Apollon
Discover the beauties of our land.
Kouros the Archaic God
Unique example of arhaic plastic art of 7th century B.C.
Kouros the Archaic God
Apollon is a place of brilliant presence in the civilization of Cyclades, having as a characteristic
the era of archaic years. As well as this it gives the traveller the Aegean Sea beauty, the unique
coexistence of mountains and sea, the clearness of the landscape, the picturesqueness in the formation
of the place, peace and calm which come out of these elements of nature.
This fact is testified by the huge long-chinned Kouros which lies to the west of the settlement. It is a unique example of arhaic plastic art which appeared in the Greek area during the 7th century B.C.
During this era Greek art is strongly influenced from the East subordinating the foreign themes to the laws of Greek form. So it created a new look in the area of art which expresses from the very beginning the world of archaic Greece..
The Cyclades were at time considered to be the original cradle of Greek plastic art. The Cyclades islands and particularly Naxos contributed significantly to the creation of the great archaic plastic art as the ancient literacy tradition proves. In addition to that the archeological findings give us the change to see two very important workshops of Paros and Naxos.
For better understanding of the contibution of Naxos to the formation of archaic plastic art we should mention that "Artemis of Nikandras of Naxos" is the first example of this art which grew in Greece.
It was found in Delos, made of Naxos marble which was plentiful on the island and it became the material of artistic expression used by skillful and sensitive artists of Naxos.
However, we should come back to "Kouros" of Apollon settlement. In Ionian dialect the word "Kouros" means youth, adolescent, but as an artistic term it means a statue of a naked youth in repose.
These statues were mainly devoted to the God Apollon and they were predestined to be put in the temples of the God. They were the image either of Apollon himself or the man who was offered to him as a taken of his vigour and beauty.
The "Kouros" we have mentioned was predestined to be carried to Delos, the holly island of Apollon. Nevertheless it remained unfinished and it still lies at the place where the marble quarries were.
It belongs to the early archaic era (660 - 580 B.C.) that is at the beginning of the time of "Kouroi" when the Greeks were enchanted by the size of the work and made statues of supernatural height.
From that has been saved upto now log-chinned "Kouros" of the village Apollon is the biggest to those of its kind and it is 11 metres high. Altough it is unfinished the characteristics of the art it represents are obvious.
It is made front-on with broad shoulders. Its arms are bent at the elbows and touch the ribs. Its hair seems to be curly and face has a chin. Its body is not completely naked. It is covered by a garment, something like a gown while the bodily outline is traced in a decorative style.
A very important element of the archaic technique which can be seen on the "Kouros" we mentioned and the other "Kouroi" of the same era as well is the latent movement of figure of "Kouros". It is coinsidered to be a great achievement in the developement of art.
The slightly forward position of the left leg together with the bending of the arms is in contrast with the front-on of Kouros. This shows an attempt of movement and life which the skillful artist of Naxos and Greece as well attemptend first and finally achieved.
This fact is testified by the huge long-chinned Kouros which lies to the west of the settlement. It is a unique example of arhaic plastic art which appeared in the Greek area during the 7th century B.C.
During this era Greek art is strongly influenced from the East subordinating the foreign themes to the laws of Greek form. So it created a new look in the area of art which expresses from the very beginning the world of archaic Greece..
The Cyclades were at time considered to be the original cradle of Greek plastic art. The Cyclades islands and particularly Naxos contributed significantly to the creation of the great archaic plastic art as the ancient literacy tradition proves. In addition to that the archeological findings give us the change to see two very important workshops of Paros and Naxos.
For better understanding of the contibution of Naxos to the formation of archaic plastic art we should mention that "Artemis of Nikandras of Naxos" is the first example of this art which grew in Greece.
It was found in Delos, made of Naxos marble which was plentiful on the island and it became the material of artistic expression used by skillful and sensitive artists of Naxos.
However, we should come back to "Kouros" of Apollon settlement. In Ionian dialect the word "Kouros" means youth, adolescent, but as an artistic term it means a statue of a naked youth in repose.
These statues were mainly devoted to the God Apollon and they were predestined to be put in the temples of the God. They were the image either of Apollon himself or the man who was offered to him as a taken of his vigour and beauty.
The "Kouros" we have mentioned was predestined to be carried to Delos, the holly island of Apollon. Nevertheless it remained unfinished and it still lies at the place where the marble quarries were.
It belongs to the early archaic era (660 - 580 B.C.) that is at the beginning of the time of "Kouroi" when the Greeks were enchanted by the size of the work and made statues of supernatural height.
From that has been saved upto now log-chinned "Kouros" of the village Apollon is the biggest to those of its kind and it is 11 metres high. Altough it is unfinished the characteristics of the art it represents are obvious.
It is made front-on with broad shoulders. Its arms are bent at the elbows and touch the ribs. Its hair seems to be curly and face has a chin. Its body is not completely naked. It is covered by a garment, something like a gown while the bodily outline is traced in a decorative style.
A very important element of the archaic technique which can be seen on the "Kouros" we mentioned and the other "Kouroi" of the same era as well is the latent movement of figure of "Kouros". It is coinsidered to be a great achievement in the developement of art.
The slightly forward position of the left leg together with the bending of the arms is in contrast with the front-on of Kouros. This shows an attempt of movement and life which the skillful artist of Naxos and Greece as well attemptend first and finally achieved.
