Phoebe

Phoebe was one of the Titans, a daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was the wife of her brother Coeus and the mother of Leto and Asteria, which made her the grandmother of Apollo, Artemis and Hecate. In Aeschylus she is also the third holder of the oracle at Delphi, who gave it to Apollo as a birthday gift.

Phoebe's Family

Hesiod names Phoebe, “golden-crowned”, among the children of Uranus and Gaea, together with Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys and Cronus (Hesiod, Theogony 132–138). Apollodorus gives the same list of the Titans and Titanides (Library 1.1.3).

She entered the bed of Coeus and bore Leto, always gentle to men and immortals, and Asteria of the good name, whom Perses took to his great house to be his wife (Hesiod, Theogony 404–410). Leto, by Zeus, became the mother of Apollo and Artemis (Theogony 918–920), and Asteria, by Perses, mother of Hecate (Theogony 409–411). Apollodorus says that Asteria, to escape Zeus, flung herself into the sea in the form of a quail, and that the island which was called Asteria was afterward called Delos (Apollodorus, Library 1.4.1).

Phoebe and Delphi

In the opening of Aeschylus’ Eumenides the Pythia names the previous owners of the oracle at Delphi. Gaea, the first prophet, was followed by Themis, who took her mother’s seat; then, with Themis’ consent and with no force used, another Titaness, daughter of Chthon (Earth), took the seat third: Phoebe. She gave it as a birthday gift to Phoebus (Apollo), who took his name from hers (Aeschylus, Eumenides 1–8). Zeus then made Apollo the fourth prophet (Eumenides 17–19).

Phoebe in Titanomachy

Hesiod tells how the Titans, from Mount Othrys, fought the gods of Olympus for ten full years and were afterward bound and sent beneath the earth to Tartarus (Hesiod, Theogony 629–636, 717–721). Hesiod does not name Phoebe either in the battle or among the Titans in Tartarus, and no ancient source tells what became of her in the war.

The Name and Other Figures Named Phoebe

The Greek name Phoebe is the feminine form of Phoebus, the epithet of Apollo. Aeschylus says that Apollo’s name Phoebus comes from hers (Eumenides 7–8). The Roman poet Ovid uses “Phoebe” as a name for the moon and for Diana (Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.11 and 1.476).

Another Phoebe was a daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, a sister of Clytemnestra and Helen (Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 49–51).

Phoebe Sources

Hesiod, Theogony 132–138, 404–411, 629–636, 717–721 and 918–920. Aeschylus, Eumenides 1–19. Apollodorus, Library 1.1.3 and 1.4.1. Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 49–51. Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.11 and 1.476.

See Also: Titans, Uranus, Gaea, Coeus, Leto, Asteria, Apollo, Artemis, Hecate, Themis