HEKATE (Hecate) was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the
night, moon, ghosts and necromancy. She was the only child of the Titanes
Perses and Asteria from whom she received her power over heaven, earth, and
sea.
Hecate assisted Demeter in her search for Persephone,
guiding her through the night with flaming torches. After the mother-daughter
reunion she became Persephone's minister and companion in Hades.
Three metamorphosis myths describe the origins of her animal
familiars: the black she-dog and the polecat (a mustelid house pet kept by the
ancients to hunt vermin). The dog was the Trojan Queen Hekabe (Hecuba) who
leapt into the sea after the fall of Troy and was transformed by the goddess.
The polecat was either the witch Gale, turned as punishment for her
incontinence, or Galinthias, midwife of Alkmene (Alcmena), who was transformed
by the enraged goddess Eileithyia but adopted by the sympathetic Hekate.
Hekate was usually depicted in Greek vase painting as a
woman holding twin torches. Sometimes she was dressed in a knee-length maiden's
skirt and hunting boots, much like Artemis. In statuary Hekate was often
depicted in triple form as a goddess of crossroads.
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