Cleobis and Biton
Source: retold by Robert Graves in The Greek Myths.
Cleobis and Biton,
two young Argives, were the sons of Hera’s priestess at Argos. When the time
came for her to perform the rites of the goddess, and the white oxen which were
to draw her sacred chariot had not yet arrived from the pasture, Cleobis and
Biton, harnessing themselves to the chariot, dragged
it to the temple, a distance of nearly five miles. Pleased with their filial
devotion, the priestess prayed that the goddess would grant them the best gift
she could bestow on mortals; and when she had performed her rites, they went to
sleep in the temple, never to wake again.