Hecate

Ἑκάτη

Torch-bearing Greek goddess of crossroads, thresholds and the night road

Hecate (Hekate, Ἑκάτη) is the Greek goddess who stands where roads meet and doors open. She probably came from the Carians of Asia Minor but was accepted into Greek religion early. In Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus honours her above all. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter she carries a torch beside the searching mother and then attends Persephone.

Devotees turn to her for guidance at crossroads and thresholds, for light on night journeys, for help with magic and spells, and for a guide between the living and the dead. Her one known monumental temple stood at Lagina in Caria, where a civic cult held a Procession of the Key. Today Hellenic polytheists, Wiccans and other Pagans honour her, often lighting lamps at the dark moon.

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Hecate Chiaramonti Inv1922. Wikimedia Commons (public domain), Unknown artist

How to recognise Hecate

Twin torchesA torch in each hand, a staff topped with a bright flame, is her oldest and most constant attribute, found from the Homeric Hymn onward.
Long belted robeStatues show a belted peplos or long chiton falling to the feet, though vase paintings sometimes give her a short maiden's skirt and hunting boots like Artemis.
Single formThe earliest images show one woman with one face and one body, and Pausanias describes Myron's cult image on Aegina this way.
Triple formThree similar young women stand back to back around a central pillar, looking down three roads, in the hekataion first introduced in the 5th century BCE.
PolosA tall, flat-topped cylindrical cap often crowns her on triple-form statues, while other images show plain braided or parted hair.
DogDogs are sacred to her, and she is attended by barking hounds, a sign of her watchful guardianship of paths and thresholds.
KeyA later attribute: the Orphic Hymn calls her key-holder (kleidouchos), and a young key-bearer carried a ceremonial key in procession at Lagina, though its exact meaning is uncertain.

Names and titles

Of the CrossroadsShe is the goddess of three-way roads, called Trivia in Latin ('three roads')
Torchbearer at Demeter's SideIn the Homeric Hymn to Demeter she meets the searching mother torch in hand
Keeper of the KeysThe Orphic Hymn calls her key-holder, and her Lagina cult carried a ceremonial key
Honoured Above AllHesiod says Zeus honoured her and kept her old share of earth, sea and sky
Worker from AfarA traditional meaning of her name, from hekatos