Fragments of Diadoumenos (Youth Tying a Fillet Around His Head)

Here, the male figure is seen tying a victory band around his head after winning an athletic contest, either at Olympia or Delphi. This statue helped solidify the ideal of the male form in the eyes of the Greeks and Romans. We often talk about the objectification, and expectation of a woman's beauty, but men are treated that way as well (though the scales don't weight out evenly). Why is male nudity seen as something powerful and athletic, the pinnacle of life really, when the nudity of females is seen as a prize, or on the opposite hand, a sordid act?

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