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P1070372.JPG

Melanes, Naxos, Greece: abandoned Kouros We went to an ancient quarry near Melanes where there are Kouros and an ancient 6th c BC aqueduct. This area has been inhabited from 4000 BC. Archeologists have found 36 prehistoric settlements. Naxos was very powerful in the 6th & 5th c BC, when it was rules by a Tyrant (a word that means all-powerful, not necessarily bad). The Tyrant of Naxos built a fleet, which made Naxos powerful. He built, or at least started, a temple to Apollo at the port. Kouros (male) and Koris (female) statues date from the Archaic period 7th-6th c BC. The figures are quite static, their left legs slightly ahead of the right, and arms by their side. This was because they didn’t know how they would distribute the weight of the stone so it would be stable in any less cylindrical form. Details were put on after the Kouros was on the pedestal. All the Kouros were naked, and all the Koris were clothed. The Kouros we saw was left in the ground where it had been quarried, probably because the leg broke as it was being moved. This Kouros dates from 570 BC.