lumns and the
roof is divided) were filled with sculptures in high relief,
representing a variety of subjects relating to Athena herself, or to
the indigenous heroes of Attica. Each tablet was 4 feet 3 inches
square. Those on the south side related to the battle of the Athenians
with the Centaurs. One of the metopes is figured below. 3. The
frieze which ran along outside the wall of the cella, and within the
external columns which surround the building, at the same height and
parallel with the metopes, was sculptured with a representation of the
Panathenaic festival in very low relief. This frieze was 3 feet 4
inches in height, and 520 feet in length. A small portion of the
frieze is also figured below. A large number of the slabs of the
frieze, together with sixteen metopes from the south side, and several
of the statues of the pediments, were brought to England by Lord Elgin,
of whom they were purchased by the nation and deposited in the British
Museum.

But the chief wonder of the Parthenon was the colossal statue of the
Virgin Goddess executed by Phidias himself, which stood in the eastern
or principal chamber of the cella. It was of the sort called
CHRYSELEPHANTINE, a kind of work said to have been invented by Phidias
in which ivory was substituted for marble in those parts which were
uncovered, while the place of the real drapery was supplied with robes
and other ornaments of solid gold. Its height, including the base, was
nearly 40 feet. It represented the goddess standing, clothed with a
tunic reaching to the ankles, with a spear in her left hand, and an
image of Victory in her right.

The Acropolis was adorned with another colossal figure of Athena, in
bronze, also the work of Phidias. It stood in the open air, nearly
opposite the Propylaea, and was one of the first objects seen after
passing through the gates of the latter. With its pedestal it must
have stood about 70 feet high, and consequently towered above the roof
of the Parthenon, so that the point of its spear and the crest of its
helmet were visible off the promontory of Sunium to ships approaching
Athens. It was called the "Athena Promachus," because it represented
the goddess armed, and in the very attitude of battle.

The only other monument on the summit of the Acropolis which it is
necessary to describe is the Erechtheum, or temple of Erechtheus. The
traditions respecting Erechtheus vary, but according to one set of them
he was