A case of mistaken identity
Hebe and Hera - Northern Metope
In the Byzantine period, the Christians prohibited any form of pagan worship. Under this pretext, they damaged numerous pagan ancient temples. They disfigured the faces of the gods and carved crosses on many of them to ‘christianize’ them. The Parthenon was one of the temples damaged in this manner. The entire sculptural decoration suffered extensive damage, but one metope managed to escape unscathed. The lucky metope was number 32, on the northern side, which was mistaken for a representation of the Annunciation. In fact, it depicted the gods on Mount Olympus convening to decide the end of the Trojan War. The supposed Archangel is the goddess Hebe and the so-called Virgin Mary is the Titaness Rhea (mother of Hera).
As seen on
The Parthenon temple: an ode to the goddess Athena
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