Hebe, the daughter of Zeus and Hera, was the goddess of youth and acted as a cupbearer to the gods.
As a youth, Ganymede was abducted by Zeus in the form of an eagle that carried the boy to Olympus. There Zeus gave him immortality, made him his lover, and established him as a cupbearer.
Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and sometimes a messenger of the gods.
The Three Graces presided over banquets and festivities. They represented splendor, mirth, and good cheer.
The Nine Muses were part of Apollo's retinue and were the daughters of Mnemosyne, or memory. These were goddesses of inspiration: Clio of history, Melpomene of tragedy, Urania of astronomy, Thalia of comedy, Terpsichore of dance, Calliope of epic poetry, Erato of love verse, Euterpe of lyric poems, and Polyhymnia of sacred songs.
Persephone was the lovely daughter of Zeus and Demeter, a goddess of springtime. After Hades abducted her she became the queen of the underworld. Proserpina was her Latin name.
Dionysus, a fertility god and a god of the vine, was the son of Zeus and Semele. He served to liberate the emotions and to inspire men with joy. Like the grape vine, he suffered death butwas resurrected. His female worshipers were the frenziedMaenads. Yet out of his celebration grew the tragic theater. Hewas also known as Bacchus, Latin Liber, a god of drunkenness.
Pan, the son of Hermes, was the god of flocks. He had the torso and head of a man, but the hindquarters and horns of a goat. A marvelous musician, he played the pipes and pursued various nymphs, all of whom rejected him for his ugliness.
