A caryatid is a sculpted female
figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a
pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides
literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese.
Karyai had a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis
Karyatis: "As Karyatis she rejoiced in the dances of the nut-tree village
of Karyai, those Karyatides, who in their ecstatic round-dance carried on their
heads baskets of live reeds, as if they were dancing plants". An atlas or
telamon is a male version of a caryatid, i.e. a sculpted male statue serving as
an architectural support.