e of the
Minerva (or Athena) of the Parthenon.

It often happens in the case of a very great man that the events which
have preceded his manhood have prepared the way for him and his work in
so striking a manner that it seems as if he could not have been great at
any other time, and that he could not avoid being so, when everything
had been shaped to his advantage. This was true of Phidias. When he came
to be a man the dreadful wars which had ravaged Greece were over, and
the destruction of the older structures prepared the way for the
rebuilding of Athens. Large quantities of "marble, bronze, ivory, gold,
ebony and cypress wood" were there, and a great number of skilful
workmen were at hand to work under his command. The Athenians were
ablaze with zeal to rebuild the temples and shrines of their gods, who,
as they believed, had led them to their victories, and not only the
public, but the private means were used to make Athens the grandest and
most beautiful city of the world.

The first great work with which the name of Phidias was connected was
the building of the temple of Theseus, called also the Theseion. This
was a very important temple, and was constructed in obedience to the
command of an oracle in this wise: In B.C. 470 the island of Scyros had
been taken by the Athenians, and upon this island Theseus had been
buried. After the battle of Marathon, in which he had aided the
Athenians, Theseus was much regarded by them, and in B.C. 476 they were
directed to remove his bones to Athens and build over them a shrine
worthy of so great a champion. Just then a gigantic skeleton was
discovered at Scyros by Cimon, and was brought to Athens with great
ceremony, and laid to rest with pompous respect, and the splendid temple
dedicated to Theseus was begun, and Phidias was commissioned to make its
plastic ornaments. The precincts of this temple later became a sanctuary
where the poor man and the slave could be safe from the oppressor.

[Illustration: FIG. 23.--ATHENIAN COINS WITH THE MINERVA PROMACHOS.]

Phidias executed many works under the patronage of Cimon, the greatest
of which was the colossal statue of Minerva, which stood on the
Acropolis. It was called the "Minerva Promachos," and was so gigantic
that "the crest of her helmet and the point of her spear could be seen
by the mariner off the promontory of Sunium glittering in the sunlight
as a welcome to her own chosen people, and an awful warning to her
foes." Th