A caryatid (/kæriˈætɪd/; Greek: Καρυάτις, plural: Καρυάτιδες) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese. Karyai had a famous temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "As Karyatis she rejoiced in the dances of the nut-tree village of Karyai, those Karyatides, who in their ecstatic round-dance carried on their heads baskets of live reeds, as if they were dancing plants".
Some of the earliest known examples were found in the treasuries of Delphi, dating to about the 6th century BC, but their use as supports in the form of women can be traced back even earlier, to ritual basins, ivory mirror handles from Phoenicia, and draped figures from archaic Greece.
The best-known and most-copied examples are those of the six figures of the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens. One of those original six figures, removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, is now in the British Museum in London. The Acropolis Museum holds the other five figures, which are replaced onsite by replicas. The five originals that are in Athens are now being exhibited in the new Acropolis Museum, on a special balcony that allows visitors to view them from all sides. The pedestal for the Caryatid removed to London remains empty. From 2011 to 2015, they were cleaned by a specially constructed laser beam, which removed accumulated soot and grime without harming the marble's patina. Each Caryatid was cleaned in place, with a television circuit relaying the spectacle live to museum visitors.
They don’t know,
They won’t see,
They won’t change,
They won’t be,
They won’t love,
They won’t go,
They won’t touch,
So they don’t know,
How much it takes for me to stay awake,
Dodging the poisonous darts you throw with your face,
I try to avoid the dark but it’s hard,
When you let go of me like rose pedals in the front yard,
One card, we play till we pass out,
Used to be my ace, now I’m feeling assed out,
So I back out the front porch,
While you reconsider what you really want more,
Me? Nah, I got a knack at leaving you breathless,
Bringing out the smiles that the angels eat for breakfast,
You deadest on watching me step,
Across a bed of coals just to see which arguments next,
Stress don’t leave when you’re next to me,
I’m my kinder side, you’ve got the best of me,
So let’s act like we don’t care,
There’s a moonlit path outside,
We should go there,
And make the clouds part,
I’ll grab you by the wings and you can guide me through the wild part,
Then that smile starts to speak,
Telling me why it’s been gone for weeks,
If it was all on me,
We’d get together right now,
Debate our different lifestyles,
And this is how it might sound,
They don’t know,
They won’t see,
They won’t change,
They won’t be,
They won’t love,
They won’t go,
They won’t touch,
So they don’t know,
What it’s like to wake up to a princess,
Eyes like a lighter, you spark my interest,
We invest too much to be selective,
Ingest solitude then redefine my objective,
Cause that necklace really makes me want to choke you,
Kill all the demons that grab your soul and hold you,
If I could mold you to just my shape,
I’d change absolutely nothing,
Mm that’s great,
Now that we got it all out on the table,
Come here baby girl I want to fuck with your halo,
Grab you by the hips and settle the score,