Editing Diana (mythology) (section)

===As goddess of crossroads and the underworld===
The earliest epithet of Diana was ''Trivia'', and she was addressed with that title by Virgil,<ref>''Aeneid'' 6.35, 10.537.</ref> Catullus,<ref>''Carmina'' 34.14 ''tu potens Trivia''...</ref> and many others. "Trivia" comes from the Latin ''trivium'', "triple way", and refers to Diana's guardianship over roadways, particularly Y-junctions or three-way crossroads. This role carried a somewhat dark and dangerous connotation, as it metaphorically pointed the way to the underworld.<ref name=diana_religion/> In the 1st-century CE play ''[[Medea (Seneca)|Medea]]'', [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca's]] titular sorceress calls on Trivia to cast a magic spell. She evokes the triple goddess of Diana, Selene, and Hecate, and specifies that she requires the powers of the latter.<ref name=diana_religion/> The 1st century poet [[Horace]] similarly wrote of a magic incantation invoking the power of both Diana and Proserpina.<ref name=epode17>Horace, [[Epodes (Horace)|Epode]] 17</ref> The symbol of the crossroads is relevant to several aspects of Diana's domain. It can symbolize the paths hunters may encounter in the forest, lit only by the full moon; this symbolizes making choices "in the dark" without the light of guidance.<ref name=diana_religion/>

Diana's role as a goddess of the underworld, or at least of ushering people between life and death, caused her early on to be conflated with [[Hecate]] (and occasionally also with [[Proserpina]]). However, her role as an underworld goddess appears to pre-date strong Greek influence (though the early Greek colony of [[Cumae]] had a cult of Hekate and certainly had contacts with the Latins<ref>Dionysius Hal. VII 6, 4: the people of Aricia help Aristdemos in bringing home the Etruscan booty.</ref>). A theater in her sanctuary at Lake Nemi included a pit and tunnel that would have allowed actors to easily descend on one side of the stage and ascend on the other, indicating a connection between the phases of the moon and a descent by the moon goddess into the underworld.<ref name=diana_religion/> It is likely that her underworld aspect in her original Latin worship did not have a distinct name, like Luna was for her moon aspect. This is due to a seeming reluctance or taboo by the early Latins to name underworld deities, and the fact that they believed the underworld to be silent, precluding naming. Hekate, a Greek goddess also associated with the boundary between the earth and the underworld, became attached to Diana as a name for her underworld aspect following Greek influence.<ref name=diana_religion/>