The pediments of the Parthenon were decorated with rich carvings in high relief, representing, in the one, the presentation of Minerva to the assembled gods by her father Jupiter, and in the other, the contest of Minerva and Neptune for the naming of the city. In the metopes were depicted the battles of the Athenians with the Centaurs, and scenes in the lives of Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules, in the admirable sculpture of Phidias. The building stood almost intact from the fifth century before Christ to the seventeenth century of our era, when it suffered greatly from Venetian artillery, and in modern times its richest sculpture was torn from it under the Turkish régime, by order of Lord Elgin, who obtained permission from the authorities to remove it to the British Museum. One of the ships containing the marbles was sunk off Cape Matapan. Even in its ruined condition the Parthenon stands to-day a great example of the finest architecture the world has known. On the plateau of the Acropolis are the three contiguous temples of Pandrosus, Erictheus, and Minerva Polias, and the temple of the Wingless Victory (Niké Apteros), of the Ionic order. The temple of Pandrosus is virtually a porch attached to the larger temple of Erictheus. It is composed of six female figures or caryatides upon a high base, supporting an entablature without frieze. These figures are of exceeding grace and beauty, and are models of the sculptor’s art. The single cella was probably divided into three, to which access was had separately by the several porches. The ceilings of these temples are flat and decorated with sunken panels, ornamented with egg and dart moulds. According to Diodorus Sicculus, the temple of Erictheus was erected in his honour by the Athenians, in gratitude for his having instructed them in the worship of Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture. While Pausanias states that it contained the miraculous spring created by Neptune, who shared in its dedication. There are three windows in the wall of the cella—unusual features in Greek architecture—and the levels of the temples are different, evidently so arranged, with a view to distinguish them the more completely. The temple of the Wingless Victory is supposed to have been erected where Ægeus fell from the wall upon seeing the black sails of his son’s ship returning after his victory over the Minotaur. Others again assert that it was built without reference to site and so-called because the Athenians considered victory would never leave them, and consequently needed no wings. The temple is composed of a cella and two porches of four columns each, supporting a beautifully decorated entablature.