Phoebe

Greek mythology

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Article History

Phoebe, in Greek mythology, a Titan, daughter of Uranus (Sky) and Gaea (Earth). By the Titan Coeus she was the mother of Leto and grandmother of Apollo and Artemis. She was also the mother of Asteria and Hecate. The family relationships were described by Hesiod (Theogony). Her epithet was Gold-Crowned, but her name, like Apollo’s forename Phoebus, signified brightness. In Aeschylus’s Eumenides (458 bc) she is said to have given Apollo the rite of his oracle in Delphi. In later mythology she was identified with the moon, as were Artemis and her Roman counterpart Diana. See also Selene.