From what I've read, Phidias (I've seen his name both ways, one I suspect, Latinized)is known to have created the great statue of Athena, well over 30 feet high and built of cast metal coated with gold and ivory, but there are also suggestions that he was the overall supervisor of the entire construction project. He was a friend of Pericles, and some sources suggest he did far more than merely the sculpture of Athena or the magnificent frieze that ran around all four sides of the structure.



The book "The Ancient City" has some wonderful graphics which show the "after" and "before" way the original must have looked.