Korai in Ancient Greek means maidens (plural, kore is maiden), or a female who is just at marriageable age. This was much different than in modern times, since girls came of marriageable age as early as 12 years old. For example, one of the goddess Persephone’s monikers is Kore when referred to with her mother Demeter, as she represents a maiden at this time. (When with Hades, Persephone is Queen of the Underworld and is married, no longer a maiden.)
There are 41 figures that make up the Korai from the Acropolis. They are all of young, beautiful women of marriageable age, created in marble from Paros. These figures are all slender with long hair, and would’ve been painted in extravagantly rich colours and patterns of reds and blues being popular among others. The figures are always clothed and stand at a varying height of about 1.15m.
Korai statues originated in the Archaic period, around 550-480 BCE, with varying purposes. Some were used by the wealthy as grave markers for family members that had passed; it would be women who did not marry. Other purposes for Korai statues were as commissions from wealthy citizens, who wished for favour among certain gods, and had the statues created to serve the gods in the sanctuaries. On the statues themselves there are inscriptions which more or less state what the Kore was intended for. Even though the inscriptions on the Korai statues are technically about the Korai they were typically depicting, they still mainly focused on men as they were the ones who drove society and women were on the outskirts, not considered citizens. One inscription on a Kore statue found in the Acropolis museum reads, “Euthydikos, son of Thaliarchos, dedicated (the statue),” (taken from the Acropolis Museum website) this isn’t for any specific god/goddess, so the Kore statue is either for a sanctuary or a grave marker, though that isn’t named here, just the man who paid.
The Kore shown above is currently housed in the New Acropolis Museum, with the other 40 Korai from the Acropolis. She is known simply as the Kore with the almond-shaped eyes, and is thought to be one of the most beautiful of the collection. She wears a diadem with her hair hanging symmetrically down, and on her body is a short chiton with a himation attached by buttons intricately carved. (A himation is a piece of clothing Greeks wore over the left shoulder and under the right.) All of this would’ve been painted including patterns. The statue dates to around 500 BCE though that is not exact.
Though the Korai at the Acropolis are not ‘one of a kind’ like many statues, they are all different in little ways, each from another developing year that highlights how sculptors developed over time. How the whole style of sculpting developed in general, as well as how the idea of looking at women’s bodies developed in the art world of Ancient Greece. For example, most of the statues have completely stoic faces which was popular before the 4th century Classical period and they gradually grow into an era of emotion in the following years as artists become more interested in more naturalistic expression in the Hellenistic period.
These statues depict women in a time that women were not valued as citizens, as equals to men, though it is interesting that they show a progression in interest towards women and highlights their role within the family structure. Women were used as tools to help secure wealth for a family; they were intended to marry and have children. The women that are portrayed by these Korai statues are perpetual maidens, forever stuck at the point in their life before being considered real women and not children; never truly a person in society.
I am most excited to see what the real scale of these are in marble; a photo is one thing, the real deal is entirely different. Over a metre of marble, carved specifically for a purpose so long ago and there are truly so few answers. Being able to view what is left of the Korai statues in person is a privilege because I feel there is so much undocumented about the experience of being a woman in the times of Ancient Greece; so much must be inferred or was written by a man. The statues allow a chance to infer a little bit more through what has been pieced together and recreated, to see what women of that time might’ve been like.
Bibliography:
-“The Korai of the Acropolis.” The Korai of the Acropolis | Acropolis Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. June 2017. (image)
-Kore. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2017. .
-“Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases.” Ionic Kore from the Acropolis | Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2017. .
-“The Korai of the Acropolis.” The Korai of the Acropolis | Acropolis Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2017. .
-“Himation.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 06 June 2017. .
-Kore with almond-shaped eyes – Acropolis museum Athens Greece. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2017. .
– [ ]
