The missing Caryatid maiden and the British imperial mindset

Hello — I’m glad to be back! More on my trip below.

It’s Thursday, July 16. One of my musical idols, Linda Ronstadt, turned 80 yesterday, and oh how I wish it was 1976 and she was turning 30 and still singing.

The sun rose in Boston at 5:21 a.m. and set at 8:18 p.m. for 14 hours and 57 minutes of sunlight. The waxing moon is 7% full.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac is already out with its fall foliage planner so that you can pick exactly which day you’ll get stuck in traffic on the Kancamagus Highway.

🌫 What’s it like outside? Smoke from a spate of wildfires in northern Minnesota and Ontario continue to sweep eastward across New England, yellowing our skies and blocking the sun. The smokiness should dissipate by mid-day Friday. The weekend looks pretty good, with some scattered showers and mugginess.

⚾️ Hey, sport: The Red Sox brought a 9-game winning streak into Tuesday’s All-Star game in Philly, which the American League won, 4-0. The Sox still are not a .500 team, but they certainly are making things interesting. This weekend brings a crucial four-game series at Fenway vs. Tampa Bay, who lead the Sox in the AL East by 10 games.

The two World Cup teams left standing, Spain and Argentina, will face off in the final in Atlanta at 3 p.m. Sunday in New Jersey (Fox, Peacock, Telemundo). The bronze medal game between France and England is 5 p.m. Saturday in Miami.

The Caryatids and entitlement

During my time off, I spent 10 full days in Greece (plus another couple of days traveling) with my nephew and his family. He’s quite well-versed in the history of ancient Greece (and mythology), and has visited there several times, so he was a terrific guide, from Knossos on the island of Crete to the Acropolis and Parthenon to the Peloponnese, Delphi, and a thousand places in between.

The weather was perfect, the landscapes and beaches breathtaking, and the outdoor cafe culture intoxicating. (Not literally.) It was about as close to a perfect vacation as you could want.

But there was one discovery that left me sad and angry.

The dominant building atop the Acropolis is, of course, the massive Parthenon, the ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. But off to the side is another significant building: The Erechtheion, built primarily to worship Athena Polias.

(The goddess has many epithets, or cult titles: A few include Athena Nike for victory, Athena Soteira for savior, Athena Erganes to honor work. Athena Polias is Athena of the city, and the Parthenon is so named because it is dedicated to Athena Parthenos — Athena the Maiden. Sort of like Donald Trump aka John Barron aka John Baron aka John Miller aka Carolin Gallego aka David Dennison. The only difference is he’s godless.)

An aerial model of the Parthenon, with the Erechtheion in the lower left corner. You can see a couple of the Caryatids on the porch facing the Parthenon. (Source: ArchitecturePorn on reddit)

The most prominent architectural feature of the Erechtheion is the Porch of the Caryatids: Six statues of women that act as columns holding up the entablature above. There were caryatids elsewhere in Greece, most notably at the Treasury buildings at Delphi and Olympia. The name means “maidens of Karyai,” an ancient town in the Peloponnese. According to Wikipedia, some believe they represent the enslaved women of Karyai, who were punished for allying with the Persians against the Greeks and forced to carry the weight of heavy buildings. However, many historians believe the statues actually depict young dancers from a local festival dedicated to the goddess Artemis.

Whatever the origin, the most famous caryatids in the world are those six at the Erechtheion on the Acropolis in Athens, shown here (one is partially hidden behind the second from the left figure):

Get these women some Excedrin! (Photo by Andrey Nuraliev on Unsplash)

These are replicas, of course; the originals are protected in the Acropolis Museum, where they were carefully cleaned and are lovingly cared for. They are prominently displayed on a first-floor balcony. Here are some photos I took: