At the beginning of the Archaic Period of ancient Greece, circa 680 B.C.E., several bronze figures of male youths appeared on the artistic landscape and served as the forerunners of later and similar statues known as kouros, based on Egyptian and Mesopotamian figures which were "essentially geometric, with a triangular torso, a narrow waist and bulging thighs" without any concern for anatomical accuracy (Williams, 324). But with the Greek kouros, we find a naked and rather muscular male figure with long braided hair, a tall and slender body and broad shoulders and chest with the arms held tightly against the body and the hands clenched.
             The most important trait of this statue is its freestanding posture with one foot ahead of the other as if the figure is in the process of walking, known in art history as contrapposto (de la Croix & Tansey, 135). Also, as compared to earlier kouros figures from Egypt and Mesopotamia which were composed of bronze, the Greek kouros figures are composed of marble and are finely-chiseled with much concern for detail and anatomical accuracy.
             There are two basic kouros figures from the Archaic Period of ancient Greece-the kouros from Tenea, circa 570 B.C.E. and approximately five feet tall, and the kouros or kroisos from Anavysos, circa 530 B.C.E. and approximately six feet tall. The first example contains anatomical details which are carefully molded as in the chest and in the knee joints. The head is geometrically simplified into flat planes with the large eyes staring out at us and somewhat protruding from the orbits. The nose, mouth, ears and hairstyle are all greatly stylized; however, this kouros figure from Tenea is quite un-Egyptian-like in its nudity and in "the more dynamic, half-striding stance" upon its square marble base (Williams, 325).
             Moreover, this kouros figure is quite slender and elegant and displays the stance of a
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