Temperance:
Here’s the thing about Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth: she’s dull. Or, at least, that’s what a lot of authorities would have us believe. “Oh, yes,” they’ll say, “Hebe. Cupbearer of the gods before Zeus’s boy toy tossed her out of a job; married Hercules; had a couple sons nobody ever heard about again. Moving on—”
Well, for once, let’s not move on. Hebe is actually one of the most interesting Olympians for the simple reason that she isn’t interesting, at least not in a prime-time-soap-opera type of way. She had no affairs, went on no rampages, kidnapped no mortals and caused no plagues. She just did her job, raised a couple of well-behaved kids (an Olympus first) and apparently got along well with her husband. The worst thing anyone ever said about Hebe was that she could be a little clumsy–which, of course, is exactly why so many people find her boring. Yet, in the storm of Olympian bad-behavior, Hebe was a blessed outpost of clear-eyed sanity. It makes her perfect for our Temperance card.
Temperance is all about moderation, balance and healing. It means no drama. No tantrums, no headaches, no self-flagellation, no panic attacks. Temperance is the card of deep breaths, of relaxation, and of cutting yourself and everyone around you a little slack. It may not be as endlessly fascinating as a soap opera, but it’s a lot easier to live with.
Temperance Reversed:
Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth and the cup bearer of the gods, is our Temperance card. Hebe’s major claim to fame was as the person who managed to get her husband and her mother to get along. This might not sound like that much of an accomplishment until you realize that her mother was Hera and her husband was Hercules. Yes, that Hera, powerful queen of the gods who was dangerously jealous of any one on whom her randy husband’s eyes fell. And that Hercules, one of Zeus’s many bastards.
Hera had tried to eradicate this reminder of her husband’s infidelity by everything from sending snakes to strangle Herc in his crib to driving him mad so that he accidentally killed his first wife and their children. Needless to say, the bad blood was thick between the two of them even when Hercules was just a demi-god on earth. But when he was raised to immortality and came to reside on Mount Olympus, the situation threatened to deteriorate into all out war.
Enter Hebe, who solved the problem by the simple and elegant solution of marrying Olympus’ newest hunk. As a doting mother, Hera would never do anything to harm her beloved child—and that including killing off said child’s new husband. And as a love-struck half mortal on whom fate had just bestowed the hand of a goddess, Herc was easy enough to lead around by the nose. Hebe 1, Epic Feud 0. There was a reason freed slaves used to lay their chains at the feet of a statue of Hebe. They were saying “the past is behind us, and we’re moving on”–which is what anyone who draws Temperance reversed is being urged to do.