atids (FIG. 5-54) replaced Ionic columns, as they did a century ear-
lier on the Ionic Siphnian Treasury (FIG. 5-18) at Delphi. The Delphi
caryatids resemble Archaic korai, and their Classical counterparts
equally characteristically look like Phidian-era statues. Although
they exhibit the weight shift that was standard for the fifth century
BCE, the role of the caryatids as architectural supports for the un-
usual flat roof is underscored by the vertical flutelike drapery folds
concealing their stiff, weight-bearing legs. The Classical architect-
sculptor successfully balanced the dual and contradictory functions
of these female statue-columns. The figures have enough rigidity to
suggest the structural column and just the degree of flexibility
needed to suggest the living body.
TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE Another Ionic building on the
Athenian Acropolis is the little Temple of Athena Nike (FIG. 5-55),
designed by Kallikrates, who worked with Iktinos on the Parthenon
(and perhaps was responsible for the Ionic elements of that Doric
temple). The temple is amphiprostyle with four columns on both
the east and west facades. It stands on what used to be a Mycenaean
bastion near the Propylaia and greets all visitors entering Athena’s
great sanctuary. As on the Parthenon, reference was made here to the
victory over the Persians—and not just in the temple’s name. Part of
its frieze was devoted to a representation of the decisive battle at
Marathon that turned the tide against the Persians—a human event,
as in the Parthenon’s Panathenaic Festival procession frieze. But now
the sculptors chronicled a specific occasion, not a recurring event in-
volving anonymous citizens.
Around the building, at the bastion’s edge, was a parapet deco-
rated with exquisite reliefs. The theme of the balustrade matched
that of the temple proper—victory. Nike’s image was repeated
dozens of times, always in different attitudes, sometimes erecting
trophies bedecked with Persian spoils and sometimes bringing for-
5-55Kallikrates,Temple of Athena Nike (looking southwest),
Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 427–424 bce.
The Ionic temple at the entrance to the Acropolis is an unusual amphi-
prostyle building. It celebrated Athena as bringer of victory, and one
of the friezes depicts the Persian defeat at Marathon.
5-56Nike adjusting her sandal, from the south side of the parapet
of the Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 410 bce.
Marble, 3 6 high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.
The image of winged Victory was repeated dozens of times on the
parapet around the Athena Nike temple. Here, the sculptor carved a
figure whose garments appear almost transparent.1 ft.Early and High Classical Periods 133ward sacrificial bulls to Athena. One relief (FIG. 5-56) shows Nike
adjusting her sandal—an awkward posture that the sculptor ren-
dered elegant and graceful. Here, the artist carried the style of the
Parthenon pediments (FIG. 5-49) even further and created a figure
whose garments cling so tightly to the body that they seem almost
transparent, as if drenched with water. The sculptor was, however,
interested in much more than revealing the supple beauty of the
young female body. The drapery folds form intricate linear patterns
unrelated to the body’s anatomical structure and have a life of their
own as abstract designs.HEGESO STELEAlthough the decoration of the great building
projects on the Acropolis must have occupied most of the finest sculp-
tors of Athens in the second half of the fifth centuryBCE, other