page_title: Phidias
section_title: Archaeological discovery and legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Phidias / Archaeological discovery and legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: The supposed workship of Phidias at Olympia, where it is said he fashioned the cryselephantine statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
context_page_description: Phidias or Pheidias was a Greek sculptor, painter, and architect. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the statues of the goddess Athena on the Athenian Acropolis, namely the Athena Parthenos inside the Parthenon, and the Athena Promachos, a colossal bronze which stood between it and the Propylaea, a monumental gateway that served as the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. Phidias was the son of Charmides of Athens. The ancients believed that his masters were Hegias and Ageladas.
  Plutarch discusses Phidias' friendship with the Greek statesman Pericles, recording that enemies of Pericles tried to attack him through Phidias – who was accused of stealing gold intended for the Parthenon's statue of Athena, and of impiously portraying himself and Pericles on the shield of the statue. The historical value of this account, as well as the legend about accusations against the 'Periclean circle', is debatable, but Aristophanes mentions an incident with Phidias around that time.
  Phidias is often credited as the main instigator of the Classical Greek sculptural design.
context_section_description: A significant advancement in the knowledge of Phidias' working methodology came during 1954–58 with the excavation of the workshop at Olympia where Phidias created the Statue of Zeus. Tools, terracotta molds and a cup inscribed on the bottom "Φειδίου εἰμί" (Pheidíou eimí) – "I belong to Phidias"; literally: "of Phidias I am", were found here, just where Pausanias said the statue was constructed. The discovery has enabled archaeologists to re-create the techniques used to make the statue and confirm its date.
  By 1910, mathematician Mark Barr began using the Greek letter Phi (φ) as a symbol for the golden ratio after Phidias. However, Barr later wrote that he thought it unlikely that Phidias actually used the golden ratio.
caption: Photo (2005) of the workshop of Phidias at Olympia
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