Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period.

Commentators noted his grace and elegance, and the symmetria, or coherent balance, of his figures, which were leaner than the ideal represented by Polykleitos and with proportionately smaller heads, giving them the impression of greater height.

Lysippos was also famous for his bronze colossal sculptures of Zeus, 17 metres tall, and Herakles, seven meters seated, both from the city of Taras.

The only remaining version of one such statue is a Roman copy of The Weary Herakles (Farnese Hercules), by Glykon, [4] with heavy musculature typical of early third century Rome.

[10] An epigram by Posidippus, previously only known from the Anthology of Planudes (APl 119), but also found on the recently discovered Milan Papyrus (65 Austin-Bastianini), takes as its inspiration a bronze portrait of Alexander: Lysippus, sculptor of Sicyon, bold hand, cunning craftsman, fire is in the glance of the bronze, which you made in the form of Alexander.

"[12] Lysippos has been credited with the stock representation of an inspired, godlike Alexander with tousled hair and lips parted, looking upward[13] in what came to be known as the 'Lysippean gaze'.

Because of the amount of corrosion and the thick layer of incrustation that coated the statue when it was found, it can be assumed that it was beneath the water for centuries.