Kore's and Korai's, Oh My!

For this blog I chose to answer the question if I  could do my monument analysis somewhere else where would it be and why. During our monument analysis project I was fascinated by all the headstones at Ross Bay Cemetery. They seemed such intimate items for us strangers to be looking and analyzing in a very non-personal way. I've probably been watching way too many crime shows on TV but while we were completing our project the inscriptions brought up a lot of lingering questions for me. Mostly concerning the more detailed aspects of the deceased's life and their cause of death. The more I thought about the person(s) in each grave the more I thought of another grave monument that left me feeling unsettled. 


One of my favourite pieces of Ancient Greek 'art' is one that I learned about last semester, which I somewhat regrettably chose to write a paper on. It is the archaic kore statue called Phrasikleia. 

Phrasikleia is one of many kore(the female version) and korai( the male version) of these kinds of statues found in Attic Greece and on the Acropolis. Scholars have classified several of the statues as grave markers. Only a few of the inscriptions have survived throughout the several thousand years but luckily Phrasilkelia's had both a name and a purpose. The inscription on the base of the statue says: "Grave marker of Phrasikleia. I shall ever be called maiden (kore), the gods allotting me this name in place of marriage."(Sculpture Collection of the National Archaeological Museum)
 It is debated by some but most widely accepted that Phrasikleia was a young girl at marrying age, who died before she she could be married and so she is forever a "kore" or a maiden. The statue is dressed in traditional wedding garb and is said to be holding an acorn or lotus bud symbolizing her eternal youthfulness and maidenhood. I just love the potential history of a single piece and the "what-could-have-beens" about this young girl's life and the purpose of a family in creating such an elaborate grave marker. I would instantly and happily choose this kore statue as a topic for a monument analysis. 


References: 



Funerary statue of the kore Phrasikleia (4889) [Homepage of Sculpture Collection of the National Archaeological Museum], [Online]. Available: http://nam.culture.gr/portal/page/portal/deam/virtual_exhibitions/EAMS/EAMG4889/Funerary%20statue%20of%20the%20kore%20Phrasikleia%20(4889)?_template=/deam/deam_template_printer [2012, March/7].
 
Photo:
http://www.eveandersson.com/photo-display/large/greece/athens/national-archaeological-museum-phrasikleia-statue-550-540-bc.html