Athena standing statue

The standing Athena descends from one of the most celebrated lost works of the ancient world — the Athena Parthenos of Pheidias, the chryselephantine colossus of gold and ivory that stood in the cella of the Parthenon and rose nearly twelve metres above the worshipper. Surviving Roman copies and the reliefs of the temple itself show her exactly so: helmet, aegis at the breast, spear in one hand, Nike of Victory in the other. Every standing Athena since carries some descent from that great image of intelligence in arms.