CRACKED MYTHS

Athens uses its walls for political protest, economic commentary, and modern storytelling. The districts most famous for graffiti are Psyrri, Exarchia and Monastiraki (Ermou Street). The famous 2023 mural Caryatids Crying by the artist INO is in Ermou Street. Here you can see the famous Ancient Greek figures weeping about the state of modern Greek politics and culture. This is most definitely a modern example of a cracked myth. The Caryatids are the daughters of Athens.

Originals

INO’s murals

But who were the Caryatids?

These six sculpted female figures replaced traditional stone pillars to support the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis. Carved from marble in420 BC. The popular legend suggest that these figures represent women of Caryae. The town betrayed Greece by forming an allegiance with Persia and as a punishment, the men were killed, the women enslaved forced to forever carry heavy loads.

And what is their significance to modern Greece?

Cultural Restitution
In the early 19th century Lord Elgin removed one of the sisters who now sits all alone in the British Museum, London. In the early 19th century, Lord Elgin removed one of the six original sisters. Today, that statue sits in the British Museum in London, whilst her five siblings reside in the climate-controlled Acropolis Museum in Athens. Their separation is a metaphor for the returned of contested historical artefacts. It is a story we are not often told in the UK.

State Identity and Heritage
The Caryatid represent an important sense of what it is to be Greek and strength in a time of adversity. They remind the modern public of an unbroken link between ancient ideals and contemporary society – and are a powerful link to my own artistic work Cracked Myths