Parthenon roof tiles with antefix at South from SW
The Parthenon builders used many architectural elements familiar to other Greek temples, but Athena’s temple stood alone in the quality of decorative detail. For example, Greek temples typically covered the wooden roof rafters with fired clay tiles. In contrast, the roof of the Parthenon was covered with light weight, thinly-sliced (only 3 centimeters thick), nearly translucent marble tiles. Along the roof-line, Parthenon builders removed the appearance of 'fussiness' and clutter by positioning decorative antefixes (roof-line ornaments) between alternate rows of roof tiles, rather than the traditional placement at the end of each row of tiles.