Vitruvius and the Origin of Caryatids
Vitruvius coined the term Caryatid in the 4th century BCE where he used it to describe the Karyai in Laconia where women often danced with a basket on their heads as a sign of honor to Artemis (Lesk, 25). Artemis was the goddess who was credited for the four seasons, and she was also responsible in ensuring that the lands were abundant and due to this reason she was credited as the source of sustaining life to the living creatures. Therefore, the young women danced in her honor in Laconia regarding her as Artemis Caryatis ("Artemis of the Walnut Tree"), and he was celebrated yearly by choral dances. The evolution of the kora statues begun in Persia where they used animal figures in creating column designs which were used to represent some form of relation between the animal and the owner or architect who had erected that building. However, the earlier Caryatids were used in archaic architecture where it was considered that the korai statutes would represent the figures of both males and females. In Ionian architecture, these korai statutes were used as columns serving the front entrances of royal buildings or any public place where the administrators gathered.
Use of Caryatids in Ancient Greece
Caryatides are currently used as support figures in the entablature part of a building, but before they became a common sight in buildings, they were used specifically for religious sanctuaries like the ones that were located in Delphi and Olympia. Treasury buildings also had archaic caryatids at the treasury at Delphi at Siphnians (c. 525 BCE) had a Caryatid and two other that were spread across Greece (Lesk, 27). During the period of archaic architecture, the caryatids that were present in that period had a short column drum which facilitated the korai to join with the column of the structure. The Greeks called them korai which is another name for maidens as t had become the prevalent figure to use instead of the animal and male figures. These women began to be a form of glorification to the females with the sculptors who did them giving them a feature which showed like their clothes cling on their bodies. This is what is currently considered as the "the wet look" in modern-day sculpturing of figures which coincidentally are also females. This shows the ability of the earlier sculptors to create new ways of enhancing art according to different regions so as to have a unique look. Alcamenes, who was a student and a colleague of the famous Greek sculptor Pheidias and other individuals are the people who are credited with creating the six Caryatids (James, 1147).
The Famous Caryatids of the Erechtheion
There are six famous Caryatids which are found on the Erechtheion on the Athenian acropolis at its false south porch where they support the roof in a magnificent style and where most modern artists have always gone to learn about creating Caryatids. The building is believed to have been constructed at around 421 and 406 BCE as a project of rejuvenating the architecture of the great city of Athens which had seen most of its sites being ruined by constant wars. Pericles wanted the city to have a sense of its lost glory which had made the other states surrounding Greece realize that the city had been reawakened. Therefore, in building the Erechtheion, it was supposed to house a wooden statue of Athena who was the goddess under which the city had coined its name. It was also supposed to serve as a center for other great individuals who had a connection with the city like Poseidon, Hephaistos his brother Boutes and Erechtheus who was considered to have been a mythical king who had ruled Athens before. Therefore, the word Erechtheus is supposed to pay homage to that mythical king just as it has been intended by Pericles.
The Mystery of the Caryatid Erechtheion
In later years, scholars began to question the belief that the Caryatid Erechtheion was structured as a cult center for the above-mentioned individuals as it was debated to have been a tomb (James, 1146). It was believed to be the grave site of a mythical king who was known as Kekrops, and he is credited to have ruled Athens before. In support of this fact, the scholars claim that the libation vessels that the Caryatids hold over their head shows a long tradition amongst the Greek which was supposed to act as a tribute to the dead. This is because upon the death of a person young women often poured libations from their vessels to the ground as an offering to the dead so that they could offer them good tidings as well as to get the right passage in the underworld. However, the caryatids are rendered uniquely in the sense that even though they wear the same robe which has a Doric that is belted with short himation their intricate hairstyles are plaited differently. These features are seen from their rear and a person can notice the different hairstyles that the caryatid have. Though the arms of the caryatids are lost, there are Roman copies that show that the women are holding phialai which are the shallow vessels that were used for pouring libations (Caskey, 6). Their left hands from the Roman copes also show that they have slightly raised their robes in what would be considered a swaying or a walking motion that would indicate a form of dancing style which was supposed to be the routine that the women followed in carrying out this task.
The Significance of the Caryatids
Erechtheion or Erechtheum describes the Greek temple which was constructed in Greek but the inclusion of the caryatid at the back of the temple is what offers interest to many scholars because they believe that it represented a form of hidden form of worship. While the reasons for the six caryatid structures are debatable, one thing that remains clear is the ability of the sculptors or the architects who did the work to use ingenuity in offering a unique form of structure that was meant to show the rejuvenation of the city. Currently, the caryatids are not popular, but the creation of the sculptors which borrow features from them is still a common occurrence which has also ensured that there is a finesse to the earlier form that was created in 421 BCE. To ensure that the caryatids are reserved as a form of history the five original acropolis are protected at Acropolis Museum in Athens while in London the British Museum also holds one of the artifacts (Caskey, 5).
Works Cited
Caskey, Miriam. "Perceptions of the new Acropolis Museum." American Journal of Archaeology Online Museum Review 115.3 (2011): 1-10.
James, N. (2009). The Acropolis and its new museum. Antiquity, 83(322), 1144-1151.
Lesk, Alexandra L. "" Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum": Pliny, Vitruvius, and the Semiotics of the Erechtheion Maidens at Rome." Arethusa 40.1 (2007): 25-42.
