Alcamenes

Family: Greek art · Role: sculptor · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 8

In Book 1, Alcamenes is credited with statues of Ares, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Procne and Itys. The statue of Aphrodite in the Gardens is described as “among the few things at Athens best worth seeing.” In Book 2, he is said to have been the first to make Hecate with three heads and three bodies.

In Book 3, Alcamenes is identified as the son of Teleclus and succeeds him. During his reign, the Lacedæmonians depopulated Helos and defeated Argive rescuers. In Book 4, strife arose between the Lacedæmonians and Messenians; Alcamenes led the attack on Amphea, which the Lacedæmonians captured. He later died, and his son Polydorus succeeded him.

In Book 5, Alcamenes is called a contemporary of Phidias and “second only to him as statuary.” Book 7 recounts Alcamenes and his men fleeing Megara for Corinth without striking a blow. Later references credit him with statues of Æsculapius, Athene and Hercules, while Book 8 places Praxiteles’ statue-making three generations after Alcamenes.