Hecate
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
Could not find Hecatam in Logeion dictionaries.
Hecatam Proper-name noun: feminine accusative singular of Hecate
- daughter of Perses, or Perseus, and Asteria, sister of Latona, the presider over enchantments, conjurations, etc.; she is often identified with Diana, Luna, and Proserpina, and is therefore represented with three heads, Cic. N. D. 3, 18, 46; Verg. A. 4, 511 Serv.; Ov. M. 7, 74; 94; 194; 14, 405; id. F. 1, 141; Hor. S. 1, 8, 33; Sen. Phaedr. 420 et saep. —
- II Derivv.
- A Hĕcătēĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Hecate, Hecateian: carmina, i.e. magical incantations, Ov. M. 14, 44: Aulis, devoted to Diana, Stat. Ach. 1, 447: Idus, i.e. of August, sacred to Diana, id. Silv. 3, 1, 60.—
- B Hĕcătēïs, ĭdos, f. adj., Hecateian: herba, i.e. enchanter's nightshade, Ov. M. 6, 139.
in corallo debet inscribi natura noctiluce, hoc est †accate [v. l. eichete, ? l. Hecate ]; signatur ‥ in eo Gorgonis figura
(Ἑκάτη), a mysterious divinity, who, according to the most common tradition, was a daughter of Persaeus or Perses and Asteria, whence she is called Perseis. (Apollod. 1.2.4; Apollon. 3.478.) Others describe her as a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and state that she was sent out by her father in search of Persephone (Schol. ad Tleocrit. 2.12); others again make her a daughter of Zeus either by Pheraea or by Hera (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 1175; Schol. ad Theocrit. 2.36) ; and others, lastly, say that she was a daughter of Leto or Tartarus. (Procl. in Plat. Cratyl. p. 112 ; Orph. Argon. 975.) Homer does not mention her. According to the most genuine traditions, she appears to have been an ancient Thracian divinity, and a Titan, who, from the time of the Titans, ruled in heaven, on the earth, and in the sea, who ebestowed on mortals wealth, victory, wisdom, good luck to sailors and hunters, and prosperity to youth and to the flocks of cattle; but all these blessings might at the same time be withheld by her, if mortals did not deserve them. She was the only one among the Titans who retained this power under the rule of Zeus, and she was honoured by all the immortal gods. She also assisted the gods in their war with the Gigantes, and slew Clytius. (Hes. Th. 411_452; Apollod. 1.6.2.) This extensive power possessed by Hecate was probably the reason that subsequently she was confounded and identified with several other divinities, and at length became a mystic goddess, to whom mysteries were celebrated in Samothrace (Lycoph. 77; Schol. ad Aristoph. Pac. 277) and in Aegina. (Paus. 2.30.2; comp. Plut. de Flum. 5.) For being as it were the queen of all nature, we find her identitied with Demeter, Rhea (Cybele or Brimo); being a huntress and the protector of youth, she is the same as Artemis (Curotrophos); and as a goddess of the moon, she is regarded as the mystic Persephone. (Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 25, with the commentat.; Paus. 1.43.1.) She was further connected with the worship of other mystic divinities, such as the Cabeiri and Curetes (Schol. ad Theocrit. 2.12; Strab. x. p.472), and also with Apollo and the Muses. (Athen. 14.645; Strab. x. p.468.) The ground-work of the above-mentioned confusions and identifications, especially with Demeter and Persephone, is contained in the Homeric hymn to Demeter; for, according to this hymn, she was, besides Helios, the only divinity who, from her cave, observed the abduction of Persephone. With a torch in her hand, she accompanied Demeter in the search after Persephone; and when the latter was found, Hecate remained with her as her attendant and companion. She thus becomes a deity of the lower world; but this notion does not occur till the time of the Greek tragedians, though it is generally current among the later writers. She is described in this capacity as a mighty and formidable divinity, ruling over the souls of the departed ; she is the goddess of purifications and expiations, and is accompanied by Stygian dogs. (Orph. Lith. 48; Schol. ad Theocr l.c. ; Apollon. 3.1211; Lycoph. 1175; Horat. Sat. 1.8. 35; Verg. A. 6.257.) By Phorcos she became the mother of Scylla. (Apollon. 4.829 ; comp. Hom. Od. 12.124.) There is another very important feature which arose out of the notion of her being an infernal divinity, namely, she was regarded as a spectral being, who at night sent from the lower world all kinds of demons and terrible phantoms, who taught sorcery and witchcraft, who dwelt at places where two roads crossed each other, on tombs, and near the blood of murdered persons. She herself too wanders about with the souls of the dead, and her approach is announced by the whining and howling of dogs. (Apollon. 3.529, 861, 4.829; Theocrit. l.c. ; Ov. Ep. 12.168, Met. 14.405; Stat. Theb. 4.428 ; Verg. A. 4.609; Orph. Lith. 45, 47; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1197, 1887; Diod. 4.45.) A number of epithets given her by the poets contain allusions to these features of the popular belief, or to her form. She is described as of terrible appearance, either with three bodies or three heads, the one of a horse, the second of a dog, and the third of a lion. (Orph. Argon. 975, &c.; Eustath. ad Hom. pp. 1467, 1714.) In works of art she was some-times represented as a single being, but sometimes also as a three-headed monster. (Paus. 2.28.8. 30.2.) Besides Samothrace and Aegina, we find express mention of her worship at Argos (Paus. 2.30.2.) and at Athens, where she had a sanctuary under the name of Ἐπιπυργιδία, on the acropolis, not far from the temple of Nice. (Paus. 2.30.2.) Small statues or symbolical representations of Hecate (ἑκάταια) were very numerous, especially at Athens, where they stood before or in houses, and on spots where two roads crossed each other; and it would seem that people consulted such Hecataea as oracles. (Aristoph. Wasps 816, Lysistr. 64; Eur. Med. 396; Porphyr. de Abstin. 2.16; Hesych. s. v. Ἑκάταια). At the close of every month dishes with food were set out for her and other averters of evil at the points where two roads crossed each other; and this food was consumed by poor people. (Aristoph. Pl. 596 ; Plut. Synmpos. 7.6.) The sacrifices offered to her consisted of dogs, honey, and black female lambs. (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 49; Schol. ad Theocrit. 2.12 ; Apollon. 3.1032.) [L.S]
(Ἑκάτη). A Greek goddess, though perhaps of non-Hellenic origin. She was unknown to Homer, but in Hesiod she was the only daughter of the Titan Perses and of Asteria, the sister of Leto. She stood high in the regard of Zeus, from whom she had received a share in the heaven, earth, and ocean. She was invoked at all sacrifices, for she could give or withhold her blessing in daily life, in war, in contests on the sea, in the hunting-field, in the education of children, and in the tending of cattle. Thus she appeared as a personification of the divine power, and was the instrument through which the gods effected their will, though themselves far away. In later times she was confused with Persephoné, the queen of the lower world, or associated with her. Sometimes she was regarded as the goddess of the moon (Selené) or as Artemis, sometimes she was identified with foreign deities of the same kind. Being conceived of as a goddess of night and of the lower world, she was, as time went on, transformed into a deity of ghosts and magic. She was represented as haunting crossways and graves, accompanied by the dogs of the Styx, with the spirits of the dead and troops of spectral forms in her train. She lent powerful aid to all magical incantations and witches' work. All enchanters and enchantresses were her disciples and protégés; Medea, in particular, was regarded as her votary. She was worshipped in private and in public in many places—for instance, in Samothrace, Thessaly, Lemnos, Athens, and Aegina—and had a celebrated temple near Stratonicea in Caria. Her images were set up in the front of houses and by the road-side, with altars in front of them and a roof above them. On the last day of the month, which was sacred to her, offerings were made to her in the crossways of eggs, fish, and onions. The victims sacrificed to her were young dogs, black ewes, and honey.
In works of art she is usually portrayed in three forms, represented by three statues standing back to back. Each form has its special attributes— torches, keys, daggers, snakes, and dogs. In the Gigantomachia of Pergamum she appears with a different weapon in her three right hands—a torch, a sword, and a lance.