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Hekate in Early Greek Religion
Hekate in Early Greek Religion
In brief, I have found that the limited record indicates that in early times
Hekate was a secondary figure who could serve one or more of several specific
functions, none of which were unique to Her. These can be categorised under the
ancient titles Propylaia, Propolos, Phosphoros, Kourotrophos, and Chthonia. The
first three of these are Her most distinctive functions, and generally involve
attending upon more prominent deities such as Demeter, Persephone, Artemis, and
Kybele. Individually they are not unique to Her, but no other deity can claim
all of them. The last two titles, on the other hand, are shared with numerous
other deities. It does not seem possible to rank these functions as to their
importance; different ones were emphasised at different times and locations.
However, it is likely that She continued to serve all of them throughout
antiquity, simultaneous with the negative (and perhaps quite fictitious)
literary portrayals of Her followers.
With Artemis, the division between attendant and the one being attended-to blurs
to the point of confusion, and one sees a complex interplay of victim, animal,
and deity. Hekate can be Propolos for Artemis, but both can themselves have
propoloi consisting of deceased humans and dogs. Both are often involved in
localised legends concerning young women who are sacrificed by others or by
their own hands in defence of their people and become supernatural guardians.
One legend has a woman of Ephesos transformed by Artemis into a dog just prior
to her death, and then afterwards into Hekate. In another legend, Iphigeneia is
sacrificed by her father, the "great" king Agamemnon, to appease Artemis: the
latter changes the young woman into a deer just at the point of death, then
whisks her off to the northern shore of the Black Sea and transforms her into
Hekate. A pair of intriguing details in this last story is that an earlier name
for Iphigeneia was Iphimedeia, and the Black Sea region was the traditional
homeland of Medeia.
Light-Bringer
Phosphoros, the "light-bringer," is one of Her most common titles, and probably
is linked to Her most important image in art, that of torch-bearer. Other
deities were sometimes portrayed carrying a single torch, but few were
identified so clearly with torches or commonly bore two of them. The actual
function that She serves in this case is uncertain, however. The popular view is
that this symbolizes Hekate as Moon-Goddess, but the evidence is very weak for
Her having such a role before the third century B.C.E., and far from prominent
at any time. It is more likely that the title and torches were originally, and
continued to be primarily, associated with a guiding and attendant role in
Mysteries and thus the function was related to, if not identical with, that of
Propolos.
An interesting point is that Phosphoros was also the Greek name for the "morning
star," or the planet Venus when it is in the early morning sky. Venus was called
Hesperos when in the early evening sky. These two "stars," the brightest objects
in the sky other than the sun and moon, could be said to herald the end and
beginning of night. As one known genealogy had Hekate as a daughter of Nux,
Goddess of Night, could the two "stars" be Hekate's torches?
Child's Nurse
The title Kourotrophos is applied to nearly all Greek goddesses, as well as a
few gods. Literally meaning "child's nurse," it is often applied to goddesses
that govern childbirth. It can also imply a more general maternal caring for all
mortal beings. Despite it's widespread usage and considerable significance, the
function was rarely highlighted in Greek art, literature or architecture, and
thus it is very difficult to analyse. In Hekate's case, it may indicate a more
sweeping role as a "Women's Goddess," but such a conclusion draws heavily upon
the stereotypical representations of Her female followers.
Hekate's chthonic aspect could also have been enhanced through Her relationships
with other chthonic deities. In particular, Her guardian function is shared most
commonly with Hermes, with whom She later shared many chthonic activities, and
the deity that She was most commonly portrayed as guiding, Persephone, is the
Queen of the Dead.
However, it may have been through Hekate's association with Medeia and other
fantastic, mythical females that Her chthonic function was most strongly
enhanced; and their portrayal likely reflected an exaggerated and misogynist
literary tradition rather than prevalent religious and magical practices.
Furthermore, Hekate's other functions continued at the same time that Her
chthonic side was being emphasized: real people continued to worship Her in
positive ways that did not provoke negative reactions.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that by 400 B.C.E. the image existed of female followers of
Hekate working magic, alone at night in remote places. While they were intended
as evil figures, it is interesting to note that one can easily reinterpret them
as positive role-models, heroic workers of magic in a society that dreaded
powerful women. However, all of the evidence for such is from the literature of
the male aristocracy, in the form of what we now would call "fiction:" poetry
and plays. The women were stock characters, not identifiable, real people, and
the accounts grew more and more fantastic and graphic with time, as if each
successive writer was trying to out-do their predecessors. No account exists of
a historical person doing these things in Hekate's name. On the contrary, the
evidence shows that throughout antiquity there were public displays of devotion
to Hekate, often for the common good of a community. It is thus quite possible
that these negative images were simply a literary motif, a reflection of
prevalent misogynistic fears. Even if there were some followers who acted in
this way, they could only have been a minority and were no more representative
of the common views than those expressed by devotees of the Chaldaean Oracles
who saw Hekate as Soteira ("Saviour").
A Select Bibliography: