Biton and Kleobis

Kleobis and Biton is the name conventionally given to a pair of lifesize Archaic Greek statues, or kouroi , which are now in the Archeological Museum at Delphi , Greece . The statues date from about 580 BC and come from Argos in the Peloponnese , although they were found at Delphi.

Kleobis and Biton were two legendary brothers who, according to Greekmythology , took the place of oxen in pulling their mother's cart 45 stadia (eight kilometres) from Argos to the temple of Hera . For their piety and strength their mother, Cydippe, prayed to the goddess to givethem whatever is best to man. After the feast the youths lay down in the temple of Hera, slept and never woke. Herodotus , who relates the story, says that the citizens of Argos donated a pair ofstatues to the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi.

Inscriptions on the base of the statues identify them as Kleobis and Biton, and also identify Polymides of Argos as thesculptor: something which was very unusual at such an early date. The staues are in what is regarded as a typical Peloponnesianstyle: massive and muscular. But they are not intended to be lifelike representations of Kleobis and Biton, even assuming thebrothers were historical rather than mythical figures. The statues are ideal representations of the virtues of masculine strengthand piety.

Related articles

• Greek art

External link

• Herodotus on Kleobis and Biton