Caryatis (Karuatis), a surname of Artemis, derived from the town of Caryae in Laconia. Here the statue of the goddess stood in the open air, and maidens celebrated a festival to her every year with dances. (Paus. iii. 10. Β§ 8, iv. 16.5)
Place in Laconia, sacred to Artemis, maidens dance at C. in honour of Artemis.
(Aristomenes) . . he was making an attack by night on Sparta itself, but was deterred by the appearance of Helen and of the Dioscuri. But he lay in wait by day for the maidens who were performing the dances in honor of Artemis at Caryae, and capturing those who were wealthiest and of noblest birth, carried them off to a village in Messenia, entrusting them to men of his troop to guard, while he rested for the night. [10] There the young men, intoxicated, I suppose, and without any self-control, attempted to violate the girls. When Aristomenes attempted to deter them from an action contrary to Greek usage, they paid no attention, so that he was compelled to kill the most disorderly. He released the captives for a large ransom, maidens, as when he captured them.
. . Accordingly, after these troops from Dionysius had sailed round to Lacedaemon, Archidamus took them, along with his citizen soldiers, and set out on an expedition. He captured Caryae by storm and put to the sword all whom he took prisoners.
There had come to them a few deserters, men of Arcadia, lacking a livelihood and desirous to find some service. Bringing these men into the king's presence, the Persians inquired of them what the Greeks were doing, there being one who put this question in the name of all. When the Arcadians told them that the Greeks were holding the Olympic festival and viewing sports and horseraces, the Persian asked what was the prize offered, for which they contended. They told him of the crown of olive that was given to the victor. Then Tigranes son of Artabanus uttered a most noble saying (but the king deemed him a coward for it); [3] when he heard that the prize was not money but a crown, he could not hold his peace, but cried, "Good heavens, Mardonius, what kind of men are these that you have pitted us against? It is not for money they contend but for glory of achievement!" Such was Tigranes' saying. (Herod. 8.26.1)
Commentary: These Arcadians have been identified with the inhabitants of Caryae on the borders of Laconia, who are said to have been all killed or enslaved for Medism (Vitruvius, i. 1. 5, explaining ‘Caryatides’ in architecture). They would seem, however, to be a band of adventurers seeking service as mercenaries; the Arcadians, like the Swiss at the end of the Middle Ages, often earned a livelihood thus (Thuc. iii. 34; vii. 57, 58).
This text is cited Apr 2003 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A town in Laconia near the borders of Arcadia, originally belonged to the territory of Tegea in Arcadia. Female figures in architecture that support burdens are said to have been called Caryatides in token of the abject slavery to which the women of Caryae were reduced by the Greeks, as a punishment for joining the Persians at the invasion of Greece
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Karuai: Eth. Karuates. A town of Laconia upon the frontiers of Arcadia.
It was originally an Arcadian town belonging to Tegea, but was conquered by the
Spartans and annexed to their territory. (Phot. Lex. s. v. Karuateia;; Paus. viii.
45. § 1.) Caryae revolted from Sparta after the battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371),
and offered to guide a Theban army into Laconia; but shortly afterwards it was
severely punished for its treachery, for Archidamus took the town and put to death
all the inhabitants who were made prisoners. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 24--27, vii. 1.
§ 28.) Caryae was celebrated for its temple of Artemis Caryatis, and for the annual
festival of this goddess, at which the Lacedaemonian virgins used to perform a
peculiar kind of dance. (Paus. iii. 10. § 9 ; Lucian. de Salt. 10.) This festival
was of great antiquity, for in the second Messenian war, Aristomenes is said to
have carried off the Lacedaemonian virgins, who were dancing at Caryae in honour
of Artemis. (Paus. iv. 16. § 9.) It was, perhaps, from this ancient dance of the
Lacedaemonian maidens, that the Greek artists gave the name of Caryatides to the
female figures which were employed in architecture instead of pillars. The tale
of Vitruvius respecting the origin of these figures, is not entitled to any credit.
He relates (i. 1. § 5) that Caryae revolted to the Persians after the battle of
Thermopylae; that it was in consequence destroyed by the allied Greeks, who killed
the men and led the women into captivity; and that to commemorate the disgrace
of the latter, representations of them were employed in ar. chitecture instead
of columns.
The exact position of Caryae has given rise to dispute. It is evident
from the account of Pausanias (iii. 10. § 7), and from the history of more than
one campaign that it was situated on the road from Tegea to Sparta. (Thuc.v. 55;
Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 25, 27 ; Liv. xxxiv. 26.) If it was on the direct road from
Tegea to Sparta, it must be placed, with Leake, at the Khan of Krevata: but we
are more inclined to adopt the opinion of Boblaye and Ross, that it stood on one
of the side roads from Tegea to Sparta. Ross places it NW. of the Khan of Krevata,
in a valley of a tributary of the Oenus, where there is an insulated hill with
ancient ruins, about an hour to the right or west of the village of Arakhova.
Although the road from Tegea to Sparta is longer by way of Arakhova, it was, probably,
often adopted in war in preference to the direct road, in order to avoid the defiles
of Klisura, and to obtain for an encampment a good supply of water. Boblaye remarks,
that there are springs of excellent water in the neighbourhood of Aralkhova, to
which Lycophron, probably, alludes (Karikon or Karukon poton, Lycophr. 149).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
For Caryae is a region sacred to Artemis and the nymphs, and here stands in the open an image of Artemis Caryatis. Here every year the Lacedaemonian maidens hold chorus-dances, and they have a traditional native dance.
A draped female figure substituted for a column supporting an entablature. Caryatids occur only rarely in Greek architecture. Their earliest appearance is in a cluster of Ionic treasuries built at Delphi in the mid 6th c. B.C. and the Lyons kore of similar date from the Athenian Acropolis. They are not employed again until the Erechtheion (421-406 B.C.), after which their next use is in the Limyra heroon (370-350 B.C.) in Lycia.
The distinctive costume, pose and hairstyle of caryatids are presumably related to both their function and meaning. Their origin and significance, however, remain controversial. Suggested explanations for their origin include Oriental influence, borrowing of forms in the minor arts, and the adaption of figures found on perirrhanteria (ritual water basins). The meaning of their iconography has been sought in both historical-political events (Vitruvius) and religious beliefs (as nymph-intercessors).
Vitruvius 1.1.5: The female figures in architecture that supported burdens are said to have been called Caryatids in token of the abject slavery to which the women of Caryae (a town in Laconia near the borders of Arcadia, originally belonging to the territory of Tegea in Arcadia) were reduced by the Greeks, as a punishment for joining the Persians at the invasion of Greece.
This text is cited Apr 2003 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A wide knowledge of history is requisite because, among the ornamental parts of an architect's design for a work, there are many the underlying idea of whose employment he should be able to explain to inquirers. For instance, suppose him to set up the marble statues of women in long robes, called Caryatides, to take the place of columns, with the mutules and coronas placed directly above their heads, he will give the following explanation to his questioners. Caryae, a state in Peloponnesus, sided with the Persian enemies against Greece; later the Greeks, having gloriously won their freedom by victory in the war, made common cause and declared war against the people of Caryae. They took the town, killed the men, abandoned the State to desolation, and carried off their wives into slavery, without permitting them, however, to lay aside the long robes and other marks of their rank as married women, so that they might be obliged not only to march in the triumph but to appear forever after as a type of slavery, burdened with the weight of their shame and so making atonement for their State. Hence, the architects of the time designed for public buildings statues of these women, placed so as to carry a load, in order that the sin and the punishment of the people of Caryae might be known and handed down even to posterity.
Likewise the Lacedaemonians under the leadership of Pausanias, son of Agesipolis, after conquering the Persian
armies, infinite in number, with a small force at the battle of Plataea, celebrated a glorious triumph with the spoils and booty, and with the money obtained from the sale thereof built the Persian Porch, to be a monument to the renown and valour of the people and a trophy of victory for posterity. And there they set effigies of the prisoners arrayed in barbarian costume and holding up the roof, their pride punished by this deserved affront, that enemies might tremble for fear of the effects of their courage, and that their own people, looking upon this ensample of their valour and encouraged by the glory of it, might be ready to defend their independence. So from that time on, many have put up statues of Persians supporting entablatures and their ornaments, and thus from that motive have greatly enriched the diversity of their works. There are other stories of the same kind which architects ought to know.
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