GREECE ATTICA ATHENS ACROPOLIS ERECHTHEION

North porch of the Erechtheion with the doorway, once leading to a spring of salt water caused by Poseidon's trident.

In the mythological contest between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Athens during the reign of legendary king Kekrops, as it was described by different ancient authors, Poseidon hurled his trident into the ground and produced a spring. Athena produced an olive-tree and was declared winner, but since Helladic times both deities were worshipped together at the site of the later Erechtheion.

We now come to the most celebrated part of the Erechtheion, the "Porch of the Caryatids" on the southern side. The entabulature of this South Portico is supported by six large female statues, the "Caryatids".