Polymedes of Argos

Dates of birth and death unknown. Ancient Greek sculptor.

Polymedes worked circa 600 B.C. in Delphi. He created statues of the athletes Cleobis and Biton (marble, Archaeological Museum, Delphi) that are mentioned by Herodotus (I, 31). These statues are characterized by such stylized traits as tense, frozen poses with one leg thrust forward, frontal and symmetrical composition, and generalized forms. This standard treatment is combined with such individual features as a disproportionate foreshortening, which intensifies the illusion of strength.