Fourth Century B.C.E.
Architect And Sculptor

Divinities. Scopas was an architect and sculptor from Paros who worked mostly in marble. Famous for his statues of divinities, he sculpted Aphrodite and a personification of Longing (Pothos) for her shrine at Samothrace and again for her temple at Megara, where he also made an image of Eros and a personification of Desire (Himeros). Pliny tells us his most renowned works were sculptures in a temple of Poseidon, later brought to Rome, which featured the god, Thetis, Achilles, dolphins, and minor sea dieties. He made a colossal, seated Ares, which was later moved to the Circus Maximus, as was another Aphrodite sculpted by him which Pliny considered superior to Praxiteles' version. Images of Apollo Smintheus (the mouse-god), Artemis, and Athena were also among his well-known works commissioned for areas as far apart as Asia Minor and Thebes. He...