Like slaves and metics, they were denied political freedom, citizenship and voting rights, being excluded from the law courts and the Assembly. Women ideally remained apart from men. However it was recognised that an ideology of separation could not be practiced by many Athenians. In "Politics", Aristotle asked: "How is it possible to prevent the wives of the poor from going out of doors?" In practice, only wealthy families would have been able to implement this ideology. Women's responsibilities would have forced them to leave the house frequently – to fetch water from the well or wash clothing, for example. Although wealthy families may have had slaves to enable free women to remain in the house, but most would not have had enough slaves to prevent free women from leaving at all. The cult of Athena Polias (the city's eponymous goddess) was central to Athenian society, reinforcing morality and maintaining societal structure. Women played a key role in the cult; the priestesshood of Athena was a position of great importance, and the priestess could use her influence to support political positions. According to Herodotus, before the Battle of Salamis the priestess of Athena encouraged the evacuation of Athens by telling the Athenians that the snake sacred to Athena (which lived on the Acropolis) had already left. Historians consider the Athenian 5th and 6th centuries BC as the Golden Age of sculpture and architecture. In this period the ornamental elements and the technique employed did not vary from the previous period. What characterizes this period is the quantity of works and the refinement and perfection of the works. Most were religious in nature, mainly sanctuaries and temples. Some examples from this period are:   Phidias is considered the greatest sculptor of this era. He created colossal gold-plated marble statues ("chryselephantine statues"), generally face and hands, which were highly celebrated and admired in his own time: Athena, situated in the interior of the Parthenon, whose splendor reached the faithful through the open doors, and Zeus in the Sanctuary of Olympia, considered in its age and in later ages to be one of the marvels of the world. The Athenians were assured that after they had contemplated this statue it was impossible to feel unlucky ever again. According to Pliny the Elder's "Natural History", in order to conserve the marble of these sculptures, oil receptacles were placed in the temples so that the ivory would not crack. The other great sculptors of this century were Myron and Polycletus.