Phoebe in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Phoebe

5 passages from 4 ancient authors that tell of Phoebe, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Phoebe was one of the Titans, daughter of Uranus and Gaea. She was married to her brother Coeus, with whom she had Asteria (the starry one) and Leto. ... For the story in one place, read our article on Phoebe.

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Theogony 370–404Children of Hyperion and Crius; Styx and her sons (370-404)Theia bears Helios, Selene and Eos to Hyperion, and Eos bears the winds and the morning star; Crius and Eurybia's sons include Astraeus, Pallas and Perses. Styx, daughter of Oceanus, bears to Pallas Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia, and Zeus honours her as the great oath of the gods because she was first to support him against the Titans. The section ends as Phoebe comes to the embrace of Coeus.
Hesiod, Theogony 405–449Leto, Asteria and Hecate (405-449)Phoebe and Coeus have Leto and Asteria, and Asteria's daughter is Hecate. The long praise of Hecate describes how Zeus honoured her beyond all other gods, leaving her a share of earth, sea and starry heaven, and how she helps those she favours in the assembly, in war, in the games, at sea and in the herds.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Eumenides 1–93Prologue: the Priestess at Delphi and Apollo's promiseThe Priestess of Apollo at Delphi prays to the gods who held the oracle before Apollo and then goes in to the shrine. She comes out terrified, having seen a man at the altar with bloody hands and sword, surrounded by sleeping women with snakes in their hair. Apollo tells Orestes that he will not abandon him, tells him that the Furies are asleep, and sends him to the city of Athena with Hermes as his escort.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.64.1–5.67.5Early Crete: the Dactyls, the Curetes and the TitansThe Cretans claim that the Eteocretans were native to the island, and that the Idaean Dactyls discovered fire and the working of metals. They tell of the Curetes and of the Titans near Cnosus under Cronus' rule, whose age is described with lines of Hesiod, and of Hyperion's observation of the heavens.

Hyginus (1)

Hyginus, Fabulae 0The genealogical prefaceHyginus opens with lists of the first gods and their offspring: Chaos, Night, the Titans, the Giants, the Nereids and the children of Zeus and the other Olympians. The names are given almost without narrative, and many are corrupt in the manuscript.