Hekate or Hecate (Ancient Greek: Ἑκάτη) is the Goddess of Witchcraft, magic, sorcery, necromancy, the night, the dark side of the moon, ghosts, crossroads, trivial knowledge, herbalism, witches and the underworld, often seen as a threefold goddess like the phases of Moon; the Crone (full), The Mother (half), and The Maiden (quarter). She is technically a Titan of old, and is the daughter of Perses and Asteria. According to myth, as Asteria was a sister of Leto, she is a cousin of Artemis and Apollo, two powerful Olympian gods in their own right. She is usually depicted carrying two torches and surrounded by wolves or dogs.
Associations[]
Hecate is goddess of crossroads, magic, poisons, witchcraft, etc. She is also associated with the cypress tree which symbolizes the Underworld and death in the old myths. She is also the goddess of borders and doorways, both physical and mystical. Dogs are sacred to her, and thus she is associated with protection.
Family[]
In the earliest written source mentioning Hecate, Hesiod emphasized that she was an only child, the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the sister of Leto (the mother of Artemis and Apollo). Grandmother of the three cousins was Phoebe the ancient Titan goddess whose name was often used for the moon goddess. In various later accounts, Hecate was given different parents. She was said to be the daughter of Zeus by either Asteria, according to Musaeus, Hera, thus identified with Angelos, or Pheraea, daughter of Aeolus; the daughter of Aristaeus the son of Paion, according to Pherecydes; the daughter of Nyx, according to Bacchylides; the daughter of Perses, the son of Helios, by an unknown mother, according to Diodorus Siculus; while in Orphic literature, she was said to be the daughter of Demeter or Leto or even Tartarus.
As a virgin goddess, she remained unmarried and had no regular consort, though some traditions named her as the mother of Scylla through either Phorbas or Phorcys.
Sometimes she is also stated to be the mother (by Aeëtes) of the goddess Circe and the sorceress Medea, who in later accounts was herself associated with magic while initially just being a herbalist goddess, similar to how Hecate's association with Underworld and Mysteries had her later converted into a deity of witchcraft.
Once, Hermes chased Hecate (or Persephone) with the aim to rape her; but the goddess snored or roared in anger, frightening him off so that he desisted, hence her earning the name "Brimo" ("angry").
Mythology[]
In myth, Hecate was the goddess of the underworld and accompanies Persephone throughout the Underworld. Crossroads are also sacred to her and she was known as Trivia in Roman mythology (She of the three ways). She was also a protection goddess and associated with dogs. When Phillip of Macedon besieged Byzantium, the Byzantines heard dogs in the street barking at the approach of his army. The Byzantines and Athenians defended the city successfully and such success was attributed to her. In gratitude, the Byzantines erected a statue of her.
She is also considered Medea's patroness, and is said to have taught Medea how to create deadly poisons and drugs in many variants of the Jason and the Argonauts myth.
its said because she has three faces she can do something even the oracle of delphi struggles with she can see multiple futures at once and she sees how they overlap and how one slight change can make them false or seal them into existence.
when the war between the titans and gods began she saw three possibilities one where the titans won one where the gods won and in her final vison she saw both sides destroying the other and the world returning to chaos after mediating she chose the second vison and because of her intervention that one became reality.
Gallery[]
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See also[]
References[]
| Titans | |
|---|---|
| Parents | Ouranós • Gaîa |
| Elder Titans | Coeus • Crius • Cronus • Hyperion • Iapetus • Oceanus |
| Elder Titanesses | Phoebe • Mnemosyne • Rhea • Theia • Themis • Tethys |
| Coeonides | Asteria • Leto |
| Crionides | Astraeus • Pallas • Perses |
| Hyperionides | Eos • Hḗlios • Selene |
| Iapetonides | Atlas • Epimetheus • Menoetius • Prometheus |
| Oceanides | Oceanids (Clymene • Metis • Styx • Rhode) • Potamoi |
| Third Generation | Hecate • Astraea • Anemoi • Astra Planeta • Kratos • Nike • Bia • Zelus |
| Miscellaneous Titans | Dione • Anytos • Ophion • Eurynome (wife of Ophion) • Lelantos • Melisseus • Titan (brother of Helios) • Olymbros • Syceus • Titanic Muses |
| Topics | Overthrowing of Ouranós • Titanomachy |