TREASURIES (6th- 5th cent. B.C.).
Small temple-like buildings donated by the greek
city-states and their colonies in South Italy and Sicily (Magna Graecia) to the
Sanctuary. Only five out of twelve ruined Treasuries are identified with
certainty: those of Sikyon, Selinous, Metapontion, Megara and Gela.
TREASURY OF THE MEGARIANS
The entablature of the Treasury has been restored
together with the pediment, on which is depicted in relief a Gigantomachy,made
of limestone.The scene, containing five pairs of gods and Giants fighting, is
preserved in fragments and only the figure of the Giant in the middle has
survived almost complete. He is shown wounded and about to fall to the ground
under the blows of Zeus, the whom
only a leg is preserved. The other gods would have been Athena and Poseidon on
the left and Heracles with Ares on the right.
Sea monsters or serpents were depicted in the two corners of the pediment.
Probably from an Eleian workshop. It is dated to the end of 6th c. BC.
The Megarians had attached a shield taken from the spoils of their victory over
Corinthians. On the epistyle is the inscription MEGAREON (of the Megarians),
which is from the Roman period.