Made by Phidias around 435 BC at Olympia, the seated Zeus nearly touched the temple ceiling. Visitors joked that if he stood, he would take the roof off.
After the Olympic Games were banned, the statue was likely moved to Constantinople and destroyed in a fire around 475 AD. Only coins and descriptions record what it looked like.
The 33-metre bronze sun god was finished around 280 BC and collapsed in an earthquake in 226 BC. Its bronze pieces lay on the ground for centuries and still drew tourists.
