Before the Parthenon and the other buildings that we see today were built, there were earlier temples on the Acropolis long since destroyed. Excavations have uncovered the foundations of several buildings, and also some sculptures, discarded and buried in antiquity.

This group came from one such temple. It shows Athena, with arm outstretched, striking down a fallen Giant. The Battle of Gods and Giants for supremacy of the world is one of the earliest Greek myths. Significantly, this group was the first temple sculpture to be carved completely in the round, and the first with a unified subject