An alternative version of the same story is that, while Athena was gone bring a mountain from Pallena to use in the Acropolis, the sisters, minus Pandrosus again, opened the box. A crow witnessed the opening and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain (now Mt. Lykabettos). Once again, Herse and Aglaulus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off a cliff.
Erichthonius later became King of Athens and implemented many beneficial changes to Athenian culture. During this time, Athena frequently protected him. He founded the Panathenaic Festival in the honor of Athena. He taught his people to yoke horses and use them to pull chariots, smelt silver and till the earth with a plough.
Erichthonius was killed by either Poseidon or Zeus as revenge for killing Himmarados of Thrace during a war between Eleusis and Athens.
He was sometimes said to be a snake with a human head. The snake was his symbol.
Erichthonius may have been the same person as Cecrops; scholars are divided. Some believe Cecrops was his son.