This kouros pre-dates most of the discoveries of similar Archaic figures made in Athens and other sites. Without a clear understanding of who or what these early Greek young male sculptures represented, art historians at the time generally named them all Apollo.

Kouroi found in temple sanctuaries may represent a god, or could symbolise the act of dedication to the gods, or may even depict the person making the offering. Others, found in burial grounds like this one, must surely represent not a god but the deceased person.

The Tenea kouros unusually is made from marble at a time when most Greek stone sculpture was in limestone