one of the most famous of Greek statuaries, was born at Eleutheræ in Boeotia about 480 B.C. He studied along with Polycletus under Ageladas of Argos, and flourished at Athens about the commencement of the Peloponnesian war. Some of his works were executed in marble, but he wrought most successfully in the bronze of Delos. The range of his subjects was not confined to the varied attitudes of the human figure. It also comprised the forms of other animals; and this fact distinguished him from the rest of the great statuaries of Greece. Another characteristic of Myron was the want of all idealization in his works. "He was," says Pliny, "curious in all corporeal detail, but paid little regard to expression." There was an air of ease in his statues which indicated the admirable spontaneity of his genius. The work that first raised him to celebrity was a brazen cow, in the attitude of lowing, and, according to some, of suckling a calf. It was set up in a public place in Athens, and there it stood till at least the time of Cicero, attracting more notice by its simple truthfulness than all the highly-idealized statues of men and gods that abounded in the thoroughfares and streets of the city. Many authors mentioned it both in prose and verse, and no less than thirty-six of the epigrams in the Greek anthology were written in its praise. The last writer who alludes to its existence is Procopius, in the sixth century. It was then standing in the temple of Peace at Rome. The next most famous work of Myron was the "Discobolus," or quoit-thrower. This athlete is described by Lucian as bending one knee in the act of preparing to play, turning his head slightly to one side, and extending his right hand behind his back to take the quoit from his left. Of this bronze statue many marble imitations were probably taken, in accordance with the custom of that age. Some of these are supposed to have been discovered. One found in the Villa Palombra, on the Esquiline, in 1782, and now seen in the Villa Massimi at Rome, closely agrees with the description of the original given by Lucian. Not so faithful is another that was discovered in the grounds of Hadrian's villa near Tivoli in 1791, and is now exhibited in the Townley gallery of the British Museum. It has both knees bent, instead of one only, and the head inclining forwards, instead of turning round.

The following list of some of Myron's other works is given by Pliny.—A dog; Perseus; sea-monsters; a satyr admiring a double flute; Minerva; Delphic pentathletes; pancratists; Hercules; and Apollo. There are also mentioned in ancient authors, a colossal group of Jupiter, Juno, and Hercules at Samos; four oxen, which were placed by Augustus in the portico of Apollo's temple on the Palatine; a statue of Apollo, with the name of the artist in small silver letters on the thigh; Bacchus; several athletes; and a drunken old woman, in marble, at Smyrna.

Myron was also a carver in wood and an engraver in metals. He is said to have died in great poverty, leaving a son, named Lycius, who inherited a considerable portion of his father's talents. (English Cyclopaedia of Biography.)