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. Reconstructed
Orphic beliefs may 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. Despite these concerns, it was also believed that lettuce benefited menstrual flow and lactation in women, characteristics that may associate the plant with motherhood. 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. 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 showing Hebe bringing Heracles to Olympus from Earth upon his
apotheosis. (
National Etruscan Museum)|306x306px 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. A
krater 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. 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.
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 ==