LOGOI

The corpus record

ἥβη

ebe · ἡ

youthful prime, youth

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

  • Ichneutae 2 · 11.63/10k
  • Persians 5 · 9.82/10k
  • Suppliant Maidens 2 · 4.15/10k
  • Heracles 3 · 3.83/10k
  • Works and Days 2 · 3.47/10k
  • Theogony 2 · 2.9/10k
  • Agamemnon 2 · 2.47/10k
  • Electra 2 · 2.3/10k
  • Ion 2 · 2.19/10k
  • Menexenus 1 · 2.08/10k
  • Seven Against Thebes 1 · 1.99/10k
  • Rhesus 1 · 1.86/10k

Densest 12 of 27 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant — LSJ

youthful prime, youth, manhood

youthful prime, youth, νεηνίῃ ἀνδρὶ ἐοικώς, πρῶτον ὑπηνήτῃ, τοῦ περ χαριέστατος ἥβη Od. 10.279, cf. Il. 24.348; καὶ δʼ ἔχει ἥβης ἄνθος ὅ τε κράτος ἐστὶ μέγιστον 13.484, cf. Hes. Th. 988; ἐρικυδής Il. 11.225, Hes. l.c.; πολυήρατος Od. 15.366, etc.; ἥβης μέτρον ἱκέσθαι or ἱκάνειν, = ἡβάσκειν, 11.317, 18.217, etc.; ἥβην πολυήρατον ἱκόμεθʼ 15.366, cf. Il. 24.728; ἥβης ἀπόνασθαι, ταρπῆναι, 17.25, Od. 23.212; ἐφʼ ἥβης Ar. Eq. 524; θρέψασθαί τινα πρὸς ἥβην until manhood, Pl. Mx. 238b; μέχρι ἥβης Th. 2.

b strength and vigour of youth

strength and vigour of youth, [δίσκον] ἀφῆκεν . . πειρώμενος ἥβης Il. 23.432; ἥβῃ τε πεποίθεα χερσί τʼ ἐμῇσι Od. 8.181, cf. 16.174; ἥβης ἀκμή S. OT 741: in pl., καρποτρόφοι νεάνιδες ἧβαι E. Ion 477 (lyr.).

c the time before manhood

as a legal term, ἥβη was the time before manhood, at Athens sixteen years of age, AB 255.15; fourteen acc. to EM 359.17, Harp. s.v. ἐπιδιετές; at Sparta eighteen, τὰ δέκα ἀφʼ ἥβης (sc. ἔτη), i.e. men of twenty-eight, X. HG 2.4.32, 3.4.23; τὰ τετταράκοντα ἀφʼ ἥ. ib. 6.4.17; of women, ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐς ἥβην ἦλθεν ὡραίαν γάμων E. Hel. 12.

d fresh

of oxen, ἥβης μέτρον ἔχοντε Hes. Op. 438; of the fresh skin of a snake, Nic. Th. 138.

2 cheer, merriment, youthful fire, spirit

metaph., cheer, merriment, Pi. P. 4.295; δαιτὸς ἥβη E. Cyc. 504 (lyr.); also, youthful fire, spirit, Pi. P. 6.48.

3 body of youth

body of youth, A. Pers. 512, 733, Ag. 109 (lyr.), etc.

4 the pubes

the pubes, Hp. Epid. 3.4, Ar. Nu. 976, Theopomp.Com. 37, Arist. HA 493b3, al.

II vine

a kind of vine, Hsch.; Dor. ἇβαι (pl.) v.l. in Theoc. 5.109.

III Hebe, goddess of youth

pr.n., Ἥβη Hebe, Il. 4.2, Od. 11.603, Hes. Th. 950; later allegorized as goddess of youth. (Cf. Lith. jėgà ‘power’.)

In the wild

6 of 68 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

  • Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) Treated in Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill 2010) s.v. ἥβη (scan pp. 554-555; entry #2412).
  • Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Frisk, Griechisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. ἥβη (scan p. 2225; entry #7134).

Ask the librarian

Ask about ἥβη →