Turkey, Pergamon – acropolis. On this spot appr. from 170 B.C. the Altar of Zeus stood, which was commissioned by Eumenes II as gratitude for escaping assassination. The altar was made of marble and was excavated by German archaeologists in 1878-1886
The Altar of Zeus in 2014 in Pergamon Museum in Berlin. It is more than 12 m tall, 36 m wide, 34 m deep. There is a 2,3 m tall and 113 m long masterfully done frieze with raging Gigantomachy = Battle of Gigants with gods. However, the altar is currently not available to the public. Because of the museum reconstruction nobody can see it preliminarily as long as until 2019 Pergamon Altar: Detail of the East frieze of the Altar of Zeus: Alkyoneus, Athena, Gaia and Nike. Athena and Nike fight Alkyoneus. Alkyoneus was the strongest Gigant, adversary of Heracles, one of the leaders of an uprising of Gigants against Olympian gods. Gaia, depicted at the bottom as she rises up from the ground, was his mother. Goddess Athena is jerking at Alkyoneus´ hair and he is pathetically casting his eyes towards the sky. The fries is a grand meditation about order and chaos of the world
