The Doryphoros of Messene, statue of a young nude athlete

The work is an excellent copy of Doryphoros of the Αrgive sculptor Polykleitos (450– 445 BC). The original work was the best example of the sculptor's art. In other words, it was the material incarnation of the "Canon" or Rule, where the whole system of symmetry of the proportions of the human body was expressed.

The torso is turned slightly to the right. The athlete prepares to lift his left leg. The nudity and the monumentality, larger than life, indicate that a demi-god or hero is depicted, victorious in games, an example for athletes and an idealized form of the athletic spirit.

Most likely the Doryphoros of Messene depicts the victorious Athenian hero Theseus, who was seen by the Pausanias beside those of Herakles and Hermes in the Gymnasium of Messene. Probably is presented the hero after his victory over the Minotaurus and the liberation of the seven youths and seven maidens of Athens.

The statue was erected on an older pedestal of bronze statues in the area of the Gymnasium opposite the monumental Doric propylon near a monumental street of the city. Based on the excavation data, the Doryphoros of Messene was made generally during the latter part of Augustus’ reign and is contemporary with the renovation of the Gymnasium in the first century AD and the revival of the Ephebeia in the Messene.