Hecate
Sign in to saveHecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associated with crossroads, night, light, magic, witchcraft, and the Moon. Her earliest appearance in literature was in Hesiod's Theogony in the 8th century BCE as a goddess of great honour with domains in sky, earth, and sea. She had popular followings among the witches of Thessaly, and an important sanctuary among the Carians of Asia Minor in Lagina. The earlies
AI overview
Hecate is an ancient Greek goddess typically depicted holding torches or keys and associated with crossroads, magic, witchcraft, and the night, who first appeared in literature in the 8th century BCE with significant power across sky, earth, and sea. She mattered in the ancient world as a widely worshipped deity with particularly devoted followings among practitioners of witchcraft and in important religious sanctuaries across the Greek world.
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Key facts
- Deity.type
- Greek
- Deity.name
- Hecate
- Deity.image
- Relief triplicate Hekate marble, Hadrian clasicism, Prague Kinsky, NM-H10 4742, 140995.jpg
- Deity.caption
- Marble relief of Hecate
- Deity.god_of
- Goddess of magic, spells, the moon, the night, and crossroads
- Deity.animals
- Dog, polecat
- Deity.symbol
- Paired torches, dogs, serpents, keys, knives, and lions.
- Deity.parents
- Perses and Asteria
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
38 sectionsContents
- Name
- Etymology
- Older English pronunciation and spelling
- Possible origins
- Anatolian
- Egyptian
- Iconography
- Sacred animals
- Sacred plants
- Functions
- As a goddess of boundaries
- As a goddess of the underworld
- As a goddess of witchcraft
- Plants and herbalism
- As a goddess of the moon
- Cult
- History
- Sanctuaries
- Cult at Lagina
- Cult at Byzantium
- Hecate's island
- Deipnon
- Epithets
- Historical and literary sources
- Archaic period
- Classical period
- Hellenistic period to Late Antiquity
- Parents, consorts and children
- Genealogy
- Legacy
- Modern reception
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Primary sources
- Secondary sources
- External links
Hecate ( ; ) is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, or snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depicted as three-formed or triple-bodied. She is variously associated with crossroads, night, light, magic, witchcraft, and the Moon. Her earliest appearance in literature was in Hesiod's Theogony in the 8th century BCE as a goddess of great honour with domains in sky, earth, and sea. She had popular followings among the witches of Thessaly, and an important sanctuary among the Carians of Asia Minor in Lagina. The earliest evidence for Hecate's cult comes from Selinunte, in Sicily.
Hecate was one of several deities worshipped in ancient Athens as a protector of the oikos (household), alongside Zeus, Hestia, Hermes, and Apollo. In the post-Christian writings of the Chaldean Oracles (2nd–3rd century CE) she was also regarded with (some) rulership over earth, sea, and sky, as well as a more universal role as Savior (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul (Anima Mundi). Regarding the nature of her cult, it has been remarked, "she is more at home on the fringes than in the centre of Greek polytheism. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition."