A religious rock, a city fortress, but more than anything else, the reflection of the city's changing historical destiny. The house of goddess Athena, according to Homer, was, in prehistoric times, palace of king Erechtheus (the actual palace located in the northern side of the rock, where the ancient temple of Athena was later built) and then citadel, fortress for the Athenians when in the 12th century people from the north occupied the Mycenaean citadels. Erechtheus was killed by Poseidon, after sacrificing his daughters Otiona, Protogonia and Pandora -a sacrifice that recalls the myths of the sacrifice of matrilineal priestesses to the new religion (although he eventually became part of the religious life of the hill, sharing a temple with Poseidon). The snake of Erechtheus, a remnant of the prehistoric beliefs and religions, was later associated with Athena and became one of her manifestations declaring her supreme power deriving from the complete knowledge of the world that the snakes represent. The myths of the birth of Athena are contradictory, recalling two opposing sides of the goddess. Athena Polias, fertility goddess-protector of the earth, incorporates the first of the two myths regarding her birth. Born in Libya and accidentally killing her play-mate Pallas, acquired her name and came to Greece via Crete (the story reflects a long matrilineal tradition for Athena). Her wooden statue, xoanon, found home on the Athenian Acropolis. The other myth of her birth, from the head of her father Zeus, reflects the patriarchal elements of the new religion. Born from a man's head she incorporated all male attributes. Athena as a goddess expressed this duality as she exemplified both masculine and feminine characteristics. A virgin, a protector of wise men, of the city, a fighter, yet a woman and protector of the earth. This duality was reflected on the Acropolis hill with the coexistence of Doric (austere, masculine) and Ionic (ornate, feminine) elements. With the relocation of the administrative center of the Athenian life in the area of the Agora, the Acropolis hill was left to become a religious center, yet always incorporating political messages. During the period of the Athenian Empire, the fusion of the two orders (Doric-Ionic) symbolized more than the duality of goddess Athena. It expressed the subliminal political messages that Athens wanted to convey as the "leader" of all city-states (Ionian-Dorian). A union that emphasized the Athenian supremacy and power.