Week three
WHO IS HECATE?
As Johnston tells us in her study of the goddess Hecate: “Hekate is best known to classicists and historians of religion as the horrific patroness of witches.” (1)
It is Hecate’s association with witches that led to her depiction as a physically frightening figure – a figure with messy, flowing hair wreathed in snakes – and as a figure attended by aggressive beasts – particularly howling dogs
However, such images and associated symbols are later developments in the evolution of the figure Hecate
She is a much more complex figure than simply a frightening goddess of witches, ghosts and crossroads
She has a variety of roles and functions in Greek and Roman religion and magic
Von Rudloff: “The traditional view in most popular and academic books is that She is benefactor of malevolent sorceresses and queen of restless ghosts and other nasty creatures of the night; in short, a Goddess of “witches” (in the pejorative sense). Recent books written by and for modern Pagans, on the other hand, tend to portray Her as a beneficent, grandmotherly Goddess of the Moon, magic, and Witches (in the positive sense). Supporters of both of these viewpoints cite seemingly contradictory evidence.”
On the issue of the moon associations, Rabinowitz, in a recent article notes that “in fact Hekate is never identified or even associated with the moon until the Roman period.” (534)
In keeping with the youthful aspect of Hecate, she is, like the goddess Artemis, associated with “child-birth and the general fertility of women” (Edwards 315)
According to some scholars the first representation in art of Hecate as a triple goddess is sometime during the 3rd Century BC – possibly by the Greek (Athenian) sculptor Alcamenes
According to Farnell it has been suggested by some that the triple representation is associated with “symbols of the three phases of the moon” (40). He goes on to state: “very little can be said in favour of this, and very much against it.” (40) Farnell discusses another theory: “A second explanation which rests on ancient authority is that the triple shape has reference to the Hesiodic idea of a goddess whose divinity is of many elements; that the Hekateion is in fact a trinity of Selene, Persephone, and Artemis … with attributes that are drawn from the moon, the lower world, and the earth.” (42)
Here Selene = moon; Persephone = lower world; Artemis = earth (see handout on the gods)
Farnell, however, rejects this idea: “The objection to this view is rather that it is insufficient than incorrect. Artemis, Demeter, Hermes, Aphrodite have each many natures and different spheres in which they act: but the idea of representing any one of these as a multiplicity or trinity of figures never occurred to any Greek artist. And though Hekate may have been ordinarily recognized as a goddess of three worlds, having associations with Selene, Artemis, and Persephone, a triple shape would scarcely have been given her for this reason only, had not her figure for practical purposes already been made triple at the cross-roads.”(43)
Hecate – The Light Bringer
In addition to Hecate represented as a triple figure, she is shown in art as a young maiden – the bringer of light
Such a representation is presumably older than the triple goddess imagery
Here she is referred to as Phôsphoros –‘ Light-bringer’
This title “probably is linked to Her most important image in art, that of torch-bearer … The actual function that She serves in this case is uncertain, however.” (Rudloff)
According to Rudloff: “The popular view is that this symbolizes Hekate as Moon-Goddess, but the evidence is very weak for her having such a role before the third century B.C.E., and far from prominent at any time.”
It is possible that the image of her with the fire-brands, the image of Hecate as the ‘light bringer’ is connected with another word and role associated with her – that of Propolos
The word or title Propolos = the ‘Attendant who leads’
Greek myths tell us that Hecate was often associated with other deities in the role of a guide or attendant
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter – a hymn from the Archaic Age – possibly 8-7th Centuries BC – Hecate is depicted as one of two witnesses to the abduction of Persephone by the god of the Underworld, Hades (Helios, the Sun, is the other) – and later, in the same Hymn, she is the actual messenger who informs Persephone’s mother, Demeter, of her daughter’s abduction: “But when the tenth enlightening dawn had come, Hecate, with a torch in her hands, met her [Demeter] , and spoke to her and told her the news.”
Hecate re-enters the story after the re-ascension of Persephone … and embraces her. “From that time,” says the Hymn, “Queen Hekate was the ‘preceeder’ [propolos] and the ‘follower’ of Persephone.”
Hecate’s origins are not in Greece
She may have originated from Asia Minor – possibly Caria – in modern southwestern Turkey
According to Johnston: “Information about her early worship in Asia Minor is slight; there are some indications, however, that she was a deity connected with passage through liminal points.”(21) – by liminal points Johnston means gates, doorways, crossroads
Usually she is connected with the Great Mother – a Fertility Goddess. As Johnston writes: “Several scholars place her among the company of Anatolian “Great Mother” figures.” (21-22). Importantly, however, Johnston continues: “Although there probably is some truth in this suggestion, it signifies little about the origin of Hekate herself, as virtually all goddesses, especially those of eastern origin, can be allied with the “Great Mother” to some degree.” (22)
HECATE’S THREE PHASES
According to Ronan, the ancient cult of Hecate shows three stages of development
(i) the origins of her as an Eastern Great Goddess
Keeping in mind that Johnston notes that:
Although there probably is some truth in this suggestion [namely the links to the Great Goddess] , it signifies little about the origin of Hekate herself, as virtually all goddesses, especially those of eastern origin, can be allied with the “Great Mother” to some degree. (22)
Ronan argues that in her first phase of development she was a solar goddess rather than a lunar goddess
In this first phase she is a positive deity
She occupies a positive position in every domain: earth, sky, underground
This new role is linked to the rise of the Chaldean Oracles
These were oracles and mystical sayings allegedly derived from magoi including Zoroaster (Persian prophet and teacher from 6th Century BC)
They were transcribed and translated by the Neoplatonists
Neoplatonism was a school of philosophy that originated in Alexandria in the 3rd Century AD The school revived and expanded upon the metaphysical and mystical aspects of Platonic teaching
Plato 5-4th Centuries BC
Magic and Eastern traditions were incorporated into the teachings – especially by later scholars
One area of magic that was particularly developed by the school was demonology “and a complete hierarchy of good and evil demons was devised, who were thought to people the universe and were the object of semi-religious semi-magic rites.” (Harvey 286)
OTHER ASPECTS OF HECATE
Hecate is also associated with liminality
She is a liminal deity
Liminal points were regarded as threatening, dangerous or uncertain states of being
They were so regarded because such points are like the state of limbo – they mark a transitional point – e.g. a crossroad is a junction of three roads and at the same time no of them
Hecate’s links with childbirth:
In this capacity she is called Kourotrophos
Literally ‘child’s nurse’
Applied to other Greek goddesses
It also has connotations with a general caring, nurturing aspect of a particular goddess toward all human beings
Hecate’s Suppers:
One type of worship
Took the form of offerings left at crossroads
The food was intended to not only please the goddess but the ghosts who roamed about the region
The offerings were believed to help the ghosts find a resting-place – to placate them and their mistress
Graveyards often near crossroads
Goddess of the dead
Reading / Works Referred to in the Lecture:
Edwards, C. M. ‘The Running Maiden from Eleusis and the Early Classical Image of Hekate.’ AJA 90 (1986): 307-18.
Farnell, L. R. ‘Hecate’s Cult.’ In The Cults of the Greek States. Oxford, 1896. Reprinted in The Goddess Hekate. Ed. S. Ronan. Hastings, 1992. 17-35.
Johnston, S. I. Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate’s Roles in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature. Atlanta, 1990.
Rabinowitz, J. ‘Underneath the Moon: Hekate and Luna.’ Latomus 56 (1997): 534-43.
Ronan, S. ‘Introduction’. The Goddess Hekate. Ed. S. Ronan. Hastings, 1992. 5-6.
Von Rudloff, R. ‘Hekate in Early Greek Religion.’ http://www.light1998.com/Necro/Horned-Owl.htm
RE: Hecate
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