The olive-wood, life-size statue of Athena Polias that was located in the Erechtheum was believed to have fallen from sky and the cult of this particular form of the goddess was the most ancient and important on the Acropolis. The archaic terracotta statuette above, found on the Acropolis, may or may not be modelled on the original statue, which (like the colossal statue of Athena Parthenos) no longer exists. Like this statuette, the statue of Athena Polias may have been seated. Homer speaks of what might be a seated image of Athena in Troy, which is the recipient of robe placed on the knees of the goddess (Iliad 6.302-04). There is, however, other evidence that Athena Polias may have been standing.
In any case, one ancient source (a fourth-century inventory) tells us that the adornments of Athena Polias emphasized her feminity with a gold diadem, earrings, necklaces, and bracelet. She also held a religious implement in her right hand, a gold phialê (shallow bowl for pouring libations), suggesting peace-time religious activity rather than the military guise of Athena Parthenos. Nonetheless, the peplos given to Athena Polias recalled her military identity with an embroidered depiction of her participation in the Olympian gods' cosmic victory over the Giants.