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[[Image:Hécate - Mallarmé.png|thumb|right|The Greek goddess Hecate shown here in her omniscient, three-faced form. Drawing by Stephane Mallarmé in ''Les Dieux Antiques, nouvelle mythologie illustrée'' in Paris, 1880.]]
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Among the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]], '''Hecate''' or ''Hekate'' was originally a goddess of the wilderness and childbirth, who, over time, became associated with the practice of [[sorcery]]. Originally venerated as a mother goddess by the Greeks, the character of Hecate changed considerably, as her fertility and motherhood elements decreased in importance. Instead, she was ultimately transformed into a goddess of sorcery, who came to be known as the 'Queen of Ghosts', a transformation that was particularly pronounced in Ptolemaic [[Alexandria]]. It was in this sinister guise that she was transmitted to post-Renaissance culture. Today, she is often seen as a goddess of [[witchcraft]] and [[Wicca]].
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Hecate, like many of the other non-indigenous Greek gods (including [[Dionysus]], [[Demeter]], and [[Artemis]]), had a wide range of meanings and associations in the [[Greek mythology|mythic]] and [[Religion|religious]] beliefs and practices of the ancient Hellenes. She, in particular, was associated with nature and fertility, the crossroads, and (later) death, spirits, magic and the moon. In the religious practices based upon her later characterization, much like the worship of [[Anubis]] (in [[Egyptian Mythology]]) and [[Hel]] (in [[Norse Mythology]]), veneration was prompted by a fundamental human drive: to control (or at least comprehend) our mortality. Since the Greek understanding of the afterlife was a rather dreary one (See [[Hades]]), Hecate's multifaceted personality was understandably complex leading to her later magical associations.
  
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'''Hecate''', '''Hekate''' (''Hekátē''), or '''Hekat''' was originally a goddess of the wilderness and childbirth, naturalized early in [[Thrace]], but originating among the [[Caria]]ns of [[Anatolia]],<ref name="Burkert"> Walter Burkert, (1987) ''Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical'', pp 171. Oxford, Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-15624-0.</ref> the only region where [[theophoric]] names are attested<ref>Theodor Kraus, ''Hekate: Studien zu Wesen u. Bilde der Göttin in Kleinasien u. Griechenland'' (Heidelberg) 1960. Kraus offers the first modern comprehensive discussion of Hecate in monuments and material culture.</ref>,  and where Hekate remained a great goddess into historical times, at [[Lagina]].The monuments to Hekate in [[Phrygia]] and Caria are numerous but of late date.<ref>Kraus 1960:52; list p 166f.</ref> Popular cults venerating her as a mother goddess integrated her persona into Greek culture as '''Ἑκάτη'''. In [[Alexandria|Ptolemaic Alexandria]] she ultimately achieved her connotations as a goddess of sorcery and her role as the 'Queen of Ghosts', in which guise she was transmitted to post-Renaissance culture. Today she is often seen as a goddess of [[witchcraft]] and [[Wicca]]. One aspect of Hecate is represented in the Roman [[Trivia (mythology)|Trivia]].
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==Origins and Mythology==
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Hecate is known as a Greek goddess but worship of her originated among the Carians of Anatolia.<ref> Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical.'' (Oxford, UK: Blackwell. 1987), 171</ref> Indeed, the earliest inscription describing the goddess has been found in late archaic Miletus, close to Caria, where Hecate is a protector of entrances.<ref>Theodor Kraus. ''Hekate: Studien zu Wesen u. Bilde der Göttin in Kleinasien u. Griechenland.'' (Heidelberg, 1960), 12.</ref>  
  
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The earliest inscription is found in late archaic [[Miletus]], close to Caria, where Hecate is a protector of entrances.<ref>Kraus 1960:12.</ref>
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===Birth and fundamental nature===
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As Hecate was a pre-Olympian chthonic goddess (and, as such, related to earth, fertility, and death), she was not easily assimilated into the Greek pantheon. Indeed, her representation in the mythic corpus is patchy at best, with many sources describing her in a very limited fashion (if at all). This situation is further complicated by the fact that her two characterizations (goddess of nature/fertility versus goddess of death, magic and the underworld) seem to be almost entirely disparate.<ref>H. J. Rose. ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology.'' (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959), 121-122.</ref> Indeed, outside of [[Hesiod]]'s ''Theogony,'' the classical Greek sources are relatively taciturn concerning her parentage and her relations in the Greek pantheon.  
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==Representations==
 
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The earliest depictions of Hecate are single faced, not triplicate. Lewis Richard Farnell states:
 
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:''The evidence of the monuments as to the character and significance of Hekate is almost as full as that of the literature. But it is only in the later period that they come to express her manifold and mystic nature. Before the fifth century there is little doubt that she was usually represented as of single form like any other divinity, and it was thus that the [[Hesiod|Boeotian poet]] imagined her, as nothing in his verses contains any allusion to a triple formed goddess. The earliest known monument is a small terracotta found in Athens, with a dedication to Hekate (Plate XXXVIII. a), in writing of the style of the sixth century. The goddess is seated on a throne with a chaplet bound round her head; she is altogether without attributes and character, and the only value of this work, which is evidently of quite a general type and gets a special reference and name merely from the inscription, is that it proves the single shape to be her earlier from, and her recognition at Athens to be earlier than the Persian invasion.'' <ref>Lewis Richard Farnell, (1896). "Hecate in Art", ''The Cults of the Greek States''. [[Oxford University Press]], [[Oxford]].</ref>
 
  
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The second-century traveller [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] stated that Hecate was first depicted in triplicate by the sculptor [[Alkamenes]] in the Greek Classical period of the late 5th century. Some classical portrayals, such as the one illustrated below, show her as a triplicate goddess holding a torch, a key and a serpent. Others continue to depict her in singular form. In Egyptian-inspired Greek [[esotericism|esoteric writings]] connected with [[Hermes Trismegistus]], and in magical papyri of [[Late Antiquity]] she is described as having three heads: one dog, one [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]] and one horse. Hecate's triplicity is expressed in a more Hellene fashion, with three bodies instead, where she is shown taking part in the battle with the Titans in the vast frieze of the great [[Pergamon Altar]], now in Berlin. In the [[Argos|Argolid]], near the shrine of the [[Dioscuri]], Pausanias saw the temple of Hecate opposite the sanctuary of [[Eilethyia]]; "The image is a work of [[Scopas]]. This one is of stone, while the bronze images opposite, also of Hekate, were made respectively by [[Polyclitus (sculptor)|Polycleitus]] and his brother Naucydes, son of Mothon. (''Description of Greece'' ii.22.7)
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In Hesiod's masterful poem, he records that the goddess was the offspring of two Titans, Asteria and Persus. Further, he ascribes to Hecate such wide-ranging and fundamental powers, that it is hard to resist seeing such a deity as a figuration of the Great Goddess, though as a good Hellene, Hesiod ascribes her powers to a "gift" from [[Zeus]]:
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:Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be called his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos honored above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honor also in starry heaven, and is honored exceedingly by the deathless gods…. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea (''Theogony'' 404-452).
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His inclusion and praise of Hecate in ''[[Theogony]]'' is troublesome for scholars in that he seems fulsomely to praise her attributes and responsibilities in the ancient cosmos even though she is both relatively minor and foreign. It is theorized <ref>Sarah Iles Johnston. ''Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece.'' (1991)</ref> that Hesiod’s original village had a substantial Hecate following and that his inclusion of her in the Theogony was his own way to boost the popularity of the local cult with an unfamiliar audience.
  
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A fourth century B.C.E. marble relief from Crannon in Thessaly<ref>This statue is in the [[British Museum]], inventory number 816.</ref> was dedicated by a race-horse owner. It shows Hecate, with a hound beside her, placing a wreath on the head of a mare.  Her attendant and animal representation is of a bitch, and the most common form of offering was to leave meat at a crossroads. Sometimes dogs themselves were sacrificed to her (a good indication of her non-Hellenic origin, as dogs along with donkeys, very rarely played this role in genuine Greek ritual).
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Despite her provenance as a Titaness, Hecate was acknowledged as an ally and friend of the Olympians. Indeed, she was thought to have been the only Titan to aided Zeus and the younger generation of gods in the [[Titanomachia|battle of gods and Titans]], which explains why she was not banished into the underworld realms after their defeat. In spite of the fact that no classical sources depicting the event have survived, it is attested to in considerable detail in both sculpture and pottery from the period (most namely, the majestic frieze on the altar at Pergamos.<ref>William Berg, "Hecate: Greek or 'Anatolian'?" ''Numen'' 21 (Fasc. 2) (August 1974): 129, 139.</ref> Additionally, as Hecate’s cult grew, her figure was added to the myth of the birth of Zeus<ref>Johnston (1991)</ref> as one of the midwives that hid the divine child, while [[Cronus]] consumed the swaddled rock deceitfully handed to him by [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]].
  
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In ''[[Argonautica]]'', a third century B.C.E. [[Alexandria]]n epic based on early materials, Jason placates Hecate in a ritual prescribed by Medea, her priestess: bathed at midnight in a stream of flowing water, and dressed in dark robes, Jason is to dig a pit and offer a [[libation]] of honey<ref>Fermented honey was an [[entheogen]] older than wine.</ref> and blood from the throat of a sheep, which was set on a pyre by the pit and wholly consumed as a [[Holocaust (sacrifice)|holocaust]], then retreat from the site without looking back (''Argonautica'', iii). All these elements betoken the rites owed to a [[chthonic]] deity.
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Conversely, other sources describe her as the child of either Zeus and Asteria, Aristaios and Asteria, or even Zeus and Demeter.<ref>Gantz, 26.</ref> This final association likely arose due to a similarity of function, as both goddesses were related to earth and fertility.<ref>These associations were especially prominent in rural areas. See: Jon D. Mikalson. ''Ancient Greek Religion.'' (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005), 215, 217.</ref>
  
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==Mythology==
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===Relationship with humanity===
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Despite popular belief, Hecate was not originally a Greek goddess.  The roots of Hecate seem to be in the Carians of Asia Minor.<ref>Kraus 1960.</ref> She appears in [[Homer]]'s "[[Hymn to Demeter]]" and in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', where she is promoted strongly as a great goddess. The place of origin of her cult is uncertain, but it is thought <ref name="Burkert"/> that she had popular cult followings in [[Thrace]]. Her most important sanctuary was [[Lagina]], a theocratic city-state in which the goddess was served by [[eunuch]]s <ref name="Burkert"/>. Lagina, where the famous temple of Hecate drew great festal assemblies every year, lay close to the originally [[Macedon]]ian [[colonies in antiquity|colony]] of [[Stratonikea]], where she was the city's patroness.<ref> Strabo, ''Geography'' xiv.2.25; Kraus 1960.</ref>. In Thrace she played a role similar to that of lesser-[[Hermes]], namely a governess of [[liminal]] points and the wilderness, bearing little resemblance to the night-walking crone she became. Additionally, this led to her role of aiding women in childbirth and the raising of young men.
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In keeping with the extremely positive image of the goddess expounded upon in the ''Theogony,'' Hesiod also describes the multifarious and all-encompassing contributions that the goddess makes to the lives of mortal. As he suggests:
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:Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgment, and in the assembly whom her will is distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and [[Poseidon|the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker]], easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. (''Theogony'' 404-452).  
  
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[[Image:Hécate - Mallarmé.png|thumb|left|Hecate, [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] goddess of the crossroads; drawing by [[Stephane Mallarmé]] in ''Les Dieux Antiques, nouvelle mythologie illustrée'' in [[Paris]], 1880.]]
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===Disparate Understandings of Hecate===
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====Hecate and Artemis====
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As in the case of her lineage, there are also multiple understandings of the mythic role(s) of the goddess. One lesser role subordinates Hecate to the goddess [[Artemis]]. In this version,<ref>Johnston (1991)</ref> Hecate is a mortal priestess who is commonly associated with [[Iphigeneia]] and scorns and insults Artemis, but is eventually driven to suicide. In a uncharacteristic gesture of forgiveness, Artemis then adorns the dead body with jewelry and whispers for her spirit to rise and become her Hecate, and act similar to [[Nemesis]] as an avenging spirit for injured women. Such myths, where a local god sponsors or ‘creates’ a foreign god, were widespread in ancient cultures as they allowed a syncretistic means of integrating foreign cults.<ref>Rose (1959)</ref>and <ref>Lewis Richard Farnell. ''The Cults of the Greek States,'' (Vol. 2), (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907),
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508-509, 515-519, also comment on the relationship between the two deities.</ref>
  
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There was a fane sacred to Hecate as well in the precincts of the [[Temple of Artemis at Ephesus]], where the eunuch priests, ''megabyzi'', officiated <ref> Strabo, ''Geography'', xiv.1.23 </ref>. Hesiod records that she was among the offspring of [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] and [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]], the Earth and Sky. In ''Theogony'' he ascribed to Hecate such wide-ranging and fundamental powers, that it is hard to resist seeing such a deity as a figuration of the Great Goddess, though as a good Olympian [[Hesiod]] ascribes her powers as the "gift" of [[Zeus]]:
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==== Goddess of the crossroads ====
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Similar to the ''herms'' of classic antiquity (totems of Hermes placed at borders as wards against danger), images of Hecate also fulfilled the same liminal and protective role. It became common to place statues of the goddess at the gates of cities, and eventually domestic doorways. Further, Hecate had a special role at three-way crossroads, where the Greeks set poles with masks of each of her heads facing different directions.<ref>Rose, 121-122</ref> <ref>Martin Puhvel, "The Mystery of the Cross-Roads," ''Folklore'' 87(2) (1976): 175.</ref> Eventually, this led to the depiction of the goddess as possessing three heads (or even three conjoined bodies ([[#Representations|see below]])).
  
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:''"Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods.... The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea".''
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The crossroad aspect of Hecate likely stems from her original sphere of influence as a goddess of the wilderness and untamed areas. This led to sacrifice in order for safe travel into these areas.  
  
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Her gifts towards mankind are all-encompassing, Hesiod tells:
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The later [[Roman mythology|Roman]] version of this deity is as the goddess ''Trivia,'' "the three ways." [[Eligius]] in the seventh century reminded his recently converted flock in Flanders that "No Christian should make or render any devotion to the gods of the trivium, where three roads meet, to the fanes or the rocks, or springs or groves or corners," worship practices that had been common in his [[Celtic]] congregation.<ref>See the ''Vita'' of Saint Eligius at [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/germanic/e.php northvegr.org]. Retrieved June 23, 2007.</ref>
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:''"Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgement, and in the assembly whom her will is distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and [[Poseidon|the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker]], easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less".''
 
  
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Hecate was carefully attended:
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Over time, the apotropaic associations with the goddess, specifically with respect to her role in driving away evil spirits, led to the belief that Hecate, if offended, could summon evil spirits. Thus, invocations to Hecate arose which characterized her as the governess of the borders between the mortal world and the spirit world <ref>Johnston (1991)</ref>.
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:''"For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favour according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great honour comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favourably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her".''
 
  
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[[Hesiod]] emphasizes that Hecate was an only child, the daughter of [[Asteria]], a star-goddess who was the sister of [[Leto]], the mother of [[Artemis]] and [[Apollo]]. Grandmother of the three cousins was Phoebe the ancient Titaness who personified the moon. Hecate was a reappearance of Phoebe, a moon goddess herself, who appeared in the dark of the moon.
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==== Goddess of magic, sorcery and the dead ====
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In the modern imagination, Hecate is most often remembered as a chthonic goddess, associated with sorcery, necromancy and the mysteries of the dead. Indeed, Hecate was the goddess who appeared most often in magical texts such as the Greek Magical [[Papyri]] and [[curse tablet]]s, along with [[Hermes]]. The transformation of the figure of Hekate can be traced to fifth-century Athens, as in two fragments of [[Aeschylus]] (ca. 525–456 B.C.E.) she appears as a great goddess, while in [[Sophocles]] (495-406 B.C.E.) and [[Euripides]] (480–406 B.C.E.) she has already become the mistress of witchcraft and ''keres.''<ref>Gantz, 26-27. </ref>  <ref>Farnell (Vol. II), 510-513.</ref>
  
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His inclusion and praise of Hecate in ''[[Theogony]]'' is troublesome for scholars in that he seems fulsomely to praise her attributes and responsibilities in the ancient cosmos even though she is both relatively minor and foreign. It is theorized <ref name="Restless_Dead">Johnston, Sarah Iles, (1991). ''Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece''. ISBN 0-520-21707-1</ref> that [[Hesiod]]’s original village had a substantial Hecate following and that his inclusion of her in the Theogony was his own way to boost the home-goddess for unfamiliar hearers.
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Eventually, Hecate’s power resembled that of sorcery. [[Medea]], who was a priestess of Hecate, used witchcraft in order to handle magic herbs and poisons with skill, and to be able to stay the course of rivers, or check the paths of the stars and the moon.<ref>See: Euripides, [[Medea]] </ref><ref>Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica''</ref><ref> Apollodorus, ''The Library.'' </ref>
  
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As her cult spread into areas of Greece it presented a conflict, as Hecate’s role was already filled by other more prominent gods in the Greek pantheon, above all by [[Artemis]], and by more archaic figures, such as [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]].  
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These chthonic associations would developed through a relatively late affiliation with the tale of [[Persephone]]'s abduction by [[Hades]]. Specifically, the [[Homeric]] ''Hymn to Demeter'' suggests that Hecate was one of the two gods (along with all-seeing [[Helios]]) who were witness to the young goddess's kidnapping, and who accompanies [[Demeter]] (the grieving mother) in her quest to return her daughter to the world of the living. When the two are finally reunited, they are described given due thanks to the shadowy goddess:
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:Then bright-coiffed Hecate came near to them, and often did she embrace the daughter of holy Demeter: and from that time the lady Hecate was minister and companion to Persephone (''Homeric Hymn to Demeter,'' 438-440).<ref>Homer. ''Homeric Hymn to Demeter.'' accessed online at [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/homer/hymns.htm sacred-texts.com]. Retrieved June 23, 2007.</ref>
  
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There are two versions of Hecate that emerge in Greek myth. The lesser role integrates Hecate while not diminishing Artemis. In this version <ref name="Restless_Dead"/>Hecate is a mortal priestess who is commonly associated with [[Iphigeneia]] and scorns and insults Artemis, eventually leading to her suicide. Artemis then adorns the dead body with jewelry and whispers for her spirit to rise and become her Hecate, and act similar to Nemesis as an avenging spirit, but solely for injured women. Such myths where a home god sponsors or ‘creates’ a foreign god were widespread in ancient cultures as a way of integrating foreign cults. Additionally, as Hecate’s cult grew, her figure was added to the myth of the birth of Zeus <ref name="Restless_Dead"/> as one of the midwives that hid the child, while [[Cronus]] consumed the deceiving rock handed to him by [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]].
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This connection with the world of the dead is even further established by the time of [[Vergil]]'s composition of the ''[[Aeneid]],'' which (in Book 6) describes the hero's visit to the Underworld. When visiting this grim twilight realm, the protagonist is apprised of the various tortures being visited on the souls of the impious and immoral dead, all under the watchful eye of Hecate.<ref>Barry B. Powell. ''Classical Myth,'' Second Edition. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), 300, 301</ref>
  
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The second version helps to explain how Hecate gains the title of the "[[Queen of Ghosts]]" and her role as a goddess of sorcery. Similar to totems of Hermes&mdash;''herms''&mdash; placed at borders as a ward against danger, images of Hecate, as a [[liminal]] goddess, could also serve in such a protective role. It became common to place statues of the goddess at the gates of cities, and eventually domestic doorways. Over time, the association of keeping out evil spirits led to the belief that if offended Hecate could also let in evil spirits. Thus invocations to Hecate arose as her the dogg governess of the borders between the normal world and the spirit world <ref name="Restless_Dead"/>.
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==Representations==
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[[Image:William Blake 006.jpg|300px|right|Depiction of Hecate by [[William Blake]].]]
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The earliest depictions of Hecate are single faced, not triplicate. Summarizing the early trends in artistic depictions of the goddess, Lewis Richard Farnell writes:
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:The evidence of the monuments as to the character and significance of Hekate is almost as full as that of the literature. But it is only in the later period that they come to express her manifold and mystic nature. Before the fifth century there is little doubt that she was usually represented as of single form like any other divinity, and it was thus that the [[Hesiod|Boeotian poet]] ([Hesiod]) imagined her, as nothing in his verses contains any allusion to a triple formed goddess. The earliest known monument is a small terracotta found in Athens, with a dedication to Hekate (Plate XXXVIII. a), in writing of the style of the sixth century. The goddess is seated on a throne with a chaplet bound round her head; she is altogether without attributes and character, and the only value of this work, which is evidently of quite a general type and gets a special reference and name merely from the inscription, is that it proves the single shape to be her earlier from, and her recognition at Athens to be earlier than the Persian invasion.<ref>Lewis Richard Farnell, "Hecate in Art," ''The Cults of the Greek States.'' (Oxford, UK: [[Oxford University Press]], 1896).</ref>
  
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The transition of the figure of Hekate can be traced in fifth-century Athens. In two fragments of [[Aeschylus]] she appears as a great goddess. In [[Sophocles]] and [[Euripides]] she has become the mistress of witchcraft and ''[[ker]]es''.
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The second-century traveler [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] stated that Hecate was first depicted in triplicate by the sculptor [[Alkamenes]] in the Greek Classical period of the late fifth century. Some classical portrayals, depict her in this form holding a torch, a key and a serpent. Others continue to depict her in singular form. Hecate's triplicity is represented in the vast frieze of the great Pergamon Altar, which depicts the ''[[Titanomachy]]'' (the mythic battle between the Olympians and the Titans). In the [[Argos|Argolid]], near the shrine of the Dioscuri, Pausanias also tells of a temple of Hecate opposite the sanctuary of Eilethyia: "The image is a work of Scopas. This one is of stone, while the bronze images opposite, also of Hekate, were made respectively by Polycleitus and his brother Naucydes, son of Mothon."<ref>Pausanius, ''Description of Greece'' ii.22.7, W. H. S. Jones translation accessible online at [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias1A.html theoi.com]. Retrieved June 23, 2007. See also: Gantz, 27.</ref>
  
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Eventually, Hecate’s power resembled that of sorcery. [[Medea]], who was a priestess of Hecate, used witchcraft in order to handle magic herbs and poisons with skill, and to be able to stay the course of rivers {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, or check the paths of the stars and the moon.
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In general, the representations of Hecate seem to follow a similar progression to the development of her cultic and mythic forms, evolving in tandem with the public conception of the goddess. Thus, as her characterization began to assume greater elements of the chthonic and the uncanny, visual representations followed suit.<ref>For an excellent overview of the evolution of Hecate in sculpture, see Charles M. Edwards, "The Running Maiden from Eleusis and the Early Classical Image of Hekate," ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 90(3), (July 1986): 307-318.</ref>
  
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Implacable Hecate has been called "tender-hearted", a [[euphemism]] perhaps to emphasize her concern with the disappearance of [[Persephone]], when she addressed [[Demeter]] with sweet words when the goddess was distressed. She later became Persephone's minister and close companion in the Underworld.
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==Cult of Hecate==
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As mentioned above, and in spite of the ubiquity of popular belief in the goddess, Hecate was not originally a Greek deity. Instead, the roots of her veneration seem to stem from the Carians of Asia Minor.<ref>Kraus (1960)</ref> More specifically, her most important sanctuary was [[Lagina]], a theocratic city-state where the goddess was served by [[eunuch]]s, and was celebrated through sacrifices and festivals.<ref>Burkert </ref> At this temple, "the goddess was worshipped as ''sōteira,'' ''mēgiste,'' and ''epiphanestatē''; her exalted rank and function here are unmatched in cults of Hecate elsewhere"<ref>Berg, 128 </ref> <ref> See also: Kraus, 12.</ref> Moreover, this influence was such that she was also seen as the patroness of nearby Stratonikea.<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'' (xiv.2.25)</ref> ; <ref> Kraus (1960)</ref> The case for Hecate's origin's in Anatolia is bolstered by the fact that this is the only region where theophoric names incorporating "Hecate" are attested.<ref>See: Kraus,  (1960) as he offers the first comprehensive modern discussion of Hecate in monuments and material culture.</ref>
  
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Although she was never truly incorporated among the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian]] gods, the modern understanding of Hecate is derived from the syncretic [[Hellenistic]] culture of Alexandria. In the magical papyri of Ptolemaic Egypt, she is called the she-dog or bitch, and her presence is signified by the barking of dogs. She sustained a large following as a goddess of protection and childbirth. In late imagery she also has two ghostly dogs as servants by her side.  
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This type of organized temple observance is attested to in Hesiod's ''Theogony'':
 +
:For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favor according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great honor comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favorably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her (404-452).<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony,'' accessed online at [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm sacred-texts.com]. Retrieved June 23, 2007.</ref>
 +
In Thrace, on the other hand, she played a role similar to that of lesser-[[Hermes]], namely a governess of liminal points and the wilderness, bearing little resemblance to the night-walking crone that she became.
  
−
In modern times Hecate has become a prevalent figure in [[feminism|feminist]]-inspired [[Neopagan]] religions, and a version of Hecate has been appropriated by [[Wicca]] and other modern magic-practising traditions.
+
As her cult spread into other areas of Greece,<ref>See [http://www.theoi.com/Cult/HekateCult.html theoi.com] for an excellent overview of the various classical texts that mention the worship of the goddess (in its various forms).</ref> it led to a theological conflict, as Hecate’s role was already filled by other more prominent gods in the Greek pantheon, above all by [[Artemis]], and by more archaic figures, such as [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]]. It was likely at this time that her associations with death and magic developed, as these were domains that were relatively under-represented in the Olympic Pantheon.
  
−
== Relations in the Greek pantheon ==
+
In this role, Hecate was seen as able to use her chthonic powers to deliver spiritual punishment to moral wrong-doers. Using "curse tablets," which were buried in the ground, supplicants requested the aid of the goddess in pursuing their interpersonal vendettas, many of which have subsequently been discovered through archaeological research. One example has been found that references a legal battle with an individual named Phrerenicus:
−
Hecate is a pre-Olympian [[chthonic]] goddess, not easily assimilated. The Greek sources do not offer a story of her parentage, beyond the ''Theogony'', or of her relations in the Greek pantheon: Sometimes Hecate is a Titaness, daughter of [[Perses]] and [[Asteria]], and a mighty helper and protector of mankind. Her continued presence was explained by asserting that, because she was the only Titan that aided Zeus in the [[Titanomachia|battle of gods and Titans]], she was not banished into the underworld realms after their defeat by the Olympians.
+
:Let Pherenicus be bound before Hermes Chthonios and Hecate Chthonia. … And just as the lead is held in no esteem and is cold, so may Pherenicus and his things be held in no esteem and be cold, and so for the things which Pherenicus' collaborators say and plot concerning me.<ref>Quoted in Price, 101-102.</ref> <ref>See also: Mikalson, 38. </ref>
 +
Further, this association with evil spirits led to an increase in her worship at the household level. For instance, one practice (poetically described as the ''banquet of Hekate'') referred to "offerings made … to the mistress of spirits, in order to avert evil phantoms from the house. None of the household would touch the food."<ref>Farnell (Vol. II), 511.</ref> To this end, worshipers fearing the taint of evil or contagion would occasionally sacrifice a dog at the crossroads, also meaning to placate the "mistress of ghosts."<ref>Farnell (Vol. II), 515.</ref>
  
−
It is also told that she is the daughter of [[Demeter]] or Pheraia. Hecate, like Demeter, was a goddess of the earth and fertility. Sometimes she is called a daughter of [[Zeus]], a trait she shares, however,  with Athena and even Aphrodite.
+
===Festivals===
 +
Hecate was worshiped by both the Greeks and the Romans who had their own festivals dedicated to her. According to Ruickbie, the Greeks observed two days sacred to Hecate, one on the 13th of August and one on the 30th of November, whilst the Romans observed the 29th of every month as her sacred day.<ref>Leo Ruickbie. ''Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History.'' (London, UK: Robert Hale, 2004), 19.</ref> Further, the household observances (described above) always took place on the "thirtieth day [of the month], which was sacred to the dead."<ref>Farnell (Vol. II), 511.</ref>
  
−
== Hecate: ancient, powerful, unconquerable ==
+
==Cross-cultural parallels==
−
Hesiod considered Hecate to be a daughter, with [[Leto]], of Perses and Asteria, two pre-Olympian Titans. As in most cultures with multi-generational deities, the preceding Titans were originally the only gods worshipped by the earlier Greek cultures, while the later Olympians were the gods worshipped by later invaders who conquered Greece.  Some readers of mythography find elements of cultural history reflected in myth: as Hecate was one of the only Titans who kept power and status after the Titans lost their [[Titanomachy|war with the Olympians]]— she was always regarded as having great favor with Olympian Zeus— it seems likely that Hecate's cult  was so strong that it could not be displaced by the invading new religions.
+
The figure of Hecate can often be associated with the figure of [[Isis]] in Egyptian myth, mainly due to her relationship with esoteric knowledge. In Hebrew myth, she is often compared to the figure of [[Lilith]] and to the Whore of Babylon, in later Christian tradition. Both were symbols of liminal points, with Lilith also playing a role in sorcery. She is also comparable to [[Hel]] of Nordic myth in her underworld function.
  
−
Like many ancient mother or earth-goddesses she remained unmarried and had no regular consort. On the other side she is the mother of many monsters, such as [[Scylla]].
+
Before she became associated with Greek mythology, she had many similarities with [[Artemis]] (wilderness, and watching over wedding ceremonies) and [[Hera]] (child rearing and the protection of young men or heroes, and watching over wedding ceremonies).
  
−
== Other names and epithets ==
+
== Epithets ==
−
<!--these need a little explication and a mention of sources where they appear—>
 
 
*''Chthonian'' (Earth/Underworld goddess)
 
*''Chthonian'' (Earth/Underworld goddess)
−
*''Crataeis'' (the Mighty One)
 
 
*''Enodia'' (Goddess of the paths)
 
*''Enodia'' (Goddess of the paths)
 
*''Antania'' (Enemy of mankind)
 
*''Antania'' (Enemy of mankind)
−
*''Kurotrophos'' (Nurse of the Children and Protectress of mankind)
+
*''[[Artemis]]'' of the crossroads
−
*[[Artemis]] of the crossroads
 
−
*''Propylaia'' (the one before the gate)
 
−
*''Propolos'' (the attendant who leads)
 
 
*''Phosphoros'' (the light-bringer)  
 
*''Phosphoros'' (the light-bringer)  
−
*''Soteira'' ("Saviour")
+
*''Soteira'' ("Savior")
−
*''Prytania'' (invincible Queen of the Dead)
+
*''Trioditis'' (Gr.)  
−
*''Trioditis'' (gr.) ''Trivia'' (latin: Goddess of Three Roads)
+
*''Trivia'' (Latin: Goddess of Three Roads)
 
*''Klêidouchos'' (Keeper of the Keys)  
 
*''Klêidouchos'' (Keeper of the Keys)  
−
*''Tricephalus'' or ''Triceps'' (The Three-Headed)  
+
*''Tricephalus'' or ''Triceps'' (The Three-Headed)<ref>For an excellent listing of poetic and cultic epithets, see [http://www.theoi.com/Cult/HekateCult.html theoi.com]. Retrieved June 23, 2007.</ref>
−
 
 
−
=== Goddess of the crossroads ===
 
−
Hecate had a special role at three-way [[Crossroads (culture)|crossroads]], where the Greeks set poles with masks of each of her heads facing different directions {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
 
−
 
 
−
The crossroad aspect of Hecate stems from her original sphere as a goddess of the wilderness and untamed areas. This led to sacrifice in order for safe travel into these areas. This role is similar to lesser [[Hermes]], that is, a god of [[liminal]] points or boundaries.
 
−
 
 
−
Hecate is the Greek version of ''[[Trivia (mythology)|Trivia]]'' "the three ways" in [[Roman mythology]]. [[Eligius]] in the [[7th century]] reminded his recently converted flock in Flanders "No Christian should make or render any devotion to the gods of the trivium, where three roads meet, to the fanes or the rocks, or springs or groves or corners", acts the [[Druid]]s often did.
 
−
see Hectite:  [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectite]
 
−
 
 
−
=== Goddess of sorcery ===
 
−
 
 
−
The goddess of sorcery or magic is Hecate's most common modern title. Hecate was the goddess who appeared most often in magical texts such as the [[Greek Magical Papyri]] and [[curse tablet]]s, along with [[Hermes]].
 
−
 
 
−
== Emblems ==
 
−
<!--[[Image:Hecate and Cerberus.jpg|thumb|right|Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, with [[Cerberus]]; Greek bowl ([[krater]]) made in the 4th century B.C.E.]]—>
 
−
Traditionally, Hecate is represented as carrying torches, very often has a knife, and may appear holding a rope, a key, a [[phial]] {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, flowers {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, or a [[pomegranate]] {{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
 
−
 
 
−
The torch is presumably a symbol of the light that illuminates the darkness, as the Greeks secured Hecate in her role as the bringer of wisdom. Her knife represents her role as midwife in cutting the umbilical cord (possibly symbolized by the rope), as well as severing the link between the body and spirit at death. The key is significant to Hecate's role as gatekeeper, being the one who could open the doors to sacred knowledge. The Orphic Hymns list her as the "keybearing Queen of the entire Cosmos." The pomegranate was seen by the Ancient Greeks as the fruit of the underworld, though it was also used as a love-gift between Greek men and women. This may be because a pomegranate was eaten by Persephone, binding her to the underworld and to Hades.
 
−
 
 
−
In the so-called "[[Chaldean Oracles]]" that were edited in Alexandria, she was also associated with a serpentine maze around a spiral, known as Hecate's wheel (the "Strophalos of Hecate", verse 194 of Isaac Preston Cory's 1836 translation). The symbolism referred to the serpent's power of rebirth, to the labyrinth of knowledge through which Hecate could lead mankind, and to the flame of life itself: "The life-producing bosom of Hecate, that Living Flame which clothes itself in Matter to manifest Existence" (verse 55 of Cory's translation of the [[Chaldean Oracles]]).
 
−
 
 
−
===Animals===
 
−
The she-[[dog]] is the animal most commonly associated with Hecate. She was sometimes called the 'Black she-dog' and black dogs were once sacrificed to her in purification rituals. At Colophon in Thrace, Hecate might be manifest as a dog. The sound of barking dogs was the first sign of her approach in Greek and Roman literature. The [[frog]], significantly a creature that can cross between two elements, is also sacred to Hecate {{Fact|date=February 2007}}. As a triple goddess, she sometimes appears with three heads-one each of a dog, horse, and bear or of dog, serpent and lion.
 
−
 
 
−
During the Medieval period in western Europe, Hecate was reverenced by witches who adopted parts of her mythos as their goddess of sorcery. Because Hecate had already been much maligned by the late Roman period, Christians of the era found it easy to vilify her image. Thus were all her creatures also considered "creatures of darkness"; however, the history of creatures such as ravens, night-owls, snakes, scorpions, asses, bats, horses, bears, and lions as her creatures is not always a dark and frightening one. (Rabinowitz)
 
−
 
 
−
===Plants and herbs===
 
−
The [[Taxus baccata|yew]], [[Mediterranean Cypress|cypress]], [[hazel]], [[black poplar]], [[cedar]], and [[willow]] are all sacred to Hecate {{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
 
−
 
 
−
The leaves of the black poplar are dark on one side and light on the other, symbolizing the boundary between the worlds. The yew has long been associated with the Underworld.
 
−
 
 
−
The yew has strong associations with death as well as rebirth. A poison prepared from the seeds was used on arrows {{Fact|date=February 2007}}, and yew wood was commonly used to make bows and dagger hilts. The potion in Hecate's cauldron contains 'slips of yew'. Yew berries carry Hecate's power, and can bring wisdom or death. The seeds are highly poisonous, but the fleshy, coral-colored 'berry' surrounding it is not.
 
−
 
 
−
Many other herbs and plants are associated with Hecate, including [[garlic]], [[almond]]s, [[lavender]], [[thyme]], [[myrrh]], [[mugwort]], [[cardamon]], [[Mentha|mint]], [[dandelion]], [[hellebore]], and [[lesser celandine]]. Several poisons and [[          s, dissociatives and deliriants|hallucinogen]]s are linked to Hecate, including [[belladonna]], [[Conium|hemlock]], [[mandrake]], [[aconite]] (known as hecateis), and [[opium poppy]]. Many of Hecate's plants were those that can be used shamanistically to achieve varyings states of consciousness.
 
−
 
 
−
===Places===
 
−
Wild areas, forests, borders, city walls and doorways, crossroads, and graveyards are all associated with Hecate.
 
−
 
 
−
It is often stated that the moon is sacred to Hecate. This is argued against by [[Farnell]] (1896, p.4):
 
−
:''Some of the late writers on mythology, such as Cornutus and Cleomedes, and some of the modern, such as Preller and the writer in [[W. H. Roscher|Roscher]]'s Lexicon and Petersen, explain the three figures as symbols of the three phases of the moon. But very little can be said in favour of this, and very much against it. In the first place, the statue of Alcamenes represented Hekate Επιπυργιδια, whom the Athenian of that period regarded as the warder of the gate of his Acropolis, and as associated in this particular spot with the [[Charites]], deities of the life that blossoms and yields fruit. Neither in this place nor before the door of the citizen's house did she appear as a lunar goddess.''
 
−
:''We may also ask, why should a divinity who was sometimes regarded as the moon, but had many other and even more important connexions, be given three forms to mark the three phases of the moon, and why should Greek sculpture have been in this solitary instance guilty of a frigid astronomical symbolism, while [[Selene]], who was obviously the moon and nothing else, was never treated in this way? With as much taste and propriety [[Helios]] might have been given twelve heads.''
 
−
 
 
−
However in the magical papyri of Greco-Roman Egypt<ref>{{cite book|last=Betz |first=Hans Dieter (ed.) |title=The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation : Including the Demotic Spells : Texts |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1989}}</ref> there survive several hymns which identify Hecate with Selene and the moon, extolling her as supreme Goddess, mother of the gods. In this form, as a [[Triple Goddess|threefold goddess]], Hecate continues to have followers in some [[Neopaganism|neopagan]] religions.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
 
−
 
 
−
==Festivals==
 
−
Hecate was worshipped by both the Greeks and the Romans who had their own festivals dedicated to her. According to Ruickbie (2004:19) the Greeks observed two days sacred to Hecate, one on the 13th of August and one on the 30th of November, whilst the Romans observed the 29th of every month as her sacred day.
 
−
 
 
−
Still other reports place a Celtic celebration of Hecate night fifteen days after All Hallows Eve, or what is known today as Halloween. In some places this is extended to what is called Hecate week and lasts seven days.{{Facts|date=February 2007}}
 
−
 
 
−
==Cross-cultural parallels==
 
−
The figure of Hecate can often be associated with the figure of [[Isis]] in Egyptian myth, mainly due to her role as sorceress. In Hebrew myth she is often compared to the figure of [[Lilith]] and the [[Whore of Babylon]] in later Christian tradition. Both were symbols of [[liminal]] points, and [[Lilith]] also has a role in sorcery. Some scholars ultimately compare her to the [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]]. She is also comperable to [[Hel]] of Nordic myth in her underworld function.
 
−
 
 
−
Before she became associated with Greek mythology, she had many similarities with [[Artemis]] (wilderness, and watching over wedding ceremonies) and [[Hera]] (child rearing and the protection of young men or heroes, and watching over wedding ceremonies).
 
−
 
 
−
==Hecate in literature==
 
−
[[Image:William Blake 006.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of Hecate by [[William Blake]].]]
 
−
 
 
−
Hecate is a character in [[William Shakespeare]]'s tragedy ''[[Macbeth]]'', which was first played circa 1605; she is represented as a goddess or demon who commands the three witches. There is some evidence to suggest that the character and the scenes or portions thereof in which she appears (Act III, Scene v, and a portion of Act IV, Scene i) were not written by Shakespeare, but was added during a revision by [[Thomas Middleton]], who used material from his own play ''[[The Witch]]'', which was produced in [[1615]]. Most modern texts of ''Macbeth'' indicate the interpolations.
 
−
 
 
−
[[William Blake]] included Hecate in a number of his paintings and poems.
 
−
 
 
−
== Queen of ghosts ==
 
−
 
 
−
''Queen of Ghosts'' is a title associated with Hecate due to the belief that she can both prevent harm from leaving, but also allow harm to enter from the spirit world.  Hecate thus has a role and special power in graveyards and at crossroads. She guards the "ways and paths that cross".  Her association with graveyards also played a large part in the idea of Hecate as a [[lunar goddess]].
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 148: Line 96:
 
   
 
   
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
===Primary sources===
 
−
 
−
* [[Hesiod]], ''Theogony, Works and Days''. An English translation is [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm available online]
 
−
* Pausanias, ''[[Description of Greece]]''.
 
−
* [[Strabo]], ''Geography''
 
−
 
−
===Secondary sources===
 
  
−
* [[Walter Burkert|Burkert, Walter]], 1985. ''Greek Religion'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) Published in the UK as ''Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical'', 1987. (Oxford: Blackwell) ISBN 0-631-15624-0.
+
* Apollodorus. ''Gods & Heroes of the Greeks,'' Translated and with an Introduction and Notes by Michael Simpson. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977. ISBN 0870232053.
−
* Lewis Richard Farnell, (1896). "Hecate in Art", ''The Cults of the Greek States''. [[Oxford University Press]], [[Oxford]].  
+
* Burkert, Walter. ''Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical,'' Translated by John Raffan. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985. ISBN 0631112413.
−
*Johnston, Sarah Iles, (1990). ''Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate's Role in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature''.  
+
* Berg, William. "Hecate: Greek or 'Anatolian'?" ''Numen'' 21 (Fasc. 2) (August 1974): 128-140.
−
*Johnston, Sarah Iles, (1991). ''Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece''. ISBN 0-520-21707-1
+
* Dillon, Matthew. ''Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece.'' London; New York: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0415127750.
−
* Mallarmé, Stephane, (1880). ''Les Dieux Antiques, nouvelle mythologie illustrée''.
+
* Edwards, Charles M. "The Running Maiden from Eleusis and the Early Classical Image of Hekate." ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 90(3) (July 1986): 307-318.
−
*[[Johnston, Sarah Iles]]. ''Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate's Role in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature''. 1990.
+
* Farnell, Lewis Richard. ''The Cults of the Greek States.'' (in Five Volumes). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
−
*[[Karl Kerenyi|Kerenyi, Karl]]. ''The Gods of the Greeks''. 1951.
+
* __________. "Hecate in Art," ''The Cults of the Greek States.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1896.
−
*[[Rabinowitz,Jacob]]. ''The Rotting Goddess''. 1990. A work which views studies Hekate from the perspective of [[Mircea Eliade]]'s  archetypes]], and substantiates its claims through cross-cultural comparisons. The work has been sharply criticized by Classics scholars, some dismissing Rabinowitz as [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/1998/98.5.11.html a neo-pagan].  
+
* Johnston, Sarah Iles. ''Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate's Role in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature.'' An American Philological Association Book: 1990. ISBN 1555404278
−
*[[Leo Ruickbie|Ruickbie, Leo]]. ''Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History''. Robert Hale, 2004.
+
* __________. ''Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece.'' University of California Press: 1991. ISBN 0520217071
 +
* Kerenyi, Karl. ''The Gods of the Greeks.'' London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 1951. ISBN 0500270481
 +
* Kraus, Theodor. ''Hekate: Studien zu Wesen u. Bilde der Göttin in Kleinasien u. Griechenland.'' Heidelberg, 1960. (in German)
 +
* Mikalson, Jon D. ''Ancient Greek Religion.'' Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 0631232222.
 +
* Parke, H. W. ''Festivals of the Athenians.'' Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. ISBN 0801410541.
 +
* Powell, Barry B. ''Classical Myth,'' Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN 0137167148.
 +
* Puhvel, Martin. "The Mystery of the Cross-Roads." ''Folklore'' 87(2) (1976): 167-177.
 +
* Rose, H. J. ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology.'' New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959. ISBN 0525470417
 +
* Ruickbie, Leo. ''Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History.'' London, UK: Robert Hale, 2004. ISBN 0709075677
 +
* Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. ''The Encyclopedia of Amazons.'' Saint Paul, MN: Paragon House, 1991. ISBN 1557784205
 +
* Vol, Mary. "Athene (Athena) and Artemis." in Seppo Sakari Telenius. ''Athena-Artemis.'' Helsinki: Kirja kerrallaan, 2005 and 2006. ISBN 9529205600
 +
* Ventris, Michael and John Chadwick. ''Documents in Mycenaean Greek,'' Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973. ISBN 0521085586..
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
−
{{Commonscat|Hecate}}
+
All links retrieved December 12, 2017.
−
*[http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_hecate.htm Myths of the Greek Goddess Hecate]
+
*[http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_hecate.htm Myths of the Greek Goddess Hecate] -
−
*[http://www.hekate.nu Frequently Asked Questions about Hekate]
+
*[http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html Theoi Project, Hecate] classical literary sources and art -
−
*[http://21.1911encyclopedia.org/H/HE/HECATE.htm ''Encyclopaedia Britanica'' 1911:] "Hecate"
+
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm Hesiod, ''Theogony, Works and Days''. An English translation]  
−
*[http://www.goddessmystic.com/CoreCurriculum/Goddesses/Hekate/index.shtml Hekate: Guardian at the Gate]
+
*[http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/arsm/jg/hekate.html Hekate in Greek esotericism]: Ptolemaic and Gnostic transformations of Hecate  
−
*[http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html Theoi Project, Hecate] classical literary sources and art
 
−
*[http://www.islandnet.com/~hornowl/HekateArticle.html Hecate in Early Greek Religion]
 
−
*[http://www.granta.demon.co.uk/arsm/jg/hekate.html Hekate in Greek esotericism]: Ptolemaic and Gnostic transformations of Hecate
 
−
*[http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/CGPrograms/Cast/image/D083.jpg cast of the Crannon statue], at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
 
−
 
 
  
 
[[Category:Philosophy and religion]]
 
[[Category:Philosophy and religion]]

Latest revision as of 17:38, 12 December 2017

The Greek goddess Hecate shown here in her omniscient, three-faced form. Drawing by Stephane Mallarmé in Les Dieux Antiques, nouvelle mythologie illustrée in Paris, 1880.

Among the ancient Greeks, Hecate or Hekate was originally a goddess of the wilderness and childbirth, who, over time, became associated with the practice of sorcery. Originally venerated as a mother goddess by the Greeks, the character of Hecate changed considerably, as her fertility and motherhood elements decreased in importance. Instead, she was ultimately transformed into a goddess of sorcery, who came to be known as the 'Queen of Ghosts', a transformation that was particularly pronounced in Ptolemaic Alexandria. It was in this sinister guise that she was transmitted to post-Renaissance culture. Today, she is often seen as a goddess of witchcraft and Wicca.

Hecate, like many of the other non-indigenous Greek gods (including Dionysus, Demeter, and Artemis), had a wide range of meanings and associations in the mythic and religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Hellenes. She, in particular, was associated with nature and fertility, the crossroads, and (later) death, spirits, magic and the moon. In the religious practices based upon her later characterization, much like the worship of Anubis (in Egyptian Mythology) and Hel (in Norse Mythology), veneration was prompted by a fundamental human drive: to control (or at least comprehend) our mortality. Since the Greek understanding of the afterlife was a rather dreary one (See Hades), Hecate's multifaceted personality was understandably complex leading to her later magical associations.

Origins and Mythology

Hecate is known as a Greek goddess but worship of her originated among the Carians of Anatolia.[1] Indeed, the earliest inscription describing the goddess has been found in late archaic Miletus, close to Caria, where Hecate is a protector of entrances.[2]

Birth and fundamental nature

As Hecate was a pre-Olympian chthonic goddess (and, as such, related to earth, fertility, and death), she was not easily assimilated into the Greek pantheon. Indeed, her representation in the mythic corpus is patchy at best, with many sources describing her in a very limited fashion (if at all). This situation is further complicated by the fact that her two characterizations (goddess of nature/fertility versus goddess of death, magic and the underworld) seem to be almost entirely disparate.[3] Indeed, outside of Hesiod's Theogony, the classical Greek sources are relatively taciturn concerning her parentage and her relations in the Greek pantheon.

In Hesiod's masterful poem, he records that the goddess was the offspring of two Titans, Asteria and Persus. Further, he ascribes to Hecate such wide-ranging and fundamental powers, that it is hard to resist seeing such a deity as a figuration of the Great Goddess, though as a good Hellene, Hesiod ascribes her powers to a "gift" from Zeus:

Asteria of happy name, whom Perses once led to his great house to be called his dear wife. And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos honored above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honor also in starry heaven, and is honored exceedingly by the deathless gods…. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea (Theogony 404-452).

His inclusion and praise of Hecate in Theogony is troublesome for scholars in that he seems fulsomely to praise her attributes and responsibilities in the ancient cosmos even though she is both relatively minor and foreign. It is theorized [4] that Hesiod’s original village had a substantial Hecate following and that his inclusion of her in the Theogony was his own way to boost the popularity of the local cult with an unfamiliar audience.

Despite her provenance as a Titaness, Hecate was acknowledged as an ally and friend of the Olympians. Indeed, she was thought to have been the only Titan to aided Zeus and the younger generation of gods in the battle of gods and Titans, which explains why she was not banished into the underworld realms after their defeat. In spite of the fact that no classical sources depicting the event have survived, it is attested to in considerable detail in both sculpture and pottery from the period (most namely, the majestic frieze on the altar at Pergamos.[5] Additionally, as Hecate’s cult grew, her figure was added to the myth of the birth of Zeus[6] as one of the midwives that hid the divine child, while Cronus consumed the swaddled rock deceitfully handed to him by Gaia.

Conversely, other sources describe her as the child of either Zeus and Asteria, Aristaios and Asteria, or even Zeus and Demeter.[7] This final association likely arose due to a similarity of function, as both goddesses were related to earth and fertility.[8]

Relationship with humanity

In keeping with the extremely positive image of the goddess expounded upon in the Theogony, Hesiod also describes the multifarious and all-encompassing contributions that the goddess makes to the lives of mortal. As he suggests:

Whom she will she greatly aids and advances: she sits by worshipful kings in judgment, and in the assembly whom her will is distinguished among the people. And when men arm themselves for the battle that destroys men, then the goddess is at hand to give victory and grant glory readily to whom she will. Good is she also when men contend at the games, for there too the goddess is with them and profits them: and he who by might and strength gets the victory wins the rich prize easily with joy, and brings glory to his parents. And she is good to stand by horsemen, whom she will: and to those whose business is in the grey discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud-crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch, and easily she takes it away as soon as seen, if so she will. She is good in the byre with Hermes to increase the stock. The droves of kine and wide herds of goats and flocks of fleecy sheep, if she will, she increases from a few, or makes many to be less. (Theogony 404-452).

Disparate Understandings of Hecate

Hecate and Artemis

As in the case of her lineage, there are also multiple understandings of the mythic role(s) of the goddess. One lesser role subordinates Hecate to the goddess Artemis. In this version,[9] Hecate is a mortal priestess who is commonly associated with Iphigeneia and scorns and insults Artemis, but is eventually driven to suicide. In a uncharacteristic gesture of forgiveness, Artemis then adorns the dead body with jewelry and whispers for her spirit to rise and become her Hecate, and act similar to Nemesis as an avenging spirit for injured women. Such myths, where a local god sponsors or ‘creates’ a foreign god, were widespread in ancient cultures as they allowed a syncretistic means of integrating foreign cults.[10]and [11]

Goddess of the crossroads

Similar to the herms of classic antiquity (totems of Hermes placed at borders as wards against danger), images of Hecate also fulfilled the same liminal and protective role. It became common to place statues of the goddess at the gates of cities, and eventually domestic doorways. Further, Hecate had a special role at three-way crossroads, where the Greeks set poles with masks of each of her heads facing different directions.[12] [13] Eventually, this led to the depiction of the goddess as possessing three heads (or even three conjoined bodies (see below)).

The crossroad aspect of Hecate likely stems from her original sphere of influence as a goddess of the wilderness and untamed areas. This led to sacrifice in order for safe travel into these areas.

The later Roman version of this deity is as the goddess Trivia, "the three ways." Eligius in the seventh century reminded his recently converted flock in Flanders that "No Christian should make or render any devotion to the gods of the trivium, where three roads meet, to the fanes or the rocks, or springs or groves or corners," worship practices that had been common in his Celtic congregation.[14]

Over time, the apotropaic associations with the goddess, specifically with respect to her role in driving away evil spirits, led to the belief that Hecate, if offended, could summon evil spirits. Thus, invocations to Hecate arose which characterized her as the governess of the borders between the mortal world and the spirit world [15].

Goddess of magic, sorcery and the dead

In the modern imagination, Hecate is most often remembered as a chthonic goddess, associated with sorcery, necromancy and the mysteries of the dead. Indeed, Hecate was the goddess who appeared most often in magical texts such as the Greek Magical Papyri and curse tablets, along with Hermes. The transformation of the figure of Hekate can be traced to fifth-century Athens, as in two fragments of Aeschylus (ca. 525–456 B.C.E.) she appears as a great goddess, while in Sophocles (495-406 B.C.E.) and Euripides (480–406 B.C.E.) she has already become the mistress of witchcraft and keres.[16] [17]

Eventually, Hecate’s power resembled that of sorcery. Medea, who was a priestess of Hecate, used witchcraft in order to handle magic herbs and poisons with skill, and to be able to stay the course of rivers, or check the paths of the stars and the moon.[18][19][20]

These chthonic associations would developed through a relatively late affiliation with the tale of Persephone's abduction by Hades. Specifically, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter suggests that Hecate was one of the two gods (along with all-seeing Helios) who were witness to the young goddess's kidnapping, and who accompanies Demeter (the grieving mother) in her quest to return her daughter to the world of the living. When the two are finally reunited, they are described given due thanks to the shadowy goddess:

Then bright-coiffed Hecate came near to them, and often did she embrace the daughter of holy Demeter: and from that time the lady Hecate was minister and companion to Persephone (Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 438-440).[21]

This connection with the world of the dead is even further established by the time of Vergil's composition of the Aeneid, which (in Book 6) describes the hero's visit to the Underworld. When visiting this grim twilight realm, the protagonist is apprised of the various tortures being visited on the souls of the impious and immoral dead, all under the watchful eye of Hecate.[22]

Representations

Depiction of Hecate by William Blake.

The earliest depictions of Hecate are single faced, not triplicate. Summarizing the early trends in artistic depictions of the goddess, Lewis Richard Farnell writes:

The evidence of the monuments as to the character and significance of Hekate is almost as full as that of the literature. But it is only in the later period that they come to express her manifold and mystic nature. Before the fifth century there is little doubt that she was usually represented as of single form like any other divinity, and it was thus that the Boeotian poet ([Hesiod]) imagined her, as nothing in his verses contains any allusion to a triple formed goddess. The earliest known monument is a small terracotta found in Athens, with a dedication to Hekate (Plate XXXVIII. a), in writing of the style of the sixth century. The goddess is seated on a throne with a chaplet bound round her head; she is altogether without attributes and character, and the only value of this work, which is evidently of quite a general type and gets a special reference and name merely from the inscription, is that it proves the single shape to be her earlier from, and her recognition at Athens to be earlier than the Persian invasion.[23]

The second-century traveler Pausanias stated that Hecate was first depicted in triplicate by the sculptor Alkamenes in the Greek Classical period of the late fifth century. Some classical portrayals, depict her in this form holding a torch, a key and a serpent. Others continue to depict her in singular form. Hecate's triplicity is represented in the vast frieze of the great Pergamon Altar, which depicts the Titanomachy (the mythic battle between the Olympians and the Titans). In the Argolid, near the shrine of the Dioscuri, Pausanias also tells of a temple of Hecate opposite the sanctuary of Eilethyia: "The image is a work of Scopas. This one is of stone, while the bronze images opposite, also of Hekate, were made respectively by Polycleitus and his brother Naucydes, son of Mothon."[24]

In general, the representations of Hecate seem to follow a similar progression to the development of her cultic and mythic forms, evolving in tandem with the public conception of the goddess. Thus, as her characterization began to assume greater elements of the chthonic and the uncanny, visual representations followed suit.[25]

Cult of Hecate

As mentioned above, and in spite of the ubiquity of popular belief in the goddess, Hecate was not originally a Greek deity. Instead, the roots of her veneration seem to stem from the Carians of Asia Minor.[26] More specifically, her most important sanctuary was Lagina, a theocratic city-state where the goddess was served by eunuchs, and was celebrated through sacrifices and festivals.[27] At this temple, "the goddess was worshipped as sōteira, mēgiste, and epiphanestatē; her exalted rank and function here are unmatched in cults of Hecate elsewhere"[28] [29] Moreover, this influence was such that she was also seen as the patroness of nearby Stratonikea.[30] ; [31] The case for Hecate's origin's in Anatolia is bolstered by the fact that this is the only region where theophoric names incorporating "Hecate" are attested.[32]

This type of organized temple observance is attested to in Hesiod's Theogony:

For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favor according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. Great honor comes full easily to him whose prayers the goddess receives favorably, and she bestows wealth upon him; for the power surely is with her (404-452).[33]

In Thrace, on the other hand, she played a role similar to that of lesser-Hermes, namely a governess of liminal points and the wilderness, bearing little resemblance to the night-walking crone that she became.

As her cult spread into other areas of Greece,[34] it led to a theological conflict, as Hecate’s role was already filled by other more prominent gods in the Greek pantheon, above all by Artemis, and by more archaic figures, such as Nemesis. It was likely at this time that her associations with death and magic developed, as these were domains that were relatively under-represented in the Olympic Pantheon.

In this role, Hecate was seen as able to use her chthonic powers to deliver spiritual punishment to moral wrong-doers. Using "curse tablets," which were buried in the ground, supplicants requested the aid of the goddess in pursuing their interpersonal vendettas, many of which have subsequently been discovered through archaeological research. One example has been found that references a legal battle with an individual named Phrerenicus:

Let Pherenicus be bound before Hermes Chthonios and Hecate Chthonia. … And just as the lead is held in no esteem and is cold, so may Pherenicus and his things be held in no esteem and be cold, and so for the things which Pherenicus' collaborators say and plot concerning me.[35] [36]

Further, this association with evil spirits led to an increase in her worship at the household level. For instance, one practice (poetically described as the banquet of Hekate) referred to "offerings made … to the mistress of spirits, in order to avert evil phantoms from the house. None of the household would touch the food."[37] To this end, worshipers fearing the taint of evil or contagion would occasionally sacrifice a dog at the crossroads, also meaning to placate the "mistress of ghosts."[38]

Festivals

Hecate was worshiped by both the Greeks and the Romans who had their own festivals dedicated to her. According to Ruickbie, the Greeks observed two days sacred to Hecate, one on the 13th of August and one on the 30th of November, whilst the Romans observed the 29th of every month as her sacred day.[39] Further, the household observances (described above) always took place on the "thirtieth day [of the month], which was sacred to the dead."[40]

Cross-cultural parallels

The figure of Hecate can often be associated with the figure of Isis in Egyptian myth, mainly due to her relationship with esoteric knowledge. In Hebrew myth, she is often compared to the figure of Lilith and to the Whore of Babylon, in later Christian tradition. Both were symbols of liminal points, with Lilith also playing a role in sorcery. She is also comparable to Hel of Nordic myth in her underworld function.

Before she became associated with Greek mythology, she had many similarities with Artemis (wilderness, and watching over wedding ceremonies) and Hera (child rearing and the protection of young men or heroes, and watching over wedding ceremonies).

Epithets

  • Chthonian (Earth/Underworld goddess)
  • Enodia (Goddess of the paths)
  • Antania (Enemy of mankind)
  • Artemis of the crossroads
  • Phosphoros (the light-bringer)
  • Soteira ("Savior")
  • Trioditis (Gr.)
  • Trivia (Latin: Goddess of Three Roads)
  • Klêidouchos (Keeper of the Keys)
  • Tricephalus or Triceps (The Three-Headed)[41]

Notes

  1. ↑ Walter Burkert, Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical. (Oxford, UK: Blackwell. 1987), 171
  2. ↑ Theodor Kraus. Hekate: Studien zu Wesen u. Bilde der Göttin in Kleinasien u. Griechenland. (Heidelberg, 1960), 12.
  3. ↑ H. J. Rose. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959), 121-122.
  4. ↑ Sarah Iles Johnston. Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece. (1991)
  5. ↑ William Berg, "Hecate: Greek or 'Anatolian'?" Numen 21 (Fasc. 2) (August 1974): 129, 139.
  6. ↑ Johnston (1991)
  7. ↑ Gantz, 26.
  8. ↑ These associations were especially prominent in rural areas. See: Jon D. Mikalson. Ancient Greek Religion. (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005), 215, 217.
  9. ↑ Johnston (1991)
  10. ↑ Rose (1959)
  11. ↑ Lewis Richard Farnell. The Cults of the Greek States, (Vol. 2), (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907), 508-509, 515-519, also comment on the relationship between the two deities.
  12. ↑ Rose, 121-122
  13. ↑ Martin Puhvel, "The Mystery of the Cross-Roads," Folklore 87(2) (1976): 175.
  14. ↑ See the Vita of Saint Eligius at northvegr.org. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  15. ↑ Johnston (1991)
  16. ↑ Gantz, 26-27.
  17. ↑ Farnell (Vol. II), 510-513.
  18. ↑ See: Euripides, Medea
  19. ↑ Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica
  20. ↑ Apollodorus, The Library.
  21. ↑ Homer. Homeric Hymn to Demeter. accessed online at sacred-texts.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  22. ↑ Barry B. Powell. Classical Myth, Second Edition. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), 300, 301
  23. ↑ Lewis Richard Farnell, "Hecate in Art," The Cults of the Greek States. (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1896).
  24. ↑ Pausanius, Description of Greece ii.22.7, W. H. S. Jones translation accessible online at theoi.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007. See also: Gantz, 27.
  25. ↑ For an excellent overview of the evolution of Hecate in sculpture, see Charles M. Edwards, "The Running Maiden from Eleusis and the Early Classical Image of Hekate," American Journal of Archaeology 90(3), (July 1986): 307-318.
  26. ↑ Kraus (1960)
  27. ↑ Burkert
  28. ↑ Berg, 128
  29. ↑ See also: Kraus, 12.
  30. ↑ Strabo, Geography (xiv.2.25)
  31. ↑ Kraus (1960)
  32. ↑ See: Kraus, (1960) as he offers the first comprehensive modern discussion of Hecate in monuments and material culture.
  33. ↑ Hesiod, Theogony, accessed online at sacred-texts.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
  34. ↑ See theoi.com for an excellent overview of the various classical texts that mention the worship of the goddess (in its various forms).
  35. ↑ Quoted in Price, 101-102.
  36. ↑ See also: Mikalson, 38.
  37. ↑ Farnell (Vol. II), 511.
  38. ↑ Farnell (Vol. II), 515.
  39. ↑ Leo Ruickbie. Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History. (London, UK: Robert Hale, 2004), 19.
  40. ↑ Farnell (Vol. II), 511.
  41. ↑ For an excellent listing of poetic and cultic epithets, see theoi.com. Retrieved June 23, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

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  • Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical, Translated by John Raffan. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985. ISBN 0631112413.
  • Berg, William. "Hecate: Greek or 'Anatolian'?" Numen 21 (Fasc. 2) (August 1974): 128-140.
  • Dillon, Matthew. Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece. London; New York: Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0415127750.
  • Edwards, Charles M. "The Running Maiden from Eleusis and the Early Classical Image of Hekate." American Journal of Archaeology 90(3) (July 1986): 307-318.
  • Farnell, Lewis Richard. The Cults of the Greek States. (in Five Volumes). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
  • __________. "Hecate in Art," The Cults of the Greek States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1896.
  • Johnston, Sarah Iles. Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate's Role in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature. An American Philological Association Book: 1990. ISBN 1555404278
  • __________. Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece. University of California Press: 1991. ISBN 0520217071
  • Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 1951. ISBN 0500270481
  • Kraus, Theodor. Hekate: Studien zu Wesen u. Bilde der Göttin in Kleinasien u. Griechenland. Heidelberg, 1960. (in German)
  • Mikalson, Jon D. Ancient Greek Religion. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005. ISBN 0631232222.
  • Parke, H. W. Festivals of the Athenians. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977. ISBN 0801410541.
  • Powell, Barry B. Classical Myth, Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN 0137167148.
  • Puhvel, Martin. "The Mystery of the Cross-Roads." Folklore 87(2) (1976): 167-177.
  • Rose, H. J. A Handbook of Greek Mythology. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1959. ISBN 0525470417
  • Ruickbie, Leo. Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History. London, UK: Robert Hale, 2004. ISBN 0709075677
  • Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Saint Paul, MN: Paragon House, 1991. ISBN 1557784205
  • Vol, Mary. "Athene (Athena) and Artemis." in Seppo Sakari Telenius. Athena-Artemis. Helsinki: Kirja kerrallaan, 2005 and 2006. ISBN 9529205600
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External links

All links retrieved December 12, 2017.

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