hebe, the word, meant the prime of youth, the pinnacle of strength and beauty, the ideal that is personified in almost everything Greek, whether it is poetry, vase painting, or sculpture. The youthful ideal can be seen in kouroi, statues of male youths in a rigid pose dating from the Archaic Period (female statues from the same period are called korai), and it is interesting to note that these statues are often thought to be Apollo. Apollo does not have the allegorical significance of a name like Hebe, because his name is not a noun separate from his divinity, but he is always at his hebe. In the Iliad, one could say that most of the soldiers are at their hebe, most especially Achilles.
For the Greeks, it was the utmost in heroism to die at one's youthful prime. Achilles achieves this in the Iliad, and more importantly, he chooses this fate from it's alternative, to return home and live a long life.
Achilles' choice illustrates the power of the concept of hebe. In his mind, it was better to die while he was young and strong, than to grow old in peace. We can then see hebe as a fleeting moment, an opportunity he must seize to be the greatest he can be.
The goddess Hebe, then, is a powerful deity in theory, granting the strength of youth to warriors, giving them physical strength and attractiveness of form. Unfortunately, Hebe, like most other purely allegorical gods, like Nike, was not worshipped in her own right, and is personified more in actions between the gods than between gods and mankind.