Ageladas ( grc-gre, Ἀγελάδας ''Agelā́dās'') or Hagelaedas ( grc-gre, Ἁγελᾴδας ''Hagelā́idās'') was a celebrated

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

( Argive) sculptor, who flourished in the latter part of the 6th and the early part of the 5th century BC. Ageladas' fame is enhanced by his having been the instructor of the three great masters, Phidias,

Myron Myron of Eleutherae ( grc, Μύρων, ''Myrōn'' ), working c. 480–440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's '' Natural History'', Agelada ...

, and

Polykleitos Polykleitos ( grc, Πολύκλειτος) was an ancient Greek sculptor in bronze of the 5th century BCE. Alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias, Myron and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the most important sculptors of classical an ...

. The determination of the period when Ageladas flourished has given rise to a great deal of discussion, owing to the apparently contradictory statements of the writers who mention his name.

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

states that Ageladas cast a statue of Cleosthenes (who gained a victory in the chariot-race in the 66th

Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...

) with the chariot, horses, and charioteer placed at Olympia. Also at Olympia, there were statues by Ageladas of

Timasitheus of Delphi Timasitheus ( Ancient Greek: ) was an athlete of Delphi, who was victorious several times in the pankration at the Olympic and Pythian Games, and was also distinguished as a brave soldier. Background He was one of the partisans of the Athenia ...

and Anochus of

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

. Timasitheus was put to death by the Athenians for his participation in the attempt to overthrow the tyrant

Isagoras Isagoras ( grc-gre, Ἰσαγόρας), son of Tisander, was an Athenian aristocrat in the late 6th century BC. He had remained in Athens during the tyranny of Hippias, but after Hippias was overthrown, he became involved in a struggle for power ...

during the 68th Olympiad in 507. According to

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

, Anochus was a victor in the games of the 65th Olympiad. Therefore, if Ageladas was born about 540, he may very well have been the instructor of Phidias. On the other hand, Pliny says that Ageladas, with Polykleitos,

Phradmon Phradmon ( Gr. ) was a little-known sculptor from Argos, whom Pliny places as the contemporary of Polykleitos, Myron, Pythagoras, Scopas, and Perelius, at Olympiad 90 in 420 BCE, in giving an anecdotal description of a competition for a Wounded ...

, and Myron, flourished in the 87th Olympiad. This agrees with the statement of the scholiast on Aristophanes, that at Melite there was a statue of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

(), the work of Ageladas the Argive, which was set up during the great pestilence at the 87th Olympiad. To these authorities must be added a passage of Pausanias, where he speaks of a statue of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

made by Ageladas for the

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

ns of

Naupactus Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Lati ...

. This must have been after the year 455, when the Messenians were allowed by the

Athenians Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

to settle at Naupactus. In order to reconcile these conflicting statements, it has been argued that

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

's date is wrong and that the statue of Heracles had been made by Ageladas long before it was set up at Melite. Other scholars think that Pliny's date is correct, but that Ageladas did not make the statues of the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

victors mentioned by Pausanias until many years after their victories. Given that the dates of those individuals' victories are so nearly the same, this could be argued as being a very extraordinary coincidence. The most probable solution of the difficulty is that proposed by

Friedrich Thiersch Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch (17 June 178425 February 1860), was a German classical scholar and educationist. Biography He was born at Kirchscheidungen (now a part of Laucha an der Unstrut, Saxony-Anhalt). In 1809 he became professor at the ...

, who thinks that there were two artists of this name: one an Argive, the instructor of Phidias, born about 540; the other a native of

Sicyon Sicyon (; el, Σικυών; ''gen''.: Σικυῶνος) or Sikyon was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. An ancient mon ...

, who flourished at the date assigned by Pliny and was confused by the scholiast on Aristophanes with his more illustrious Argive namesake. Thiersch supports this hypothesis by an able criticism of a passage of Pausanias. Other scholars assume that there were two artists with the name of Ageladas, but both were Argives. Ageladas the Argive executed one of a group of three

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...

s, representing respectively the presiding geniuses of the

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a ...

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a p ...

and

enharmonic In modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent is a note, interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature but "spelled", or named differently. The enharmonic spelling of a writte ...

styles of

Greek music The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originated in the Byzantine period and Gree ...

. Canachus and Aristocles of Sicyon made the other two.

, ''Epoch, d. bild. Kunst.'' pp. 158–164

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ageladas 6th-century BC Greek sculptors 5th-century BC Greek sculptors Ancient Greek sculptors Ancient Argives