Hecate

In Greek mythology, the goddess of the underworld and magic arts. Her association with night led to her identification with the goddesses Selene and Artemis. She is first mentioned by Hesiod as having universal power to confer wealth and all the blessings of daily life. Ovid depicted her in Fasti with three bodies and heads, standing back-to-back to see in three directions.

Myth Hecate appears only once in a mythological story, with the corn goddess Demeter. Having witnessed Persephone's abduction by Pluto, she helped Demeter search for her daughter with a lighted torch. During Persephone's allotted time in the underworld, Hecate was regarded as her companion.

Worship On the last day of each month, offerings of eggs and fish were left at crossroads; places frequented by the goddess, accompanied by spirits and hounds of the underworld. Pillars known as hecataea were erected at highway crossings and doorways, particularly in Attica. Particular creatures sacrificed to Hecate were black puppies and black female lambs.

Origin Hecate probably derived from a pre-Hellenic chthonian (pertaining to the earth or underworld) deity, but may have been a Hellenic adaptation of the Thracian goddess Bendis.