Editing Hecate (section)

===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>