Ancient Greek goddess of youth
Hebe (; ), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, often given the epithet "Ganymeda" (meaning "Gladdening Princess"), is the goddess of youth or of the prime of life. She functioned as the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia. People of Sicyon also worshipped her as the goddess of forgiveness or of mercy.
Hebe is a daughter of Zeus and Hera, and the divine wife of Heracles (Roman equivalent: Hercules). She had influence over eternal youth and the ability to restore youth to mortals, a power that appears exclusive to her, as in Ovid's "Metamorphoses", some gods lament the aging of their favoured mortals. According to Philostratus the Elder, Hebe was the youngest of the gods and the one responsible for keeping them eternally young, and thus was the most revered by them. Her role of ensuring the eternal youth of the other gods is appropriate to her role of serving as cupbearer, as the word "ambrosia" has been linked to a possible Proto-Indo-European translation related to immortality, undying, and lifeforce. In art, she is typically depicted with her father in the guise of an eagle, often offering a cup to him. Eagles were connected with immortality and there was a folklore belief that the eagle (like the phoenix) had the ability to renew itself to a youthful state,
making the association with Hebe logical. Her equivalent Roman goddess is Juventas.
Etymology.
The is the inherited word for "youth", from Proto-Indo-European *"(H)iēgw-eh2-", "youth, vigour".
The name "Hebe" comes from the Greek word meaning "youth" or "prime of life".
Although she was not as strongly associated with her father, Hebe was occasionally referred to with the epithet "Dia" (see Cult), which can be translated to "Daughter of Zeus" or "Heavenly".
"Juventus" likewise means "youth", as can be seen in such derivatives as "juvenile".
Mythology.
Birth.
Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and his sister-wife Hera. Pindar in "Nemean Ode 10" refers to her as the most beautiful of the goddesses, and being by her mother's side in Olympus forever. In some traditions that were recorded by Servius, her father Zeus gifted her two doves with human voices, and one flew to where the Oracle of Dodona would be established.
In a rare, alternative version of Hebe's conception, her mother Hera became pregnant merely by eating a lettuce plant while dining with her fellow Olympian, Apollo. This version was recorded by famed Italian mythographer Natalis Comes. Reconstructed Orphic beliefs may also present a different version of Hera's impregnation with Hebe. It should be remembered that this version of the myth of Hebe's birth is a speculative reconstruction, and therefore, it likely does not represent how the myth would have been known to its original audience. In another version, Hera sought out a way to become pregnant without assistance of Zeus by travelling to realm of Oceanus and Tethys at the end of the world. There, she entered the garden of Flora and she touched a sole, nameless plant from the land of Olene and became pregnant with Ares. Hera returned to the garden sometime after his birth and ate lettuce to become pregnant with Hebe.
The consumption of lettuce in Ancient Greece was connected to sexual impotency in men and women, with Plutarch recording that women should never eat the heart of a lettuce. Additionally, lettuce was associated with death, as Aphrodite laid the dying Adonis in a patch to potentially aid in his reconstruction. Despite these concerns, it was also believed that lettuce benefited menstrual flow and lactation in women, characteristics that may associate the plant with motherhood. This version of Hebe's paternity is referenced by American author Henry David Thoreau in his work "Walden", where Hebe is described as the daughter of Juno and wild lettuce.
A fragment by Callimachus describes Hera holding a feast to celebrate the seventh day after her daughter Hebe's birth. The gods have a friendly argument over who will give the best gift, with Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and Hephaestus specifically mentioned as presenting toys or, as in Apollo's case, songs. Callimachus, who composed a poem for the celebration of the seventh day after the birth of a daughter to his friend Leon, used Apollo's gift of a song as a divine prototype for his own gift. In some traditions that were recorded by Servius, her father Zeus gifted her two doves with human voices, and one flew to where the Oracle of Dodona would be established.
Hebe was initially seen in myth as a diligent daughter performing domestic tasks that were typical of high ranking, unmarried girls in ancient Greece. In the Iliad, she did tasks around the household such as drawing baths for her brother Ares and helping Hera enter her chariot.
Additionally, Hebe was often connected to Aphrodite, whom she was described dancing with and acting as her herald or attendant, linking the Classical association between beauty and "the bloom of youth".
Marriage.
As the bride of Heracles, Hebe was strongly associated with both brides and her husband in art and literature. She was the patron of brides, due to being the daughter of the goddess of marriage Hera and the importance of her own wedding.
Hebe's role as the patron of brides is referenced in Edmund Spenser's "Epithalamion", where the poem also connects her to the fertility of the bride. In some depictions on vase paintings, such as the Ricci Hydria dated to approximately 525 B.C.E., Hebe drives a chariot and is the one to bring her future husband, Heracles, to Olympus from Earth upon his apotheosis, a role traditionally fulfilled by Athena. A Krator in the Cleveland Museum may depict Hebe in chariot ready to leave Olympus to retrieve her husband in the presence of her mother, Artemis, and Apollo.
The lost comedic play, "Hebes Gamos" ("The Marriage of Hebe") by Epicharmus of Kos, depicted the wedding feast of Hebe and Heracles. In Theocritus's "Encomium of Ptolemy Philadelphus", Heracles dines with Ptolemy I and Alexander at a feast on Olympus and after he has his fill of nectar, he bestows his bow and arrows and club to them and leaves for his wife's chamber. Here the couple is presented as one of the paradigms for marriage of Philadelphus and Arsinoe with Heracles retiring to Hebe's chambers in a scene reminiscent of a wedding. Catullus in "Poem 68" makes a positive reference to the legal marriage of Heracles to the virginal goddess Hebe to contrast with the poet's secret affair with a married woman. Propertius also makes a reference to Heracles feeling a blazing love for Hebe upon his death at Mount Oeta, altering the traditional myth where Heracles marries Hebe after ascending to divinity.
Hebe had two children with Heracles: Alexiares and Anicetus. Although nothing is known about these deities beyond their names, there is a fragment by Callimachus that makes a reference to Eileithyia, Hebe's sister and the goddess of childbirth, attending to Hebe while in labour.
Giver of youth.
One of Hebe's roles was to be the cupbearer to the gods, serving them ambrosia and nectar. In Classical sources, her departure from this role was due to her marriage. Alternatively, the "Iliad" presented Hebe (and at one instance, Hephaestus) as the cup bearer of the gods with the divine hero Ganymede acting as Zeus's personal cup bearer. Additionally, Cicero seems to imply that either Hebe or Ganymede, who is typically seen as her successor, could serve in the role of cupbearer at the heavenly feast. The reasoning for Hebe's supposed dismissal was transformed into a moralizing story in the 1500s by the Church of England, where it was stated in a note in an English-Latin dictionary that she fell while in attendance to the gods, causing her dress to become undone, exposing her naked body publicly. Although there is no Classical literary or artistic source for this account, the story was modified to function as a warning to women to stay modestly covered at all times, as naked women in particular were seen as shameful by the Church. During this period, she was strongly associated with spring, so this addition of her falling to the myth was also allegorized to represent the change of season from spring to autumn.
According to some Classical authors, Hebe was connected to maintaining the youth and immortality of the other gods. Philostratus the Elder states that she is the reason the other gods are eternally young, and Bacchylides alleges that Hebe, as the princess ("basileia"), is responsible for immortality. This is another justification for her marriage to Heracles, as it ensures not only his immortality but also eternal youth, which were not viewed as equivalent in myths, such as with the case of Tithonus. In Euripides' play "Heracleidae" and in Ovid's "Metamorphoses", Hebe grants Iolaus' wish to become young again in order to fight Eurystheus. In Euripides' play Orestes, Helen is said to sit on a throne beside Hera and Hebe upon obtaining immortality.
Cult.
Hebe was particularly associated with the worship of her mother Hera in Argos and in the Heraion of Argos, one of the main centres of worship of Hera in Greece. It was said that Hebe, in a statue made of ivory and gold, was depicted standing beside a very large statue of Hera, which depicted the goddess seated holding a pomegranate and sceptre with a cuckoo perched on top. A relief made of silver above an altar depicted the marriage of Hebe and Heracles. Both of these depictions have been lost, but Argive coins have been found showing these two statues side by side. It is possible the Hebe was worshipped as or represented the virginal aspect of Hera, or that her worship with her mother was similar to that of Demeter and Persephone, as both potentially represented the cycle of rebirth and renewal. Some scholars theorize that one of the Temples of Hera at Paestum may have been dedicated to Hera and Hebe rather than to Hera and Zeus, which is the more common consensus. Scholars point to the headless bust of a well-dressed young girl that may have served as the antefix or acroterion of the temple as possibly being a representation of Hebe. Hebe was also depicted, alongside Athena, standing beside a sitting statue of Hera in the Temple of Hera at Mantinea in Arkadia, sculptured by Praxiteles.
Hebe also appears to be worshipped jointly with other figures as well. There is a record of a priestess from the deme of Aexone who served both Hebe and Alkmene being rewarded with a crown of olive leaves for her service. Aelian also refer to Hebe being worshipped in a temple that was adjacent to a temple dedicated to her spouse Herakles in an unknown location. The temples, which were separated by a canal, housed roosters in Heracles's temple and hens in Hebe's temple. Chickens were not commonly associated with either deity and more typically associated with Apollo. Some scholars have indicated that in Assyria, Apollo was particularly associated with Hebe.
Hebe also had her own personal cult and at least one temple in Greece dedicated to her. There was an altar for her in Athens at the Cynosarges. This site also contained gymnasium and altars for Herakles and joint altar to Alcmene and Iolaus In Sicyon, there was a temple dedicated to here and it was the center of her own cult. The Phliasians, who lived near Sicyon, honored Hebe (whom they called Dia, meaning "Daughter of Zeus") by pardoning supplicants. Hebe was also worshipped as a goddess of pardons or forgiveness; freed prisoners would hang their chains in the sacred grove of her sanctuary at Phlius. Pausanias described the Temple of Hebe: "A second hill on which the Phliasians [of Phlios in Argolis] have their citadel and their sanctuary of Hebe." He also described the cult of Hebe around the sanctuary:
"On the Phliasian citadel [at Phlios in Argolis] is a grove of cypress trees and a sanctuary which from ancient times has been held to be peculiarly holy. The earliest Phliasians named the goddess to whom the sanctuary belongs Ganymeda; but later authorities call her Hebe, whom Homer mentions in the duel between Menelaos (Menelaus) and Alexandros (Alexander), saying that she was the cup-bearer of the gods; and again he says, in the descent of Odysseus to Haides, that she was the wife of Heracles. Olen [a legendary Greek