THE KLEOBIS AND BITON ARTIFACT
Tammy Mims
American InterContinental University
September 23, 2012
HUMA215-1204A-25
Laurie Sprankle

Abstract
In this paper we are going to learn about an artifact from a period of time. We will understand the description of the artifact due to the culture values and beliefs. An artifact is an example of a culture that is made by men to be seen a loved by others some examples would be; sculptures, paintings, inventions and even pottery. Those are just a few examples of an artifact what kind would you like to learn about?

How would you have known you seen an artifact of your culture or another’s culture? Artifacts can be everywhere around us in our daily lives and really wouldn’t know it unless you actually know what an artifact is. Artifacts are in numerous shapes and sizes some of them are in sculptures, paintings, coins, inventions and pottery plus many more. Why do we take a trip back to the past and learn about an artifact from another country dealing with their culture?
The artifact that I have chosen is Kleobis and Biton from the Ancient Greek period. This is a well-known sculpture made out of bronze came from the Archaic and around the 600BCE time period. It is of two young men almost standing in the nude and was either votive or the commemorative nature. This artifact is was depicted standing in a frontal pose with their left leg moved forward, as well as their arms was close to their bodies touching the side of their thighs. This artifact was an exhibit strict symmetry as the different parts of anatomy are depicted as simple geometric forms.
The Kleobis and Biton relates to their culture in many different interesting ways. One way is that they begin to a refinement of form towards a definitive realism that was only possible through a society that revered the human form and it desired to understand the natural environment as a series of cause and effect arguments. This is an indicative of this cultural attitude that the Kleobis and Biton statues that depict not deities or political leaders, but mere mortal human beings who were worthy of commemoration or of eternal service to their gods.
The Kleobis and Biton were twin sons of a priestess called Cydippe. She was to be in a ceremony in the town of Delphi, but she could not walk she had to go by a wagon and oxen. For some reason the oxen fell down dead to the ground the story goes the twin boys grabbed the rope and pulled Cydippe 5.1 miles to the town. Cydippe was so impressed by the devotion of her sons that she prayed to Hera the god to reward them. Hera was listening, and when the twins went to sleep that night they died in their sleep. In the Greek culture dying in their sleep was a prize it is called the “beautiful death,” this means that one was killed in one’s prime and with as little as damage to the body as possible. This was thought to be one to retained ones injuries or mutilations into the Underworld. In the Greek Culture one that dyes in one’s sleep in the prime of one’s youth is the best way to die. Ancient Greeks also believed that afterlife was far superior to the living one, and that the living was simply endless rounds of suffering before one died and went on to better things These figures are Kouroi, which means the male youth, but specifically applied to a style of the early Greek Sculpture.
The Greeks cultural roots like their; gods, language, technology and political life all came from the African and Semitic people. The Kleobis and Biton sculpture takes all the way back to the roots of their culture. Their mother believed in the god Hera and prayed to her to bless her sons for doing what they did for her. Greeks culture sculptors had almost perfected the rendering of the male nude in a white marble. But this was very superficial; the figures were no more than the sum of their parts, accurately sculpted and accurately put together.
The Greek thinker were concerned with some issues of ethics and emotions and many of them studied the science behind the body language in order to discover more about the man’s inner thoughts. The study of the body language led to a number of theatrical works, mostly tragedies, which then tend to focus on the grandiose expressions of emotions through actors, while the plot line would revolve around various tales of “hubris” which is a fatal flaw in character and the lives of their gods. With the profound effects on the audiences was what the Greek sculptors were striving towards. Then they took the study of the human body to great lengths, eventually creating pieces that not only emulated the human form on the outside, but ones that also mirrored the inner self as well.
The cultural periods of Greek might have influenced this time of the artifact was the Archaic Period. This age was defined through the development of art at this time, specifically through the style of pottery and sculpture. They were showing specific characteristics that would later be developed into more of the naturalistic style of the Classical period. The Archaic period is only one of the five periods that Ancient Greek history can be divided into. The Archaic period saw advancements in the political theory, especially the beginnings of democracy, as well as in the culture and art area.
The artifact being passed to generations happened until there were no generations left to pass to. When the time came this piece of artifact was no longer passed down to generations it was placed in a museum so everyone who wants can come and look and enjoy this artifact; just the way that the Greek people did back in the 600BC.
The evolutions that this artifact will undergo in the culture changes are to show more people the greatness of sculptures and how artistic people can be when they are making art. With the Kleobis and Biton being sculptured it started the move up human sculpting he showed the sculptors the way of making a piece of art from marble to the shape of man. Then many other sculptors got the idea and made some of the most famous sculptures that were ever made.
At the end of this journey we have gained insight on an old but beautiful artifact from the past. The Kleobis and Biton was a wonderful piece of sculpture that was made to honor twin boys that gave their devotion to their mother like no other son would. An artifact can be anything that a person has created or loved that has been passed down from generations to generations. You wouldn’t believe what kind of artifacts is out there some are; the television, radio and even yes our computers.
Here is a lovely picture of the artifact in hand.
THE KLEOBIS AND BITON

References
Ancient Greece, (2012) Kouros. Retrieved from: http://www.ancient-greece.org/art/kouros.html
Ancient Greece, (2012) the Archaic Period. Retrieved from: http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/ArchaicPeriod/
Oracle, (2012) the History of Classical Sculpture. Retrieved from: http://library.thinkquest.org/23492/data/history.htm
Personal Interpretations, (2012) Kleobis and Biton, Kouroi, c580BC, Archaic Period. Retrieved from: http://personalinterpretations.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/kleobis-and-biton-kouroi-c580-bc-archaic-period/