Marble ephebe

The Ephebe, also known as the Kouros of Agrigento, is a marble statue characterized by balanced plasticity and a refined sense of proportion, dating back to the early decades of the 5th century BC. A recent study has established that it originated from one of the wells in the area at the foot of the Rupe Atenea, in the northeastern part of the ancient city of Akrágas.

In ancient Greece, the term ephebe referred to a young man who was going through the period of ephebeia, a phase of military and civil training that marked the transition from childhood to adulthood.

The kouros was the main creation of archaic sculpture: a naked male statue, standing upright and rigid within the four planes that enclosed it, interpreted as an absolute work of art because it was devoid of any expression and not involved in any particular action.

The ephebe of Agrigento, although still frozen in his frontal view and portrayed with his hair held back by a ribbon that runs from his forehead to the back of his neck, hints at a slight movement highlighted by his right arm and corresponding leg brought forward.

The representation of the kouros had a funerary or often votive function: within the sacred space of the sanctuaries, citizens brought offerings of various kinds, and the wealthiest could afford to offer the most precious gift, that of an image of the human body, which thus represented the continuous presence of the faithful, without any clear or particular subjective reference.