The greatest example of Hellenistic Greek sculpture, the colossal Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, near Izmir (Turkey), is a monumental work of Greek art built by King Eumenes II of the Attalid dynasty, from about 166 to 156 BCE. The altar is adorned with a 370-foot long marble frieze which depicts the Gigantomachy from Greek mythology. Like the Parthenon in Athens - another icon of classical antiquity - the Zeus Altar was constructed on a terrace of the acropolis overlooking the ancient city of Pergamon, situated on the west coast of Anatolia (now Turkey) in Asia Minor. However, unlike the Parthenon, it was not a temple but merely an altar, possibly connected to the Doric Temple of Athena which had been built 150 years earlier and which stood above
