Hebe. Hebe in ancient Greek religion, is the goddess of youth or the prime of life. She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia until she married Heracles; her successor was the divine hero Ganymede. Another title of hers for this reason is Ganymeda, meaning Gladdening Princess. Hebe was worshipped as the goddess of forgiveness or mercy at Sicyon. Hebe 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 their favoured mortals aging. According to Philostratus the Elder, Hebe was youngest of the gods and 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 with 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 seen with her father in the guise of an eagle, often offering a cup to him. This depiction is seen in classical engraved gems as well as later art. Eagles were connected with immortality and there was a folklore belief that the eagle had the ability to renew itself to a youthful state, making the association with Hebe logical. The name Hebe comes from Greek word meaning youth or prime of life. Juventus likewise means youth, as can be seen in such derivatives as juvenile. Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and Hera and was 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 performed tasks around the household such as drawing baths for her brother Ares and helping Hera enter her chariot. 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. Although she was not as strongly associated with her father, Hebe was occasionally referred to with the epithet Dia, which can be translated to Daughter of Zeus or Heavenly. 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. 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. In Euripedes' play Orestes, Helen is said to sit on a throne beside Hera and Hebe upon obtaining immortality. One of her roles was to be the cupbearer to the gods, serving them ambrosia and nectar. In Classical sources, Hebe's departure from this role was due to her marriage to the deified hero Heracles. Despite this, Cicero seems to imply that 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 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 Hebe 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. In 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 this 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.