The original caryatid maidens of the Acropolis were replaced by replicas due to air pollution and five of the six originals are now housed in the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The sixth caryatid was stolen (unproven) by the command of British Lord Elgin and is now held in the British Museum in London. There are two different views for the meaning behind the caryatid maidens in the literature, the first being a maiden dancer from the village of Karyes Geographer
Pausanias’ historical account from the second century AD discusses the history behind the Caryatid statues as representing dancers from Karyes. He states every year in Karyes the Lacedaemonian, virgin dancers would perform the dance of ‘caryatis’ around a statue of the goddess Artemis Caryatis The original caryatids were dancers from Karyes but later, any female from the Laconian area who performed this dance was also called a caryatid. Pausanias also mentions a temple of Artemis located in Karyes and says that she was sacred in this area. Roman architect, writer and engineer
Vitruvius had his own opinion on the history behind the caryatids. Vitruvius claims that the caryatids were maidens of Karyes who were held captive as slaves, as a form of punishment for siding with the Persian enemies against the Spartans. He believes they were later depicted in Greek architecture as holding a great burden for being traitors and their presence in architecture was a way of commemorating this betrayal. Other authors and scholars reject Vitruvious' view such as German poet and critic Lessing who critiqued this theory as he could find no historical evidence or documents to support his claims and thus argued that his view was a myth and confabulation. Frank Granger suggested that he perhaps confused Karyes for another town called
Caria, of Asia Minor which was said to have been implicated in collaborating with the Persian enemy. ==History==