The East frieze of the Altar: Leto and Apollo

To the left of the Demeter group is Apollo. His handsome nude body […] was overtly modelled on a ca. 330 BC bronze statue by Leochares, a piece also reproduced in a famous Roman marble copy in the Vatican – the so-called Apollo Belvedere. At Apollo’s feet is the Giant Udaios (“on the ground”), struck by an arrow. The god prepares to draw another arrow from his quiver as he aims his bow at a second snake-legged Giant, perhaps Ephialtes. The Giant is likely trying to heave a boulder above his head to throw at Apollo. Numerous fragments of this Giant’s impressive bearded face were reattached during the last restoration, making this head even more imposing. Apollo’s mother, Leto, fights beside her son, thrusting a torch at a fallen winged Giant with bird talons and a snaketail […]. Behind her the huntress Artemis, her daughter, fits her bow with an arrow as she strides over Styphelos’ dead body […].