Hekate: Her Role and Character in Greek Literature from before the Fifth Century B.C.

Abstract

<p>This is a discussion of Hekate as she is represented in the Theogony and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. In it I attempt to demonstrate that the more familiar sinister aspects of the goddess are not present in her early Greek form, as the literary evidence of the period reveals. This involves an inquiry into the problem of Hekate's original homeland and, as far as can be determined, her character there, as well as the examination of her role in each of the above mentioned poems and a discussion of the possibility that the passages dealing with Hekate are interpolated.</p>