Editing Hecate (section)

==Functions==
[[File:Hecate statuette in triple form, S 2173, Roman, 1st century AD, gilt bronze - Musei Capitolini - Rome, Italy - DSC06175.jpg|thumb|Gilt bronze Hekataion, 1st century CE. [[Musei Capitolini]], Rome.]]

===As a goddess of boundaries===
Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. She appears to have been particularly associated with being 'between' and hence is frequently characterized as a "[[Liminal deity|liminal]]" goddess.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} "Hecate mediated between regimes—[[Twelve Olympians|Olympian]] and [[Titans|Titan]]—but also between mortal and divine spheres."<ref>Bonnie MacLachlan, Judith Fletcher, ''Virginity Revisited: Configurations of The Unpossessed Body'', University of Toronto Press, 2007, p. 14.</ref> This liminal role is reflected in a number of her cult titles: ''[[Apotrope|Apotropaia]]'' (that turns away/protects); ''Enodia'' (on the way); ''Propulaia''/''Propylaia'' (before the gate); ''Triodia''/''Trioditis'' (who frequents [[Crossroads (culture)|crossroads]]); ''Klêidouchos'' (holding the keys), etc.

{{blockquote|As a goddess expected to avert harmful or destructive spirits from the house or city over which she stood guard and to protect the individual as she or he passed through dangerous liminal places, Hecate would naturally become known as a goddess who could also ''refuse'' to avert the demons, or even drive them on against unfortunate individuals.<ref>Johnston 1999, p. 209.</ref>}}

{{blockquote|It was probably her role as guardian of entrances that led to Hecate's identification by the mid fifth century with [[Enodia]], a [[Thessaly|Thessalian]] goddess. Enodia's very name ("In-the-Road") suggests that she watched over entrances, for it expresses both the possibility that she stood on the main road into a city, keeping an eye on all who entered, and in the road in front of private houses, protecting their inhabitants.<ref>Johnston 1999, p. 208.</ref>}}

This function would appear to have some relationship with the [[Iconography|iconographic]] association of Hecate with keys, and might also relate to her appearance with two torches, which when positioned on either side of a gate or door illuminated the immediate area and allowed visitors to be identified. "In [[Byzantium]] small temples in her honour were placed close to the gates of the city. Hecate's importance to Byzantium was above all as a deity of protection. When [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip of Macedon]] was about to attack the city, according to the legend she alerted the townspeople with her ever present torches, and with her pack of dogs, which served as her constant companions."<ref>Vasiliki Limberis, ''Divine Heiress: The Virgin Mary And The Creation of Christian Constantinople'', Routledge, 1994, pp. 126–127.</ref> This suggests that Hecate's close association with dogs derived in part from the use of watchdogs, who, particularly at night, raised an alarm when intruders approached. Watchdogs were used extensively by Greeks and Romans.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |edition=Third |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/490 490] |isbn=0-19-866172-X |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/490 }}</ref>

[[File:AN00866037 001 l.jpg|thumb|left|Drawing of a Hekataion]]
Cult images and altars of Hecate in her triplicate or trimorphic form were placed at three-way [[Crossroads (road)|crossroads]] (though they also appeared before private homes and in front of city gates).<ref name="s.v. Hecate"/> In what appears to be a 7th-century indication of the survival of cult practices of this general sort, [[Saint Eligius]], in his ''Sermo'' warns the sick among his recently converted flock in Flanders against putting "devilish charms at springs or trees or crossroads",<ref>Amanda Porterfield, ''Healing in the history of Christianity'', Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 72.</ref> and, according to [[Saint Ouen]] would urge them "No Christian should make or render any devotion to the deities of the trivium, where three roads meet...".<ref>[http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sto09001.htm Saint Ouen, ''Vita Eligii'' book II.16] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820234709/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sto09001.htm |date=20 August 2009 }}.</ref>

===As a goddess of the underworld===
Thanks to her association with boundaries and the liminal spaces between worlds, Hecate is also recognized as a chthonic (underworld) goddess. As the holder of the keys that can unlock the gates between realms, she can unlock the gates of death, as described in a 3rd-century BCE poem by Theocritus. In the 1st century CE, Virgil described the entrance to hell as "Hecate's Grove", though he says that Hecate is equally "powerful in Heaven and Hell." The [[Greek Magical Papyri]] describe Hecate as the holder of the keys to [[Tartaros]].<ref name=rotting/> Like [[Hermes]], Hecate takes on the role of guardian not just of roads, but of all journeys, including the journey to the afterlife. In art and myth, she is shown, along with Hermes, guiding [[Persephone]] back from the underworld with her torches.<ref name=rotting/>

By the 5th century BCE, Hecate had come to be strongly associated with [[ghost]]s, possibly due to conflation with the [[Thessaly|Thessalian]] goddess [[Enodia]] (meaning "traveller"), who travelled the earth with a retinue of ghosts and was depicted on coinage wearing a leafy crown and holding torches, iconography strongly associated with Hecate.<ref name=rotting/>

===As a goddess of witchcraft===
By the 1st century CE, Hecate's chthonic and nocturnal character had led to her transformation into a goddess heavily associated with witchcraft, witches, magic, and sorcery. In [[Lucan]]'s ''[[Pharsalia]]'', the witch [[Erichtho]] invokes Hecate as "Persephone, who is the third and lowest aspect of Hecate, the goddess we witches revere", and describes her as a "rotting goddess" with a "pallid decaying body", who has to "wear a mask when [she] visit[s] the gods in heaven."<ref name=rotting/>

Like Hecate, "the dog is a creature of the threshold, the guardian of doors and portals, and so it is appropriately associated with the frontier between life and death, and with demons and ghosts which move across the frontier. The yawning gates of [[Hades]] were guarded by the monstrous watchdog [[Cerberus]], whose function was to prevent the living from entering the underworld, and the dead from leaving it."<ref>Richard Cavendish, ''The Powers of Evil in Western Religion, Magic and Folk Belief'', Routledge, 1975, p. 62.</ref>

=== Plants and herbalism ===
Hecate was closely associated with plant lore and the concoction of medicines and [[poison]]s. In particular she was thought to give instruction in these closely related arts. [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], in the ''[[Argonautica]]'', mentions that [[Medea]] was taught by Hecate: "I have mentioned to you before a certain young girl whom Hecate, daughter of Perses, has taught to work in drugs."<ref>R. L. Hunter, ''The Argonautica of Apollonius'', Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 142, citing Apollonius of Rhodes.</ref>

Hecate was said to favour offerings of [[garlic]], which was closely associated with her cult.<ref>Frederick J. Simoons, ''Plants of Life, Plants of Death'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1998, p. 143; Fragkiska Megaloudi, ''Plants and Diet in Greece From Neolithic to Classic Periods'', Archaeopress, 2006, p. 71.</ref> She is also sometimes associated with [[Mediterranean Cypress|cypress]], a tree symbolic of death and the underworld, and hence sacred to a number of chthonic deities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Frieze |first=Henry |url=https://archive.org/details/virgilsaeneidbo01denngoog |title=Virgil's Aeneid |author2=Dennison, Walter |publisher=American Book Company |year=1902 |location=New York |pages=N111}}</ref>

A number of other plants (often poisonous, medicinal and/or psychoactive) are associated with Hecate.<ref>"Hecate had a "botanical garden" on the island of Colchis where the following alkaloid plants were kept: Akoniton (''Aconitum napellus''), Diktamnon (''Dictamnus albus''), Mandragores (Mandragora officinarum), Mekon (''Papaver somniferum''), Melaina (''Claviceps pupurea''), Thryon (''Atropa belladona''), and ''Cochicum'' [...]" Margaret F. Roberts, Michael Wink, ''Alkaloids: Biochemistry, Ecology, and Medicinal Applications'', Springer, 1998, p. 16.</ref> These include [[aconitum|aconite]] (also called ''hecateis''),<ref>Robert Graves, ''The Greek Myths'', Penguin Books, 1977, p. 154.</ref> [[Atropa belladonna|belladonna]], [[Origanum dictamnus|dittany]], and [[Mandragora officinarum|mandrake]]. It has been suggested that the use of dogs for digging up mandrake is further corroboration of the association of this plant with Hecate; indeed, since at least as early as the 1st century CE, there are a number of attestations to the apparently widespread practice of using dogs to dig up plants associated with magic.<ref>Frederick J. Simoons, ''Plants of Life, Plants of Death'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1998, pp. 121–124.</ref>
The [[Taxus baccata|yew]] in particular was sacred to Hecate.{{blockquote|Greeks held the yew to be sacred to Hecate&nbsp;... Her attendants draped wreathes of yew around the necks of black bulls which they slaughtered in her honor and yew boughs were burned on funeral pyres. The yew was associated with the alphabet and the scientific name for yew today, ''taxus'', was probably derived from the Greek word for yew, ''{{lang|grc-Latn|toxos}}'', which is hauntingly similar to ''{{lang|grc-Latn|toxon}}'', their word for bow and ''{{lang|grc-Latn|toxicon}}'', their word for poison. It is presumed that the latter were named after the tree because of its superiority for both bows and poison.<ref>Matthew Suffness (Ed.), ''Taxol: Science and Applications'', CRC Press, 1995, p. 28.</ref>}}

===As a goddess of the moon===
[[File:Francesco Salviati - Hecate (the Moon) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''Hecate the Moon'', [[fresco]] by [[Francesco de' Rossi]], c. 1543–1545)]]

Hecate was seen as a triple deity, identified with the goddesses [[Luna (goddess)|Luna]] (Moon) in the sky and [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] (hunting) on the earth, while she represents the Underworld.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on the [[Aeneid]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053%3Abook%3D6%3Acommline%3D118 6.118]; Green, C. M. C. (2007). ''Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia.'' New York: [[Cambridge University Press]].</ref> Hecate's association with [[Helios]] in literary sources and especially in cursing magic has been cited as evidence for her lunar nature, although this evidence is pretty late; no artwork before the Roman period connecting Hecate to the [[Moon]] exists.<ref name=":queen">''Queen of the Night: Rediscovering the Celtic Moon Goddess'' pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=1l1yXq4xGHsC&pg=PA62 62-63]</ref> Nevertheless, the ''[[Homeric Hymn]] to [[Demeter]]'' shows Helios and Hecate informing Demeter of [[Persephone]]'s abduction, a common theme found in many parts of the world where the [[Sun]] and the Moon are questioned concerning events that happen on earth based on their ability to witness everything<ref name=":queen"/> and implies Hecate's capacity as a moon goddess in the hymn.<ref>Athanassakis and Wolkow, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTo3r8IHy0wC&pg=PA90 90]</ref> Another work connecting Hecate to Helios possibly as a moon goddess is [[Sophocles]]'s lost play ''The Root Cutters'', where Helios is described as Hecate's spear:

<blockquote>
O Sun our lord and sacred fire, the spear of Hecate of the<br />
roads, which she carries as she attends her mistress in the sky<ref>[[Loeb Classical Library]], 1994, ''[[Sophocles]]: Fragments'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=voiup-mz2CkC&pg=PA271 271], [[Oxford University]].</ref>
</blockquote>

This speech from the ''Root Cutters'' may or may not be an intentional association of Hecate with the Moon.<ref>Gantz, p. [https://archive.org/details/early-greek-myth-a-guide-timothy-gantz/page/26/mode/2up?view=theater 27]</ref> In [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]]'s ''[[Medea (Seneca)|Medea]]'', the titular [[Medea]] invokes her patron Hecate whom she addresses as "Moon, orb of the night" and "triple form".<ref>[[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Medea (Seneca)|Medea]]'' [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ATragedies_of_Seneca_(1907)_Miller.djvu/124 750-753]</ref> Hecate and the moon goddess [[Selene]] were frequently identified with each other and a number of Greek and non-Greek deities;<ref name=":hord">Hordern, J. H. “Love Magic and Purification in Sophron, PSI 1214a, and Theocritus’ ‘Pharmakeutria.’” The Classical Quarterly 52, no. 1 (2002): [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3556449 165]</ref> the [[Greek Magical Papyri]] and other magical texts emphasize a syncretism between Selene-Hecate with Artemis and Persephone among others.<ref name=":hord"/> In Italy, the triple unity of the lunar goddesses [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] (the huntress), [[Luna (goddess)|Luna]] (the Moon) and Hecate (the underworld) became a ubiquitous feature in depictions of sacred groves, where Hecate/Trivia marked intersections and crossroads along with other liminal deities.<ref name=":bergm">Bergmann, Bettina, Joseph Farrell, Denis Feeney, James Ker, Damien Nelis, and [[Celia Schultz]]. “An Exciting Provocation: John F. Miller’s ‘Apollo, Augustus, and the Poets.’” Vergilius (1959-) 58 (2012): [http://www.jstor.org/stable/43186298 10–11]</ref> The Romans celebrated enthusiastically the multiple identities of Diana as Hecate, Luna and Trivia.<ref name=":bergm"/>

From her father Perses, Hecate is often called "Perseis" (meaning "daughter of Perses")<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/226/mode/2up 3.478]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/141#7.74 7.74]; [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], ''[[Medea (Seneca)|Medea]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0005%3Acard%3D740 812]</ref><ref>[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith]], s. v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D4%3Aentry%3Dhecate-bio-1 Hecate]</ref> which is also the name of [[Perse (mythology)|one]] of the [[Oceanid]] [[nymph]]s, Helios’ wife and Circe's mother in other versions.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0218%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D3 10.135]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D938 956]; [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [[iarchive:theargonauticaof00apoliala/page/168/mode/2up|4.591]]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D1 1.9.1]; [[Cicero]], ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' [https://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=137#3.47 48.4]; Hyginus, ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#0.2 Preface]</ref> In one version of Hecate's parentage, she is the daughter of [[Perses of Colchis|Perses]] not the son of [[Crius]] but the son of Helios, whose mother is the Oceanid Perse.<ref name=":diod"/> [[Karl Kerenyi]] noted the similarity between the names, perhaps denoting a chthonic connection among the two and the goddess Persephone;<ref>[[Karl Kerenyi]], ''The Gods of the Greeks'', 1951, pp [https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.7346/page/n215/mode/2up?view=theater 192-193]</ref> it is possible that this epithet gives evidence of a lunar aspect of Hecate.<ref>''The Classical Review'' vol. 9, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=MEqM69sUiYkC&pg=PA391 391–392]</ref> [[Robert Fowler (academic)|Fowler]] also noted that the pairing (i. e. Helios and Perse) made sense given Hecate's association with the Moon.<ref>Fowler, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16], vol. II</ref> Mooney however notes that when it comes to the nymph Perse herself, there's no evidence of her actually being a moon goddess on her own right.<ref>Mooney, p. 58</ref>