This paper points out some of the weaknesses of the traditional account of the Homeric phrase ἀνδροτῆτα καὶ ἥβην and suggests instead that the entire phrase is a relatively recent creation of the tradition on the model of an *ἀμ(β)ροτῆτα καὶ ἥβην. This phrase in turn has a clear Avestan cognate hauruuatātā amərətātā.