Kroisos Kouros
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The Kroisos Kouros is a marble kouros from Anavyssos in Attica which functioned as a Grave Marker. The free-standing sculpture strides forward with the "archaic smile" playing slightly on his face. The sculpture is dated to c. 540-515BC and stands 1.95m high. It is now situated in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (inv. no. 3851).
The inscription on the base of the statue reads: "Stop and show pity beside the marker of Kroisos, dead, whom once in battle's front rank raging Ares destroyed."
The Kroisos Kouros is central to the debate on kouroi and is thought of as a symbolic representation of a body, not a naturalistic one. It embodies the ideal of the male warrior en promachois or "in the front line" of battle.
