Kore of Euthydikosc,Athens,Greece 490 BCE
Ancient Greeks, just like other civilizations before them and during their time, were polytheistic, and each god was attributed a certain role, for example Zeus was known as being the god of all the gods and mortals, his daughter Athena, to whom Greeks dedicated the temple of Athena Nike, was known as the goddess of wisdom. During the Archaic period of Greek art, people developed the use of Kores , female statues with the traditional archaic smile that were commissioned by wealthy individuals to represent them before the gods and or serve the gods for them. Kore were usually made to life size and were often portrayed wearing what is call a chiton , a traditional garment of ancient Greece, if we look closely at the chiton one can see more interest from the sculptors in creating more realistic drapery by looking at how the clothing drapes around the body and how it falls on it as well, something truly more realistic and advance than previous sculptures. Artist in the archaic period are drawing closer to the interest in realism and proportionate anatomy that would developed in the Hellenistic period. In fact to add more to its realism Greeks would paint the Kore to make them look more "life-like". The fact that the ancient Greeks designed the Kore to represent them before the gods goes to show again that relationship between deity and mortals, either the ancient Greeks were really concerned with satisfying the gods and be in a good standing with them or perhaps they were making this statues as to show their socioeconomic status and fulfill their social obligations. The Kore as mentioned before were commissioned by the wealthy so it would make sense if the ornamentation and realism of such figures had to do with this.Another thing to considered is that the Kore always bore the name of the person that it was created for and its purpose. Very similar to what wealthy patrons did during the Renaissance in Italy whenever they would commissioned a portrait of a Saint or Jesus, they often had their name display on the painting or themselves be put in it.
