Hecate

Parents: Asteria and Perses or sometimes Zeus and Hera.

Children: None.

Spouse: None.

Important other relations: Strongly associated with Persephone, and Artemis. (as a Moon-Goddess) As an Underworld Goddess, associated with Hades. (sometimes his wife or consort, especially when mixed with Persephone) Demeter (who she helps when Demeter is looking for Persephone)

Symbols: Hounds (Hecate's hounds), graveyards, cross roads

Duties and Rights: Hecate is the Goddess of magic and witchcraft. She may grant any mortal anything that she wishes to grant them. She has power in the sea, the sky, and the underworld. (See Hesiod under "Books")

Major stories: Hecate helps Demeter look for Persephone after she's been abducted by Hades. Hecate is the only one to hear her scream, but, as she does not see who has taken Persephone, she advises going to Helios to see who the culprit might be. In some stories she is the one to propose the split of Persephone's time, and follow's Persephone to make certain that the deal is followed. There are also stories as to how she became an Infernal Goddess. When her parents are Titans, she is one of the few Titans who supports Zeus, and thus is allowed to keep her old powers after the Titans have been defeated. When she is the daughter of Zeus and Hera, she steals some of Hera's rouge to give to Europa. Hera is, naturally, furious, and Hecate hides in the house of a woman who's just had a child. This contaminates her (read Electra by Euripides? for more on the theme of impurity with birth.) and then bathes in the Acheron (see Geography) to cleanse herself. She then becomes an Infernal Goddess.

Personality: Hecate is an incredibly powerful Goddess, having the ability to bless or curse men as she chooses. Thus, she is widely sought for by men. She can be found, with her three heads and dogs, at crossroads during the new moon, or in graveyards. She is probably not a "true" Greek Goddess, but has become a part of the literature of Ancient Greece. She is an important Goddess in the modern Wicca movement because of her associations with magic and witchcraft.

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