Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/272

LEFT PHIDIAS 216 PHILADELPHIA PHIDIAS, the great Greek sculptor; born in Athens; probably between 490- 480 B. C. He began to distinguish him- self about 464, and was employed in public works at Athens under Cimon. He was one of the most intimate friends of Pericles, under whose rule he was ap- pointed director of all the great temples and monuments which were to be erected in the city. Of these the most important were the Parthenon, or temple of Athena, on the Acropolis, and the Propylsea. He PHIDIAS executed a colossal statue of the goddess for the interior of the temple with his own hand. The well-known Elgin Mar- bles of the British Museum were the sculptured decorations of that unrivaled temple. At Olympia he executed the most magnificent of all his works — the statue of the Olympian Zeus. Like the Athena, it was of ivory and gold, and nearly 60 feet in height. It was de- stroyed by fire at Constantinople, whither it had been carried by the Emperor Theodosius. Phidias was charged with peculation and impiety on the ground of having introduced portraits of himself and Pericles on the shield of Athene. This attack was made on him as the friend of Pericles. The prevailing char- acteristic of the works of Phidias appears to have been an ideal sublimity of form never since equaled. According to the generally received account, he died in prison 432 B. C. PHIGALIA, an ancient town of Ar- cadia, situated in its extreme S. W. cor- ner. From its temple of Apollo, at Bass£e, 5 to 6 miles distant, a sculptured frieze representing the contests between the Centaurs and Lapithse, and the Ama- zons and Greeks, was brought to the British Museum in 1812. Next to the Theseum at Athens it is the most perfect architectural ruin in all Greece. It was designed by Ictinus, one of the architects of the Parthenon at Athens, and meas- ured originally 125 V^ feet long and 48 broad. It had 38 columns, of which 34 still stand. PHILADELPHIA, a city coextensive with Philadelphia co.. Pa., on the Dela- ware and Schuylkill rivers, and on the' Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Reading, and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads; 85 miles S. W. of New York. It is the third largest city of the United States; area, 130 square miles; pop. (1910) 1,549,008; (1920) 1,823,779. Topography. — The city is built chiefly on a low peninsula between the two rivers. In the portion most thickly built up the highest elevation is 46 feet, but rises to 440 feet in the suburbs. It ex- tends N. and S. about 22 miles, and is from 5 to 10 miles in width. There is a water frontage on the Delaware river of over 16 miles, of which more than 5 miles have docks. The harbor has been greatly improved by the removal of the islands in the middle of the river, and in front of the wharves there is an average depth of 50 feet. The Schuylkill river, which runs through the city, is navigable for large vessels to Walnut street, and is crossed by many bridges, of which the most costly are at Walnut street, Gray's Ferry, Spring Garden street, and Girard avenue. Another important bridge is the Walnut Lane bridge over the Wissa- hickon, one of the largest ^ concrete bridges in the world. The section of the city W. of the Schuylkill is locally called West Philadelphia; another noted sec- tion is known as (jermantown. League Island, containing a widely noted navy yard, has an area of 925 acres and lies just above the mouth of the Schuylkill.