The figures of the west pediment were more easily reproduced than those of the east pediment, as they were more completely authenticated by the Elgin marbles and the Carrey drawings.

It should be understood that the explosion that destroyed the Parthenon did its greatest damage to the figures themselves rather than to the base on which they rested, and as a consequence less difficulty was encountered by the artists in placing the sculptures in their proper settings on the west than on the east pediment. In considering the sculptures of the two pediments it must also be borne in mind that the force of the explosion was greatest in the eastern portion of the building, as evidenced by the condition of the ruin, and for that reason also the greatest damage was to the east pediment.

The sculptures of the west pediment tell the story of the struggle between Poseidon, the powerful god of the sea, and his niece Athena, the goddess of wisdom, for the possession of Attica, or ancient Greece.

In the center of the pediment, to the right, is the heroic figure of Poseidon with his three-pronged weapon or trident in his hand, his friends and supporters to the right. Opposing him, and to the left, is the equally heroic figure of Athena with her great spear in her hand, her supporters to the left. Both of these gods coveted the fair land of Attica and desired the worship of its people. They were unable to agree and appealed to the gods for a decision. The gods held their convocation on the Acropolis, the site of the Parthenon, and this assembly is shown by the figures of the west pediment.

As a result of the convocation the gods decreed that the contestant who should most bless Greece would be given the control of Athens and have the worship of the Greeks. It was to be a battle of blessing, rather than blood.

Poseidon, in granting his blessing, struck the solid rock of the Acropolis with his trident, and as he was the god of the sea it obeyed him and came up in a rushing, gushing spring of salt water, symbolic of his promise that if the Greeks would make him their god he would make of them a mighty maritime nation—their glory should be on the sea. When it became Athena’s turn to grant her blessing, she struck her great spear in the earth and withdrew it and from the place sprang an olive tree, the parent of all those which have so greatly blessed Greece from that day to this. The gods, acting wisely, decreed that Athena’s gift was of far greater advantage to the Greeks than any promise of the glory of war as made by Poseidon, and made her the patron goddess of Athens.