Tales of Caryatids Trivia Quiz

Answer: Second Persian War

During the Second Persian War, the Athenains had been unable to protect their city from attack. The Persians destroyed or damaged many of the public buildings, and, by the end of the war, several needed to be rebuilt. With the war over, the Greeks decided to form the Delian League in order to protect their country from future attack. Athens was chosen to be the leader of the League, and decided to use the money, paid as tribute by other members of the League for the mutual protection of Greece, from the group's treasury to rebuild their city.

The Erechtheion was constructed from 421-406 BC; although its original use is not known, historians believe that it was built to either honor the legendary Erichtonius, who was said to have invented the four horse chariot and also taught the ancients how to plow the soil and smelt silver, or King Erechtheus, who some believe was the founder of Athens.

Answer: Phidias

The rebuilding of Athens was overseen by their great general Pericles. He chose one of his best friends, Phidias, who was a very talented artist, to be the sculptor and mason of the project. Among his best known works are the statue of Zeus at Olympia, considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the statue of Athena Parthenos that was housed in the Parthenon.

It is unknown just how much of the Erechtheion was the direct result of the work of Phidias; some believe that at least some of the work was completed by Alkamenes, one of his students.

Answer: Poseidon and Athena's battle for Athens

The story was told that after its founding it was several years before residents of Athens decided to choose a patron for their city. Both Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Poseidon, god of the sea, wished to control Athens and the surrounding land of Attica, and their rivalry for the honor almost escalated into war. In her wisdom, Athena proposed a contest; the deity who produced the most useful gift for the polis would then have control. The king of the city, Kekrops, would be the judge. Poseidon was the first to act. He struck the rock on the Acropolis with his trident and water burst forth. At first it seemed a worthy gift; as the Acropolis served as a refuge in times of war, water was certainly a needed resource there. Poseidon's water, however, was seawater - maybe it wasn't such a great gift after all. Athena's gift, the olive tree, provided foodstuffs and wood, and was judged to be the best gift. Athena became the city's patron.

After the Erechtheion was completed in 406 BC, the eastern part of the building was dedicated to Athena, while the western part contained an altar to Poseidon, among others. An olive tree still grows at the site, however, it was planted in modern times by a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Answer: Maiden

Karyai was an ancient polis in Greece where a temple to the goddess Artemis was located. The term "caryatid" comes from the Greek "karyatides", which means "maidens of Karyai". It was written that these maidens, along with Artemis, enjoyed dancing. In the architectural sense, however, the caryatid is a carved maiden that takes the place of a column, holding up the roof of a building.

As far as the Erechtheion was concerned, the caryatid porch with six maidens served to hide a 15 foot beam that supported the southwest corner of the building.

By the way, the male counterpart of a caryatid is called an atlas or telamon.

Answer: False

The caryatids are the same height, have a bent leg (three of the figures stand on their right foot and the other three stand on their left), and wear a peplos, or robe. These similarities lead some to believe that they were all sculpted by the same person.

Their hairstyles and facial features, however, are all different. The uniqueness of the figures has caused some to believe that the caryatids represent actual people. One has to view the back of each caryatid to appreciate the intricacy by which the hair was sculpted. Actually the width of the hairstyle was probably added to give some more stability to each neck, which otherwise would have been the weakest point of the statue.

Answer: Libation vessel

King Kekrops (Cecrops), said by some to be the founder of Athens and its first king, was believed to have been buried on the Acropolis, which was also known as Cecropia. In fact, it is believed that the ancient Athenians also called themselves Cecropidae in order to honor and remember him.

The ancient Greeks poured libations, such as honey, mixed wine and water, and oil, on the ground quite often, typically accompanied by prayer. The Porch of Maidens is believed to overlook the tomb of Kekrops, so it is quite possible that each maiden was holding a libation vessel, called a "phiale" in their right hand.

It is believed that the left hand was used to raise a portion of their robe.

Answer: Virgin Mary

"Theotokos", meaning "Mother of God", is a title that is used in the Eastern Orthodox Church to honor the Virgin Mary. In 431 the Council of Ephesus, which found that Jesus was one person who possessed both a human and a divine nature, also decided that the Virgin Mary was to be called Theotokos.

The term is also used to describe a type of icon, a religious image, that portrays Mary and the infant Jesus. In western Christianity this type of picture is called a Madonna.

Answer: True

Herodotus (c 484-425 BC) wrote that Athena Polias, the Protector of the Polis, had a sacred snake that lived in the Erechtheion. Fed honey cakes, its presence there guaranteed the safety of the city. The people believed that the snake's refusal to eat the cakes was a bad omen - meaning that Athena had left the polis - because that is exactly what had happened before the Persian invasion of Athens. Many ancient writers make mention of the snake as late as the third century AD.

In the thirteenth century, Otho de la Roche, a Frankish ruler, became the Duke of Athens. During the time of Frankish rule the building was used to house a bishop. The commander of the garrison used the building as housing for his harem during the Ottoman Period.

Answer: Pantheon

This might be difficult to imagine, especially for those who have visited the Pantheon, but one must remember that Agrippa's building, which was completed during the reign of Augustus, was burned during a fire in Rome in 80 AD. The only source regarding its appearance, written by Pliny the Elder, who visited the structure, was "Natural History" (77-79 AD). Pliny credited Diogenes of Athens with the creation of the caryatid columns and said they were looked upon "as masterpieces of excellence". The current Pantheon that is found in Rome, which is used as a church today, was completed sometime around 126 AD by the Emperor Hadrian.

Answer: British Museum

One of the caryatids from the Erechtheum fell victim to Lord Elgin's project on the Acropolis in the early 1800s and was removed with the Parthenon Marbles. The story is that when the attempt was made to remove a second maiden there was some sort of problem and instead of removing the statue intact, his workers tried to saw the caryatid into pieces. Somehow the project went awry and the pieces were left behind to be reconstructed at a future date.

There is a legend that the day the caryatid was taken away, the others could be heard wailing. Upon their arrival in England, the precious artifacts were first displayed in a home that Lord Elgin had rented in London; after they were sold to Parliament, they were eventually housed in the British Museum.

The caryatids that can be seen on the Erechtheum on the Acropolis today are replicas.