A 4.75 metre high kouros statue, made around 580-560 BC by a Samian artist using grey-veined Samian marble, probably from the quarries at Manolates, near Karlovasi, on the north of the island. Areas of the figure were highlighted with red and ochre-coloured paint, traces of which are still visible.

The statue is known as the "Isches Kouros" due to the inscription chiselled vertically on the front of the left thigh, which states:

Ἴσχης ἀνέθηκεν ὀ ῾Ρήσιος

"Isches son of (or of the tribe of) Rhesios dedicated me."

Inscription IG XII,6 2:560.

Several authors have pointed out that this advertisement by the donor would have been conveniently at eye level to impress those who saw the statue.

It was among possibly 5 or 6 equally large kouros statues erected along the north side of the 6 km long Sacred Way, which led from the ancient city of Samos (today Pythagorio) to the Sanctuary of Hera (Heraion), the island's patron goddess. The south side of the Sacred Way was lined with inscribed decrees.

At the time these sculptures were produced, Polykrates' enormous Temple of Hera, which was to be the largest in Greece, had yet to be built, and the buildings of the Heraion were still of relatively modest dimensions. In this context the scale of these giant statues, unprecedented in Greece, must have astonished the public for whom they were created.

The first scattered fragments of the broken kouros, the lower right leg and knee, had been discovered during World War II. The left forearm and the left thigh were discovered by chance in 1974, during excavations by the German Archaeological Institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut), to the north of the paved road of the Roman Imperial period along the Sacred Way, east of the Heraion. The massive torso was found in 1980, and the parts were assembled and set up in the newly-built museum. The room in which it stands had to be especially modified to accommodate the enormous sculpture.

Helmut Kyrieleis of the German Archaeological Institute, director the excavations at the Heraion from 1976 to 1984, described the excitement of the moment when the head was finally unearthed in autumn 1984:

"On the second day, while we were still in the process of clearing the area before the excavation proper, we came across a large fragment of marble. It is hard to describe our joy and elation as we turned it over and saw the face of the kouros. Rarely are the most secret desires of an archaeologist so swiftly fulfilled beyond expectation. With this fortunate find came the awareness of how much vitality and power had been missing from the kouros until then." [1]

In ancient Greece, a kouros (κούρος, plural kouroi) was a youth, especially one of noble rank. In modern times this name is given to Greek statues of young men made during the Archaic period (800-480 BC). A koré (κόρη, maiden; plural korai, or in modern Greek κόρες, kores) is a statue of a young woman in a similar style. Statues of this type were first made around 640 BC, and remarkably began appearing all over Greece within a few years. Surviving examples range from small bronze statuettes to the colossal stone kouroi of Samos and Thasos. The type continued to be produced and developed until the early 5th century BC.

The tall, athletic, naked male kouroi figures are shown standing stiffly upright, with their arms at their sides, and with one leg stepping forward. The female korai statues are clothed in a peplos or chiton, often with one arm raised and holding an offering to a deity. The statues were brightly painted, and the clothing of the korai was often decorated with incised or painted symbols and motifs.

It is thought that the Greeks learned to make sculptures in this manner from the Egyptians, but developed the style in their own way, gradually making them free-standing without further supports, and adding more natural, lifelike qualites, anatomical detail and geometric proportions. The famous "enigmatic smile" of early Archaic kouroi gradually disappeared, as can be seen in a later kouros in the photo, right.

Many kouroi were dedicated to Apollo, and korai often hold attributes (for example a pomegranate) of a goddess such as Persephone. However, it is not certain whether the statues were meant to represent gods or mortals. The kouroi may have depicted victorious athletes or heroes, and the korai deceased women of noble families. It has also been suggested that they represented mythical or legendary characters of former ages, seen by the Greeks as literally larger than life, from which tribes and aristocratic families claimed descent.

A smaller kouros in Samos Archaeological Museum:

A bronze kouros statuette in the Daedalic style in Delphi:

Twin kouroi of "Kleobis and Biton" in Delphi:

An early 5th century BC kouros,
known as "the Strangford Apollo",
demonstrating the development
of naturalism and anatomical
detail in Archaic Greek sculpture.

Perhaps from Anaphe island
in the Cyclades. Height 101 cm.

Bronze statuette of a kouros
bearing offerings, from the
Sanctuary of Hera, Samos.
Archaic, circa 570-560 BC.

Bronze statuette of a kouros
from the Sanctuary of Hera,
Samos. Archaic, circa 550 BC.