This historic Memphis landmark was erected in Court Square as a donation to the city of Memphis by many prominent Memphians in 1876. It is a copy of a sculpure by Antonio Canova. The fountain features the Greek gods’ mythological cupbearer Hebe. It began with catfish and turtles in its basin, switched to goldfish in the mid-1900s, and, after a renovation in 1980, the basin is now shallow and has a few pennies in it from wishers.-
Memphis Art
The Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (
SIRIS) description for the fountain says, "A large fountain consisting of a two-tiered cast iron structure topped by a standing figure of Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth and cupbearer of the gods. Hebe wears a long skirt which appears to be tied at the waist. She is nude from the waist up and wears her hair in a chignon. Her proper right arm is raised and she holds a small pitcher in her proper right hand. She pours water into the cup she holds in her proper left hand. Beneath Hebe is a second, larger cast iron basin. Under the first basin are four putti, one in each of the cardinal directions. They appear to be drinking from horn shaped vessels.
Beneath the second basin, around a central stem, are four putti and two swans with outstretched wings. The putti are disrobing as if about to take a swim in the fountain. Two are seated and two are standing. The cast iron basins have scalloped edges and are decorated with floral and scroll designs. At the bottom is a large ten-sided granite basin with cast iron embellishments around the outer wall. Around the fountain is a wrought iron fence which follows the outlines of the granite basin. Eight granite urns alternate with fence sections."
Hebe in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the goddess of youth or the prime of life. She is the beautiful daughter of Zeus and his wife, Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia until she married Heracles (Roman equivalent: Hercules); her successor was the divine hero Ganymede. Another title of hers for this reason is Ganymeda, meaning "Gladdening Princess". Hebe was worshipped as the goddess of forgiveness or mercy at Sicyon.
In the sky
Hebe 6 is a large main-belt asteroid, containing around 0.5% of the mass of the belt. However, due to its apparently high bulk density (greater than that of the Moon or even Mars), Hebe does not rank among the top twenty asteroids by volume. This high bulk density suggests an extremely solid body that has not been impacted by collisions, which is not typical of asteroids of its size – they tend to be loosely-bound rubble piles.
In brightness, Hebe is the fifth-brightest object in the asteroid belt after Vesta, Ceres, Iris, and Pallas. It has a mean opposition magnitude of +8.3, about equal to the mean brightness of Titan, and can reach +7.5 at an opposition near perihelion.
Hebe may be the parent body of the H chondrite meteorites, which account for about 40% of all meteorites striking Earth.