That Infamous Night

Once upon a time, there was a poor student working as a temple attendant to pay bills. That night was nearly 4000 years ago. I was tending Hebe’s upstairs altar in her main temple on that infamous night. I saw everything. Here’s what really happened.

That night, amid much pomp and circumstance, the closing ceremonies of the worldwide games concluded. People had come from all around the known world to witness the competition – mostly because Heracles, the very popular son of Zeus, was a contestant. Hebe’s temple was about 40 steps from Athena’s Parthenon, right by the main entrance. The perfect location. So,

IT WAS PACKED!!

People dressed to the Nines, in priceless silks and the softest mohair wools. Throwing coins around. And crazy busy. I was making drinks and Hebe was (literally) flying between worshippers. The choir had all the celebrants dancing, ecstatically. And they were thirsty.

Always watching, I noticed Apollo position himself right in front of me. Hebe was coming back for the cups I had filled. As she walked away with them, her hands full, I saw Apollo step on her robes, quite intentionally. Of course, her robes came off. And Apollo, the drunk lout, just laughed… calling out to Heracles, who could only stare, obviously smitten.

Naturally, Hebe was mortified! And the worst part was that, exposed like that, everyone could see she had ‘grown-up’. She wasn’t Youth anymore.

The very instant everyone noticed her maturity, Iris’ rainbow appeared with an announcement from the Most Supreme, Most Powerful God of All Gods. Ever. As Zeus liked to be called.

Right there, He fired Hebe from her job as Cupbearer to the Gods and ordered her married off. It almost seemed like Zeus just told Iris to look around, and pick the closest available male. Iris pointed to Heracles. (Shout out to Iris!! She and Hebe had roomed together 3 years at Mt. Pelion. Iris took care of her friend. Hebe could have done a lot worse. Wink!)

Anyway, I was just trying to work. And that wasn’t the first time I had seen Iris or her fancy rainbow. So, unlike the others, I reacted quickly. Grabbing a linen drape from the doorway, I ran to Hebe, covered her and led her away to a luxurious, unknown privvy. Hebe was used to the finer things. The opulence of the room calmed her quickly – until a priestess came in with her new husband’s bill. 

Hebe flipped. And I can’t blame her. Everyone knew Heracles’ excursions weren’t cheap, but WOW!! They would need a huge income!

That infamous night, we realized two things
(1) Hebe had great products and
(2) Temple Attendants have the best stories.

And so, Treasures by Hebe was born!

The Phrygian Philosopher debates,
“At what point is the young goddess more than just her role?”

11 thoughts on “That Infamous Night”

  1. Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Firefox. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Thanks

  2. I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is required to get setup? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100 sure. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Appreciate it

    1. I watched some you tube videos, and learned some WordPress. Learned more, started over. A couple times. There is SO much to know. Just get started, and keep learning 🙂

    1. Sorry, can’t help there. I’m just trusting the Computer Gods to keep this for me 🙂
      But, maybe research the plug-ins first; stars can be telling. 4.8? Out of 4 engagements, or 10K?

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