The remainder of the building was associated with the cults of
Poseidon, Erechtheus, Pandrosos, and others. The arrangement has been
a subject of much controversy. The passage at the west of the cella
probably contained altars of Poseidon (with Erechtheus), of Boutes,
and of Hephaestos; the tokens of Poseidon, namely the salt spring, and
the marks of the trident, were either in the west central chamber
or below the north portico. The south porch served as an additional
entrance, but it also contained the tomb of Cecrops. The Pandroseion,
which contained the sacred olive-tree of Athenè, and a small shrine of
Pandrosos, was annexed to the outside of the west end of the building.
The Elgin Collection contains several specimens of the architectural
decorations of the Erechtheion. In the above plan (fig. 18), those
parts of the building are indicated by letters from which fragments
have been obtained. In some instances the exact position is uncertain.
For a discussion of the Erechtheion, see Harrison, _Mythology and
Monuments of Anc. Athens_, p. 481.
[Sidenote: =407.=]
So-called Caryatid, or Canephoros, [Greek: kanêphoros] (fig. 19).
One of the six female figures which served as columns in the southern
portico of the Erechtheion. In the survey of the building these
figures are called _Korae_, "maidens." They have been called Canephori
(see p. 149) by Visconti (_Memoirs on the Sculptures of the Earl
of Elgin_, p. 122), and others. It is true that the maidens here
represented are such as those represented on the Parthenon frieze. But
there is nothing that specially connects them with the Canephori, or
persons who bore the sacred vessels on their heads. By some writers
they have been called Caryatids, on account of a statement of
Vitruvius (i., chap. 1) that women of Carya, a town of Arcadia,
were represented as architectural supports--a punishment which they
incurred for betraying the Greeks to the Persians.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Caryatid of the Erechtheion.]
The figure here described wears a long chiton, which is drawn up under
the girdle, falling in rich folds, and is fastened on each shoulder
by a circular brooch. Attached to this is the diploïdion, which falls
down before and behind. In front it falls to the waist; behind
it would trail on the ground, if a part were not looped up to the
shoulders, so as to make a deep fold, falling as low as the hips.
The hair from the back of the head falls in a thick mass between
the shoulders, tied together with a band. The hair gathered from the
forehead is woven into tresses. Two fall on each shoulder; the others
are twisted round the head in the form of the _krobylos_ (cf. p. 87).
The arms are wanting from above the elbows. The right hand probably
hung by the side, where the surface of the drapery is seen to have
been protected from corrosion. The left hand has drawn from behind one
corner of the diploïdion.
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