Phidias, Polycletus, Myron, and Polygnotus. The greatest of these was
Phidias; and in the Parthenon, or Temple of the Virgin Goddess,
[Footnote: Athene, the patron goddess of Athens.] built under his
direction on the Acropolis at Athens, he has left the most enduring
monument of his fame. He also designed the Propylaea, a magnificent
columned vestibule, fronting the broad flight of steps which led up to
the western entrance of the Acropolis. But the most renowned of his
works was the gigantic statue of the Olympian Zeus, wrought in gold
and ivory, which was the chief glory of the temple at Olympia. Of this
sublime creation, the highest expression of divinity achieved by the
ancients, only the fame survives. These triumphs of art were not
brought to completion until nearly the close of the period of forty-
eight years which separates the Persian from the Peloponnesian War;
and it is now necessary to glance backward, and touch briefly on the
principal events which occurred after the formation of the Delian
Confederacy. The war was carried on with energy against Persia, and
hostilities continued at intervals for thirty years after the battle
of Plataea. [Footnote: B.C. 479-449.]

The chief leader in these enterprises was the heroic Cimon, leader of
the conservative party at Athens, and the great rival of Pericles; and
his most brilliant exploit was a crushing defeat inflicted on the
Persian army and fleet at the mouth of the river Eurymedon in
Pamphylia. But the victorious career of the Athenians received a
severe check twelve years later in Egypt, where a large force of ships
and men was totally destroyed by the Persian general Megabyzus. The
war dragged on for five years longer, and peace was then concluded on
terms highly advantageous to the Greeks. Shortly before this, Cimon,
who had been the chief promoter of the war, died at Cyprus.