Diskobólos

“The Discus Thrower” (Greek: Δισκοβόλος, Latin: Diskobólos), an ancient Greek sculpture, is a masterpiece of the sculptor Myron, completed at the end of the Archaic period. The original, lost, is known through numerous Roman tin bronze reproductions. The work depicts the moment when the discus is placed to the highest point and is about to be thrown. It has a strong sense of movement and vividly expresses the perfect human body shape and instantaneous dynamics.

This statue known as the “God of Sports”[1] can be seen at a glance to represent a typical instant action of discus throwing: the human body bends down and bends its arms into an S shape. This makes a single human body rich in movement changes, but this change often causes a sense of instability, so the author shifts the center of gravity of the character to the right foot, and makes the left toe point to the ground for support. The two arms are stretched symmetrically around the head. So that the unstable body obtains a sense of stability. The front and side rotation of the body and the front and back arrangement of the lower limbs not only conform to the movement law of discus throwing, but also create a simple and varied form aesthetic feeling. The reason why athletes appear naked is determined by the social customs of the ancient Greeks. Because when the ancient Greeks were engaged in sports and religious performances, men were often naked. They believe that a perfect and healthy human body is the pride of man and the embodiment of divinity. This social custom in turn promoted the development of Greek human statues, and formed the artistic tradition of advocating the beauty of the human body in the history of Western art.