The ancient Greek sculpture by Myron portraying an athlete throwing a discus is the Discobolus.
Myron created the original bronze sculpture during the Classical period, probably around 460–450 BC. The original has not survived, but Roman marble copies preserve its celebrated composition: a nude athlete twists his body into a powerful, carefully balanced pose just before releasing the discus.
The work is famous for combining intense movement with an idealized, controlled expression. Although the athlete appears to be exerting great force, his face remains calm, reflecting the Greek artistic preference for harmony and restraint. The name Discobolus means “discus thrower.”
Several Roman copies exist, and they are not identical in every detail. The most famous version was discovered at the Villa Palombara in Rome in 1781 and is now associated with the British Museum. The statue is often confused with Polykleitos’s Doryphoros, another influential Classical Greek athletic figure, but Doryphoros carries a spear rather than a discus.