Phidias, or Pheidias, an Athenian living in the fifth century B.C., was considered the greatest of the ancient Greek sculptors. His work included the chryselephantine Athena in Athens and the Zeus at Olympia. He was commissioned by Pericles to supervise the work on the building of the Parthenon in Athens, and there he planned and supervised the work on the Friezes of the Parthenon.
At Works, 31.22 Ruskin puts together the battle of Marathon and Phidias as the crowning work, and noblest son of ancient Greece. The other 'noblest sons' he mentions there are Virgil, Dante, Tintoretto, and Shakespeare. At Works, 4.118 Phidias, Michelangelo and Dante are placed above Homer and Shakespeare because of their greater spirituality. 'Life in perfect power but in repose' is the Law of Phidias at Works, 23.475.