Perikles intended to demolish not only the old Erechtheion but also the old temple of Athena, and to supplant them by a common sanctuary. The east cella in the old Athena temple was to be replaced by an east cella for the goddess in the new; the opisthodomos to the west of the old temple by an opisthodomos to the west of the new. Between these parts of the old Athena temple three chambers were to be devoted to replacing the old Erechtheion. It is difficult by help of ground-plans to realize the different levels of the temple, but those who have been on the spot will remember that the new cella of Athena is on the same level as the old. The Erechtheion with its different levels is a striking contrast to the Parthenon, where, as we have already seen, the slope of the ground was levelled up and that at enormous expense. This preservation of different levels in the Erechtheion is in itself sufficient evidence of the sanctity of the different cults to be enshrined. The longer complex structure, with its different levels and its five chambers, was intended, as Perikles planned it, to be entered by the two porches, north and south. Structurally these would reduce the effect of undue length, but they had also another purpose—the north porch contained the trident mark of Poseidon, the south the grave of Kekrops. The plan of Perikles was never completed. By some one’s machinations, whether of architect, priest, or politician we do not know, he was—as before in the building of the Propylaea—frustrated, and obliged to be content with a truncated scheme. The new Erechtheion almost certainly had been begun before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. When Perikles found that his plan was not accepted in full, he did not design a new temple but made a compromise obviously intended to be provisional. He was again frustrated in the execution even of this modified scheme, which was not completed till much later. The Erechtheion that we know has the east cella for Athena complete and the two porches, but two only of the three intended midway chambers were built, and the westernmost one, as appears on the plan, is slightly reduced in size. The west cella was never even begun. It is probable that Perikles never succeeded in transferring the image of Athena from her old temple to the new cella, but this question[67] it is not necessary we should here decide. * * * * * Setting aside those portions of the Erechtheion which were intended to supply the place of the old temple of Athena, namely the east cella and the proposed opisthodomos to the west, we have now to consider what were the ancient sanctities (ἱερά) of ‘other deities’ which the three central chambers and the two porches were planned to enshrine. They are as follows:— 1. The hero-tomb of Kekrops. 2. The Pandroseion. 3. Three ‘tokens’ (σημεῖα). _a._ A sacred olive tree. _b._ A ‘sea’ called after Erechtheus.