Hebe- Greek GodDeity"Cupbearer of the Gods"

Divine Cupbearer

Daughter of Zeus and Hera, Hebe served as cupbearer on Olympus, pouring nectar into golden cups at the gods' feasts. In the Iliad, when Ares staggered back to Olympus wounded by Diomedes's spear, Hebe bathed him and dressed him in fresh robes until the god of war was himself again. But at one feast she stumbled and fell, and Zeus replaced her with Ganymede, a beautiful Trojan prince carried to Olympus on eagle's wings.

The Bride of Heracles

When Heracles donned the robe his wife Deianira had anointed with the centaur Nessus's blood, believing it a love charm, the poison burned through his flesh like fire. Maddened by pain, he built his own pyre atop Mount Oeta and lay upon it. When the flames consumed his mortal body, Zeus raised what remained to Olympus. There Heracles received Hebe as his bride. The marriage sealed his reconciliation with Hera, who had tormented him from his cradle through every one of his labors — now her own daughter bound them as family. Together they had two sons, Alexiares and Anicetus, whose names mean "he who wards off war" and "the unconquerable." In the Odyssey, Odysseus encounters Heracles's shade in the underworld — but it is only a phantom. The real Heracles feasts among the immortals with Hebe at his side, free at last.

The Rejuvenation of Iolaus

Hebe's power reached beyond Olympus. When the aged Iolaus — Heracles's nephew and former charioteer — faced the sons of Eurystheus in battle, he prayed for one day's return to his fighting prime. Hebe answered from the heavens. Before the eyes of the army, Iolaus's hair darkened and the bent warrior straightened into the man who had once stood beside Heracles against the Hydra. Rejuvenated, he pursued Eurystheus — the king who had once set Heracles his labors — and captured him alive.