are you saying Pythagoras is independent of the Pythagorean theorem?

[Ben Bullen]

Well, he independently discovered it probably, but someone else also came up with it.

[Noel Brown]

All right. It's all more of that parallel thinking we always see in history.

[Ben Bullen]

And speaking of parallel thinking, a lot of human cultures love making statues. There's a bit of hubris to the concept. Right. But it's also a way to tangibly commemorate an idea, a deity or you know, a ruler. You don't see a lot of average guy statues.

[Noel Brown]

That's true. I guess the hubris element comes in depending on, like, who decided who commissioned the statue. If it's like Noel Brown commissioning a giant statue of Noel Brown in my front yard, which certainly has been known to be done, that would be an act of hubris. But I guess if it's like, you know, in commemoration of a great figure and it was done by, like, the people, I don't know. I guess the people don't really commission statues. I don't know what I'm talking about. What's the deal with Zeus, though? That guy's a pretty big deal. This is an iHeart podcast.

[Max Williams]

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[Noel Brown]

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[Ben Bullen]

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[Noel Brown]

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[Andrea Gunning]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here, Diddy's former protege, television personality Danity King alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there. Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all, his wife, Caroline.

[Max Williams]

He texted, I've ruined our lives.

[Noel Brown]

You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

How far would he go to cover up what he'd done.

[Max Williams]

The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, this is the third oldest, or most likely the third oldest wonder of the ancient world. Stay tuned also for our upcoming episode on who decided what made the list or did not make the list anyway?

[Noel Brown]

Was it UNESCO? It was UNESCO, wasn't it? It was different.

[Ben Bullen]

It was a little before UNESCO's time.

[Noel Brown]

Okay, fair enough.

[Ben Bullen]

But it was definitely. I'm gonna say it was kind of arbitrary, but we'll get into it in the future for sure. Yeah. For now, Zeus is. If you travel back into the heyday of this sculpture, then you'll see something phenomenal. As Mark Cartwright says, writing for World History Encyclopedia, this statue was worshiped by pilgrims from across the Mediterranean. It inspired countless imitations. It defined the stand representation of Zeus in Greek and Roman art on pretty much all, any kind of ancient merch you can imagine. Pottery, gemstones, coins. It's kind of like how a political cartoonist and the Coca Cola company solidified the image of Santa Claus. Yeah. Before the statue, Zeus could be represented in any number of ways.

[Noel Brown]

That's true. Yeah. I'm looking at it right now. Or looking at an artist rendering of it right now. It's pretty Elden ring, dude. That scepter that he's holding, I feel like that could do a lot of hp, you know, Seriously. And then he's got. What is that? Like a. Why is there an angel in his hand? What's that about?

[Ben Bullen]

He was just a cool guy.

[Noel Brown]

Was that like his familiar? Can he like, deploy that to like, do, you know, ranged damage?

[Ben Bullen]

Let's get into it. Let's get into it. Right? The DPS and the. Obviously this statue has a lot of hit points, but. Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. What's its hit box is the question.

[Ben Bullen]

Right. This is a world famous thing in its time and we owe it all, or we owe the actual sculpture to a guy named Phidias, which is such a fun, silly name. It feels like the name of a jolly cat.

[Noel Brown]

It does. It just sounds fiddly for some reason. This guy is a sculptor. Cartwright goes on. The master sculptor and architect Phidias, which is also spelled kind of like a Phidias, I guess. P H E I D I A S was active from 465 to 425 BCE. He was already kind of a big deal. He'd supervised the construction of a little old government building called the Parthenon.

[Ben Bullen]

Never heard of it.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, no big deal there in Athens. And its giant statue of Athena. Also a pretty big deal in terms of, like, pantheons, right?

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. Patron goddess of Athens. And I love. I got a stop here for a sec. I love the idea of mascots for cities, whether they be gods or, you know, yokai or something.

[Noel Brown]

We got Izzy, is it? Izzy? Isn't that what it was called?

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, for the Olympics.

[Noel Brown]

What is it?

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, not. Not the city's best work. No, but it's no Athena, it's no Zeus, but, you know, they did their best. So this guy is kind of like. Phidias is kind of like a Gutson Borglum of his day. The guy who made stone mo the faces of presidents. I was gonna. Yeah, he's. He. He's a. That guy. Guton's a problematic dude, but Phidias is similar because he is known for making these. Beat me here, Max. Big sculptures, big boys.

[Noel Brown]

Yep, it's true. The location was going to be Olympia in the western Peloponnese of Greece, where a huge temple had been erected recently. That is where every four years, the Olympic Games, sort of the OG Olympic Games, the Pan Hellenic Olympic Games took place or were dedicated. And this is from Cartwright's research.

[Ben Bullen]

And this would help solidify, like, the location of this temple and then later, this statue of Zeus. This would help solidify these events as not just a series of Games similar to things in other parts of the world, but instead as the Games big tent item.

[Noel Brown]

I guess it's appropriate then that I brought up Izzy because that was the Olympic mascot, the sort of goofy, cartoonish Olympic mascot of the Atlanta Olympic Games. What was that in the 90s? 90.

[Ben Bullen]

19, 96.

[Noel Brown]

6. Bam. I was wrong, way off. So Phidias was a really, really beloved and, you know, luminary of an architect. So he was the kind of obvious choice for this statue because it not only was going to be a big deal, very visible, honoring a very important deity, but was going to be logistically, pretty gnarly. And he was going to need to supervise hundreds of workers and craftsmen and this, like many, you know, things that I guess would be considered ancient wonders. It was going to take quite a few years of planning and work to get this done.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, exactly. And he has the bona fides. He's got a nasty cv. They like him for this. He moves to Olympia because it's going to take so long that he pretty much has to live there. To make the statue. And if you fast forward, you'll see that later excavations in the 20th century discovered phidias workshop. So we know he was an actual person. We know he was alive. We have one of my favorite pieces of material evidence for his existence, other than, you know, the statues in his workshop, they found a little wine jug or cup. And on the side of it, you know how a lot of people when they have office jobs, they have cutesy.

[Noel Brown]

Mugs with statements, their face on the bottom. What was it in the it crowd? Where you'll know. It's. What is it? Moss? He had. His face was on the bottom of the mug, and so he's looking for his mug. But it wasn't until the end that they showed the twist when someone was drinking from it and looked at the bottom. And it was a big picture of Moss's head played by Richard Ioady. Great, great show.

[Ben Bullen]

I love.

[Max Williams]

And it's just a completely generic mug, other than that.

[Noel Brown]

That's exactly correct. Yes, sir. That's exactly.

[Ben Bullen]

I like your glasses. Well, I'm sorry, they're not for sale.

[Noel Brown]

They're not. You know what? Everything's not for sale.

[Ben Bullen]

Okay, so this. Getting back to this story, the cutesy mug thing, this is again, one of my favorite facts about the discovery of this guy's actual existence. He had a. A little mug, and his little mug, which was probably meant to hold wine, on the side of it, it says, I belong to Phidias.

[Noel Brown]

Phidias is cop. He just couldn't put down the cup.

[Ben Bullen]

You know, and this workshop also, we know they had implements that sculptors would use. They also have fancy stuff like ivory tools, goldsmithing hammers, and then molds for pieces of a large, so far, unidentified female statue. But anyway, maybe we talk about the temple before so we can understand why they moved this pretty famous guy all the way over there to build this statue.

[Noel Brown]

Right? I don't know if it happens right here, but I think Max pointed out in the research the temple and the statue sounds like a doom metal band or like, at the very least, like a metal album. It's very metal. Oh, it says the right thing. The first line sounds like an album name. It's true. Highly metal sounding. So before we dive into the actual statue, to your point, Ben, talk about the meaning and the significance of the temple. In the religion of ancient Greek, a temple was a very, very important thing. I mean, it's not completely different than the idea behind a church or like a Buddhist monastery. It is the literal house of God. It is Where God lives? Whose house? God's house.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. And the. The name that would be used for temple is naos N A O s, which just means dwelling. So the statue of the deity, then it's like a shrine. The statue is far more important than the structure of the temple that surrounds the statue. Now, do we know the degree of sincere spirituality for people worshiping at the temple?

[Noel Brown]

Do we ever.

[Ben Bullen]

Right. It's still a question today would be my point. Right.

[Noel Brown]

I guess, because it was kind of a cosmopolitan worlds, Right. In Greece, this was a very. I don't know, urban is the wrong term, but, you know, secular, like, in terms of, like, the kinds of stuff, the commerce aspect of it. I know that the worship of the gods was a thing on paper, but the question then becomes, like, how strong was every individual's faith at this point? Is that what you're saying, Ben?

[Ben Bullen]

Well, we have to realize, you know, there's. Yes, that question that continues in 2025. Right. But we also have to realize that to the point about cosmopolit, in our diverse belief spectrums, there was a panoply of varying degrees of sincerity. It's funny, because in some cases at this time in history, people are literally sacrificing animals and sometimes more than animals, because they believe in gods to that degree. But then in other cases, you could say they root for their city's God the way you would root for your city's sports team. You know what I mean?

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Case in point with the Olympics. I mean, truly, it does feel like that was the best representation of, like this, you know, cheering for your particular deity of choice. But it's also. It shows as well, though, how politics and religion were very closely intertwined, you know, and in many cases, perhaps by the folks in charge of religion was a way of controlling folks at a lower social stratum than they. Right.

[Ben Bullen]

An opiate of the masses.

[Noel Brown]

Correct. Always that.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. And the name for a statue in Greek is Zoon Zoon, which translates to living things. So that's part of why these sculptures from this period, that's why they aim for a realism, a kind of hyper realism, which takes an immense degree of skill.

[Noel Brown]

It's unbelievable. It still blows me away when I go, I mean, there's like a little sculpture garden at the High Museum here in Atlanta. And like, the stuff that always absolutely blows my mind is there's one in particular, I believe, where it's like a. I think it's a Greek sculpture. It's a woman sort of in a shroud. I love that one, the way it flows and the way it looks transparent. Dude, it's crazy, the level of precision that goes into these things.

[Ben Bullen]

I've spent more than an hour just baffled at that one.

[Noel Brown]

It's crazy. Dude, I'm glad that you like that one, too. Do you know much about the background? It has to be, I think roughly of this era. It seems like the style.

[Ben Bullen]

In any case, I should have read the cat.

[Noel Brown]

It's okay.

[Ben Bullen]

It is just staring.

[Noel Brown]

Wouldn't you agree? It's a similar medium and a similar level of realism that we're talking about.

[Ben Bullen]

It is a similar medium. It's a similar level of realism. I don't think it's from the same time. Just because this statue of Zeus is so very old.

[Noel Brown]

That's very true. It might be Italian. It might be later though, and like, inspired by that kind of sculpture.

[Ben Bullen]

But we'll figure that out.

[Noel Brown]

We will. Maybe, maybe. Off mic and we'll report back.

[Andrea Gunning]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here, Diddy's former protege, television personality platinum selling artist Danity Kang. Alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Noel Brown]

Aubrey Oday is sitting next to us.

[Andrea Gunning]

Here you are.

[Noel Brown]

As we sit here, right up the street from where the trial is taking place. Some people saw that you were going to be in New York and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up?

[Andrea Gunning]

First of all, are you here to.

[Noel Brown]

Testify in the Diddy trial?

[Andrea Gunning]

Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her.

[Noel Brown]

Days on making the band as she emerged as the breakout star.

[Andrea Gunning]

The truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour. It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there. Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Max Williams]

He texted, I've ruined our lives.

[Noel Brown]

You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community.

[Noel Brown]

She said, you left bruises, pulled her hair, that type of thing.

[Ben Bullen]

No.

[Andrea Gunning]

How far would Joel go to cover up what he'd done?

[Max Williams]

You're unable to keep track of all your lies and quite frankly, I question how Many other women may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception. Lies that left those closest to him questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Bullen]

She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero.

[Andrea Gunning]

She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her until they didn't. I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real?

[Ben Bullen]

I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh.

[Max Williams]

I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying.

[Ben Bullen]

Listen to Deep Cover the Truth about Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Andrea Gunning]

A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

[Noel Brown]

Three or four days a week, I.

[Andrea Gunning]

Would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

[Ben Bullen]

The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on everybody's business. From Bloomberg Business Week, I'm Max Chavkin.

[Andrea Gunning]

And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

[Ben Bullen]

Guests like BusinessWeek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull. We'll take you inside the boardrooms, the back rooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.

[Noel Brown]

Hey, I want to learn about vechain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing.

[Andrea Gunning]

So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Noel Brown]

It was this kind of idea of this. This temple containing this incredibly imposing statue, that it would be this link right between, like, the mortal coil and, like, the world of the gods.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. And Phidias understands this is a quite prestigious gig. Right. He doesn't want to let the team down. So he says, look, I'm going to make a statue that is so big and so literally dripping in gold that it is going to inspire revelation and epiphany to the onlooker this will change the way you feel about God. Dude. That's the kind of statue I'm making.

[Noel Brown]

So you gotta wonder there. To our question, is this a flex? Like he's gonna just. Like he's almost likening himself to godlike in his ability, or is this coming from a place of true belief?

[Ben Bullen]

It's up for debate. We were not able to get Phidias on the show today for a couple of reasons. His dance card's a little full, but he says hi, and he wants us to tell you that this statue was over 40ft tall. And like you were describing earlier, it is not Zeus standing. He is sitting atop a throne. And it's similar to later statues, like the statue of Lincoln in dc. It's wrought with symbolism. But unlike the Lincoln statue, which we're just using as a reference point because most people can picture it in their heads, unlike the Lincoln statue, this thing is. I'm gonna say it's a little gaudy. It's a combination of gold and ivory over a wooden core. All the skin of Zeus. His face, his arms, legs, torso. That's made of ivory. Like actual. From elephants ivory.

[Noel Brown]

That's right. That includes all of his extremities. Right. His face and arms and torso and his beard. All the little accoutrements, call them like the accessories, robes. And his staff are made of gold. And these are. There's a lot of craftsmanship that goes into that because they're hammered really thin and then applied directly to the ivory as these almost like, I guess inlays is maybe the wrong word, but. But it does have all of these different, like, components, kind of little accoutrement jewels as well, if I'm not mistaken. Enamel, maybe even ebony.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. And then, of course, paint. Bunch of jewels. Because. Why not?

[Noel Brown]

And it's blinged out for sure. It is definitely, you know, has. It has some drip.

[Ben Bullen]

And we know from, again, the evidence in the workshop, they probably first erected the statue in pieces. The size of the workshop, again, proven to be Phidias's hangout, his little home away from home office. It is exactly the same dimensions as the inner, like, main room of the temple. So they probably put it there together in the workshop to give it a qa. And then they took it apart and he took it to the temple and they put it back together. It's an IKEA sculpture.

[Noel Brown]

It does seem to be the case there, Ben. So lest we rely on our own kind of recreation of, like, artist renderings and things that we've seen, which I think we've done a fine job of. Let's hear a historical description that is found circa 2nd century CE by the Greek geographer and traveler Pausanias. Pause Aius. Yeah.

[Ben Bullen]

Pause Annius.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, there you go. Love it. You want to pass this one around, Ben?

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, let's do so. Here we go. The God sits on a throne and he is made of gold and ivory. On his head lies a garland which is a copy of Olive Schutz. In his right hand he carries a victory, Nike, which, like the statue, is of ivory and gold.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, dear. I don't know how to follow that. I'm just gonna use my regular voice. She, Nike. Right. The victory. The winged victory, like the one at the Louvre, if I'm not mistaken, that Rachel Ziegler is always talking about in her YouTube videos. She wears a ribbon and on her head a garland. In the left hand of the God is a scepter ornamented with every kind of metal. And the bird sitting on the scepter is the eagle. Terrifying bird. The sandals also of. I gotta do a voice here for it. Of the God are of gold and is likewise his robe.

[Ben Bullen]

On the robe are embroidered figures of animals and the flowers of the lily. The throne is adorned with gold and with jewels, to say nothing of ebony and ivory, which is a weird shout out to that song.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, it's true. That's where it came from. Everybody knows that. So what's the deal with Zeus? We've been talking about it sort of in absentia, sort of as a thing. What was. Right. Ah, yeah. I mean, it makes sense because I think you could probably put two and two together and know that the kinds of sculptures that we have from antiquity that remain are, like, burly material stuff that is carved out of a single piece of rock, perhaps even carved into perhaps like a cliff face or what have you. It makes sense that those would perhaps stick around this perhaps due to its modularity. Not the case. So, long story short, a statue celebrating a deity of a pagan religion, also not super popular. When the Christians take over and they swoop in, they're like, this has got.

[Ben Bullen]

To go to the point about spirituality and politics. We often say spirituality and science were inextricably linked in the ancient world. On our show, stuff they don't want you to know. And I think it's a really interesting point that spirituality and politics were likewise intertwined. So as you're saying there, it should be no surprise that when the Roman emperor Theodosius. I first got into Christianity, it shouldn't surprise you that he was like, all right, get rid of all this other culty stuff. And he went a little far. He didn't even like the Olympic Games.

[Noel Brown]

No, he sure didn't. And is that not the reason why a lot of kind of Greek sculptures and things that we have remaining are smashed up like, or have been damaged?

[Ben Bullen]

I'm sure that's one of the many reasons.

[Noel Brown]

I think that's true. Yeah. Didn't want to presume, but I think that makes a whole lot of sense. Not a fan of the Games, as we dubbed them earlier, as Max dubbed them all caps. So he wanted to put a stop to that too. So the final Olympics were held in 393ce after a run of 293 games over a millennium, more than even a millennium plus. So after that, the site and the temple fell into disrepair. So it wasn't like smashed. Right. It was just sort of ignored and they decided to reroute the upkeep team elsewhere, perhaps.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, it just kind of faded, you know, it fell from its glory days. And then eventually it is outright desecrated in 426 CE, and this happens in large part due to a decree against all pagan temples by Theodosius ii. Then after that, after the human disaster, natural disasters strike, earthquakes include just a few decades apart from each other. Absolutely rock the temple.

[Noel Brown]

Yep. It really got its rocked, it's true. By, you know, nature time. It's the cruelest cut of all time. And the ruins were eventually covered, even adding insult to injury, the remaining bits in silt from the river Alpheus, which slowly began to kind of redirect its course also over the time. What is that amazing riddle, Ben, in Lord of the Rings? It's one of the Gollum riddles. It's about time. And I always thought it was like, grinds great mountains to meal. Anyway, I think it's just a good one. I'll see if we can find it.

[Ben Bullen]

Time. I've got it.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, cool.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, here it is. Wait, wait. We're not going to do a Gollum voice because I'm under the weather. But this thing all things devours. Birds, beasts, trees, flowers, gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal, slays king, ruins town. And I think the line that got it stuck in our heads when we saw this was where he just gets super metal. He's like. And beats high mountain and then he takes like five minutes to say down.

[Noel Brown]

It gives them the beatdown of their life. And I think one of the other Clues or the solutions to. One of the riddles is mountain. And then we also have wind, which is another feature of time. I mean, think about the way, like wind, just over a long enough time just erodes things down to nothing. It's just. I don't know, I'm stating the obvious, but I do still find it amazing.

[Ben Bullen]

I hear you. And I think this is one of my favorite details about the tragic loss of the statue of Zeus here, because the fact that a river slowly changed its course is the best illustration of how long ago this took place.

[Noel Brown]

And back to Cartwright, direct quote, because I think he said it best. The statue would not suffer the same fate as the temple, though, as the two were destined to be separated and never reunited. The statue was renovated several times. Cracks in the ivory were repaired and even perhaps supporting columns added under the throne.

[Ben Bullen]

Okay. Yeah. And there's a Roman emperor we've got to mention. You may have heard of him before. Caligula.

[Noel Brown]

Bit of a sex pest, that guy.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, yeah, that's. I really don't have a reaction because I feel like that's very true.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, I'm putting it mildly.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

Check out the movie with, with Malcolm McDowell. It is. It's porn.

[Ben Bullen]

Just. It's rough. And we should also note that with any historical figure, I feel like I always have to say this, be they emperors or popes or what have you, you have be careful with wild stories you hear about them because sometimes they can be propaganda to mess up a reputation. That being said, Caligula man. Anyway, in addition to doing a lot of Skinemax type stuff, he tries to take the statue of Zeus and transport it to Rome. But if you look at the works of Roman writers like Suetonius and you'll see that eventually they gave up on the project. Now, the reason we know they, they didn't move it, they're. They're. This is like 1980s Clash of the Titans stuff. The. The project gets abandoned for one reason or another. But the official reason this writer gives is that the Zeus statue, when they tried to move it, mysteriously emitted a roar of laughter. And then all the scaffolding that the workers were on collapsed.

[Noel Brown]

Look upon my works.

[Andrea Gunning]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here, Diddy's former protege, television personality, platinum selling artist Danity King alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Noel Brown]

Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us.

[Andrea Gunning]

Here you are as we sit here.

[Noel Brown]

Right up the street from where the trial is taking place. Some people saw that you were going to be in New York, and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up?

[Andrea Gunning]

First of all, are you here to.

[Noel Brown]

Testify in the Diddy trial?

[Andrea Gunning]

Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her.

[Noel Brown]

Days on making the band, as she emerged as the breakout star.

[Andrea Gunning]

The truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour. It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there. Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Max Williams]

He texted, I've ruined our lives.

[Noel Brown]

You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community.

[Noel Brown]

She said, you left bruises, pulled her hair, that type of thing.

[Ben Bullen]

No.

[Andrea Gunning]

How far would Joel go to cover up what he he done?

[Max Williams]

You're unable to keep track of all your lies, and quite frankly, I question how many other women may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception. Lies that left those closest to him questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Bullen]

She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero.

[Andrea Gunning]

She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people.

[Noel Brown]

Everyone thought they knew her until they didn't.

[Andrea Gunning]

I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real?

[Ben Bullen]

I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh.

[Max Williams]

I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying.

[Ben Bullen]

Listen to Deep Cover the Truth about Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Andrea Gunning]

A lot of times, the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

[Noel Brown]

Three or four days a week, I.

[Andrea Gunning]

Would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

[Ben Bullen]

The demand curve in action, and that's just is one of the Things we'll be covering on everybody's business from Bloomberg businessweek, I'm Max Chavkin.

[Andrea Gunning]

And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Every Friday we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

[Ben Bullen]

Guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull. We'll take you inside the boardroom, the back rooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.

[Noel Brown]

Hey, I want to learn about vechain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing.

[Andrea Gunning]

So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Noel Brown]

Can we unpack what this might have been? Do you think it was somebody playing a nice Ashton Kutcher esque prank on all of these construction workers? Like crouching in the bushes and doing a laugh, throwing their voice.

[Ben Bullen]

That's, that's. I like a hijinks. I do like that. I think it's more plausible that maybe it was, maybe it was a cover up story because it got too expensive to move it. Or what about this? What if it was a temblor? What if it was a small earthquake that made some noise?

[Noel Brown]

And man, don't you picture when he starts laughing that he just rises up and the like the stone cracks and he gets up and just starts like initiates a giant fight. I'm sorry. I've been playing this Clair obscure JRPG style game so I'm picturing everything in turn based combat. I think Zeus would crush. He'd be.

[Max Williams]

How's your parrying going?

[Noel Brown]

It's good. It's getting a lot better.

[Max Williams]

I finally finished the main story last night, so I'm doing new game plus. By the way, you do new game plus, you have to delete your save file. So it's a little fun with that one.

[Noel Brown]

It's a little psychotic. I'm on the lamp Master. Who's kicking? Oh, wow.

[Max Williams]

Yeah. You knew the end of actor one then.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, good. Yeah, the lamp Master very hard. But I realized that I kept getting my ass handed to me. So I decided to go back and fight some larger level bosses and level up some more. Anyway, enough about that.

[Max Williams]

There's grinding in the game.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, it's good. I just started the grind. But anyway, I'm loving it very much.

[Ben Bullen]

And speaking of the grind, there's another unfortunate thing that happens to this statue of Zeus. Roman Emperor Constantine won Is like one of those guys in Florida who steals copper wiring from out of houses.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Like, drains the. What is it? The Freon from air conditioning. You.

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah. Like, has a side business selling dirty catalytic converters.

[Noel Brown]

Catalytic converters?

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

What is it? What is the material that's in that? That's so dear. Isn't it like platinum or something? There's like a tiny amount of platinum and catalytic converters. Makes them valuable.

[Max Williams]

It's something. There is some material in there because I remember Alex got his stolen off his truck when he was in LA a couple years ago. Hacked it because it's just like they're super expensive to replace do. Thank you. Covered by insurance.

[Ben Bullen]

But yeah, it's platinum, palladium and rhodium.

[Noel Brown]

Dang. All the good dms.

[Ben Bullen]

Look at my car stuff notes. Why do I still have those? Anyway, yeah. So the gold parts of this Zeusian statue are taken by Constantine the First. Eventually, the statue, or what's left of it, is moved to Constantinople.

[Noel Brown]

Not Istanbul.

[Ben Bullen]

Not Istanbul. And that's not our business. And this is at the time the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Then from there, the temple or the structure, maybe a palace where this was housed, that got destroyed, but we don't know how it got destroyed. It could have been an earthquake, could have been a tsunami, could have been the 5th century, could have been the 6th century CE. All we know is that so much time has passed, rivers have literally changed course. The statue's gone.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, it's gone.

[Ben Bullen]

That's basically the story.

[Noel Brown]

But, you know, based on these descriptions, very helpful descriptions, we do have some pretty cool artist renderings of it, like I said, so you can look that up. There is a cool alternate kind of what if of it all. An alternate theory is recorded in the works of a historian, actually a pair of historians. Zanaras and Kedron, you might have heard of them, which doesn't that sound like a. A cool rap duo?

[Ben Bullen]

Yeah, I could hear it.

[Noel Brown]

Desus and Marrow, I think, is what I'm thinking of. Zanaras and Kedron. I love it. They propose that the statue was destroyed by a fire. And I guess given its wooden core, that would make sense. And that would have potentially been in 475 CE.

[Ben Bullen]

And so now we have a very interesting conundrum here. I'm going to call this statue Zeus Prime. Zeus prime is gone by any measure. We don't know exactly what caused it to disappear, but Zeus has inspired so many other renditions. I would say the statue hasn't really disappeared because of the Strength of its legacy. You know what I mean?

[Noel Brown]

It's Mark, that's for sure. Yeah. And to your point, Ben, it really is the quintessential artist's rendering of.

[Ben Bullen]

And with that, we are ending the story of this wonder of the ancient world, the statue of Zeus, and getting to our main story, the question that has haunted all our fellow ridiculous historians throughout this low, this half hour. Your question immediately, friends and neighbors. Should I build this wonder in the video game Sid Meier's Civilization?

[Noel Brown]

And I throw that to Max. Maximilian. Max. A trillion with the facts.

[Max Williams]

Well, like all wonders in Civilization, it depends on which game you can build it in. Through my research, I found it's been in four. I haven't checked to see if it's in seven.

[Ben Bullen]

I haven't even played seven. Yeah, I was. You and I were talking earlier. I only play Civilization on long plane flights.

[Max Williams]

This year's a really. I mean, if you're a game nerd, people are loving the Rough Eater. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's really good. But there's just so many video games this year.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, sorry, I thought. Well, that's a good thing. It's a good, good, good. Kind of rough, I guess.

[Max Williams]

Yeah, yeah, it's rough. There's so many games. Like, I've even touched Adam Fall and that's supposed to be a beautiful game. Long story short, though, in Civilization 6, statue of Zeus is probably the most worthless wonder in the game because what it gives you.

[Noel Brown]

Well, they seem to share your opinion of the one worth the cost.

[Max Williams]

No, it's like it's 440 production to build all the things that Statue of Zeus comes with. There's like one specific build you can do where it makes sense. I mean, technically, like, you know, it's an early wonder. So if you go for cultural victory, the earlier you build them, the better. Blah, blah, blah. But it's like I think I wrote down here the equation that I read. But it's like if you're doing a wonders China build, you have a classical age monumentality. The statue of Zeus can be attained pretty easily because what you can do is you can like, you know, put workers in there. You buy workers with faith and do all these things, but you have to build an encampment and a barracks already. And you can just build, you know, so many other great wonders like Jebel Barkal, Petra, Abadana, Colossus, Colossus Coliseum, great library, Mahabodhi Temple, and of course, the previously mentioned mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Or you can even build the Terracotta army, which has the exact same requirements as Temple Zeus, but it's so much better.

[Noel Brown]

And those guys are scary.

[Ben Bullen]

They'll come at you and they'll be cursed. I have always liked the Great Library as a fan of Borges, and due to the fact that it gives you those free technologies, that's just sweet. But this is.

[Noel Brown]

As someone who has never played the game or any of the games, every time you guys talk about it, it gets me curious.

[Ben Bullen]

It's fun.

[Noel Brown]

Isn't there one on PS5? There's one. There's a version.

[Max Williams]

Oh, they're all on PS5.

[Noel Brown]

Okay, I'm gonna check it out. Are any of them free on PS Plus?

[Ben Bullen]

They should be.

[Noel Brown]

Maybe the older ones might be.

[Ben Bullen]

I'm gonna take a look or check in emulator, if I can say that online. Anyway, we have so, so much more to get to. More ancient wonders of the world. We have some ideas we'd like to share with you about what makes a wonder so wonderful or not. Yeah. But for now, we are going to call it a day. We're off on some adventures. And we're doing so with big thanks to our super producer research associate for this episode, Mr. Max Williams.

[Noel Brown]

Boy, are we ever. Huge thanks to Alex Williams, brother of me, Max, who composed this banging theme.

[Ben Bullen]

Sorry about your catalytic converter.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, I think he got past. At least insurance paid for it. Huge thanks to Jonathan Strickland, the Quizzer, and AJ Bahamas Jacobs, the Puzzler.

[Ben Bullen]

And to our dear friends, the rude dudes at Ridiculous Crime, who are actually making an appearance on the Puzzler. So check out that crossover we're all very excited about. Let's see. Chris Ross, Eve's Jeff Coates here in spirit. And Noel, thanks to you.

[Noel Brown]

Welcome back, man. Oh, thanks, buddy. I appreciate it. It's good to be back. And we'll see you next time. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Andrea Gunning]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes. Here, Diddy's former protege, television personality Danity King alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there. Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or where, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Max Williams]

He texted, I've ruined our lives.

[Noel Brown]

You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

How far would he go to cover up what he'd done?

[Max Williams]

The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many.

[Noel Brown]

Other other women are out there that.

[Max Williams]

May bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Noel Brown]

I've seen a lot of stuff over 30 years. You know, some very despicable crime and things that are kind of tough to wrap your head around. And this ranks right up there in the pantheon of Rhode island fraudster leaders.

[Max Williams]

I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying.

[Ben Bullen]

Listen to Deep Cover the Truth About Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Andrea Gunning]

A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up, so now I only buy one.

[Noel Brown]

Small but important ways, from tech billionaires.

[Ben Bullen]

To the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chaffan.

[Andrea Gunning]

And I'm Stacy Vanek Smith. So listen to everybody's business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Noel Brown]

This is an iHeart podcast.