STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

The Hecate of the Theogony 

Jenny Strauss Clay 

N EAR THE MIDDLE of the Theogony, Hesiod appears to drop 
everything in order to launch into an extended encomium of 
Hecate (411-52). Because of its length and apparent lack of 

integration into its context, but above all because of the peculiar 
terms of praise reserved for the goddess, the so-called "Hymn to 
Hecate" has often been dismissed as an intrusion into the Hesiodic 
text.l To be sure, voices have also been raised in defense,2 and, at 
present, the passage stands unbracketed in the editions of Mazon, 
Solmsen, and West.3 But questions remain even if the authenticity of 
the lines is acknowledged. Why does Hesiod devote so much space to 
so minor a deity? What is the origin and function of Hesiod's Hecate, 
and what role does she play in the poem ?4 

1 Most notably by U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Der Glaube der Hellenen I (Berlin 
1931) 172. Wilamowitz is followed by M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Re/igion3 

I (Munich 1969) 723. Condemnation is fairly universal among earlier editors. Cf 0. 
Gruppe, Ueber die Theogonie des Hesiod (Berlin 1841) 72; G. Schoemann, Die He­
siodische Theogonie (Berlin 1868) 190, who, after many good observations, concludes 
that the passage is a later interpolation; H. Flach, Die Hesiodische Theogonie (Berlin 
1873) 81; A. Fick, Hesiods Gedichte (Gottingen 1887) 17 ("Der Verfasser war ein Or­
phiker"); F. Jacoby, Hesiodi Carmina I (Berlin 1930) 162-64; and F. Schwenn, Die The­
ogonie des Hesiodos (Heidelberg 1934) 100-05, who considers only nine verses genuine. 
See also A. Rzach, RE 8 (1912) 1189 s. v. "Hesiodos"; I. Sellschopp, Stilistische Unter­
suchungen zu Hesiod (Hamburg 1934) 52; G. Kirk, "The Structure and Aim of the The­
agony," in Hesiode et son influence (Entretiens Hardt 7 [Vandoeuvres 1962)) 80, 84-86. 

2 For instance, by F. Pfister, "Die Hekate-Episode in Hesiods Theogonie," Philo/ogus 
84 (1928) 1-9; P. Friedlander, review of Jacoby in Hesiod, ed. E. Heitsch (Darmstadt 
1966) 125-26 (from GGA 1931); F. Solmsen, Hesiod and Aeschylus Othaca 1949) 53 
n.169; B. van Groningen, La Composition litteraire archaique grecque (Amsterdam 1958) 
267-70. 

3 P. Mazon, Hesiode (Paris 1928); F. Solmsen, Hesiodi Theogonia Opera et Dies (Ox­
ford 1970); M. L. WEST, Hesiod: Theogony (Oxford 1966: hereafter 'West'). Both 
Mazon and Solmsen bracket line 427, and Solmsen also considers 450-52 interpolated. 
For transpositions, see infra n.25. 

4 The question of the relation between Hesiod's apparently 'universal' goddess and 
the Hecate of a later era, with her marked chthonic associations and her unappetizing 
connections with magic, corpses, the moon, crossroads, and dogs, belongs properly to 
historians of Greek religion and cannot be dealt with here. I would, however, suggest 
that the interpretation of Hesiod's Hecate presented here may have important points of 
contact with certain mediating aspects of the Hecate of the Hymn to Demeter. More­
over, some of her late associations with magic and crossroads may not be unrelated to 
the arbitrary willfulness Hesiod ascribes to her. 

27 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

28 THE HECATE OF THE THEOGONY 

Most scholars posit a Carian origin for Hecate, whose characteristic 
functions are said to parallel those of several female Anatolian divini­
ties such as the Phrygian Cybele and the Ephesian Artemis-in other 
words, they understand Hecate as a reflex of the Great Mother fig­
ure.5 According to the most recent and authoritative commentary on 
the passage, by M. L. West, Hesiod's family had a special attachment 
to the Hecate cult, which it had encountered in Asia Minor before its 
emigration to Boeotia.6 West considers the "Hymn to Hecate" "not 
so much a hymn as a gospel" in which the "zealot" Hesiod gives a 
statement of "his personal beliefs" concerning "the chief goddess of 
her evangelist."7 Recently, however, the long-accepted view of Hec­
ate's Anatolian origin has been thrown into question.8 If nothing else, 
the speculations of West and others, based on flimsy evidence to 
start with, now appear even more tenuous. 

Mazon, on the other hand, had assumed that the Hecate cult was 
already well-established in Boeotia in Hesiod's time, that the goddess 
was worshipped there as a type of potnia theron, and that she was in 
fact "la grande divinite de Thespies. " 9 Accordingly, we ought not to 
be surprised to find Hesiod giving a privileged position and rendering 
homage to the chief local goddess-just as he goes out of his way to 
honor the local Muses of Helicon and the Eros of Thespiae.10 Two 
objections come to mind immediately. First and foremost, Hesiod's 
Hecate does not resemble a potnia theron or a "grande deesse de Ia 
nature. " 11 As enumerated by Hesiod, the spheres of her influence 
extend broadly over the range of human activities, but precisely not 
over nature or the beasts. The second argument, that Hesiod re­
served a special place for Hecate in his poem because she, like Eros 
and the Heliconian Muses, was an object of local veneration, is 
equally wrong-headed. Eros is included in the Theogony not because 

5 Cf. Wilamowitz (supra n.D 169; Nilsson (supra n.l) 722; T. Kraus, Hekate (Hei­
delberg 1960) 24-56; W. Burkert, Griechische Religion der archaischen und k/assischen 
Epoche (Stuttgart 1977) 266; P. Marquardt, "A Portrait of Hecate," AJP 102 (1961) 
250-51. 

6 West 278. Kraus (supra n.5) 61 insists that Hesiod's family could not have been 
responsible for the importation of the Hecate cult into Boeotia. 

7 West 276-78. 
8 By W. Berg, "Hecate: Greek or 'Anatolian,"' Numen 21 (1974) 128-40. It must be 

confessed, however, that Berg's arguments against Hecate's Anatolian origins are more 
convincing than his attempts to prove her Greekness. 

9 Mazon (supra n.3) 24. That Hecate was honored in Boeotia is already claimed in 
the scholia to Theog. 411. Cf. F. G. Welcker, Die Hesiodische Theogonie (Elberfeld 
1865) 128, and Marquardt (supra n.5) 253ff. 

10 For the Eros of Thespiae see West 196. 
11 As Marquardt (supra n.5) 255 finally admits after a review of the archaeological 

evidence. 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

JENNY STRAUSS CLAY 29 

he was worshipped in Thespiae but because Hesiod felt the need to 
introduce the principle of sexual reproduction at the very outset of 
his poem which takes sexual generation as its paradigm.12 It is simi­
larly insufficient to assert that the poet introduces the Muses of 
Helicon in order to pay his respects to local divinities. Hesiod de­
scribes his encounter with the Muses on Helicon -and they are the 
Olympian Muses-not for reasons of personal affection, nor to give a 
touch of 'local color', but to guarantee the authenticity and immedi­
ate authority of the account of the gods which follows. Both Eros and 
the Muses, then, perform roles which are vital to the argument of 
the Theogony. Can the same be said of Hecate? 

Another explanation of Hecate's prominence in the Theogony is 
based on Hesiod's presumed desire to celebrate a divinity ignored by 
epic, yet popular with the peasant class with which Hesiod identified 
himself.l3 There is, however, no evidence that Hecate was the god­
dess of the 'common man'; and it must be noted that such an inter­
pretation takes its bearing from the naive but still tenacious view of 
Hesiod as the singing peasant. Finally, it ignores the obvious fact that 
when Hesiod does vindicate the rights of the demos against the 'gift­
devouring kings', he sings of no god but Zeus. 

After rehearsing the scanty external evidence and the sundry inter­
pretations of Hesiod's Hecate, a recent article concludes on a despair­
ing note: "we shall have to be content to view in shadow" the face of 
this enigmatic goddess as she appears in the Theogony. 14 Like so 
many others, the author assumes that the essential key to unlocking 
the mystery of Hecate lies outside the text. In the absence of evi­
dence, tenuous hypotheses, such as those outlined above, have been 
spun out on the thinnest of threads. It is not my concern to refute 
in detail these differing accounts of Hecate's presence in the The­
agony. Here it must suffice to emphasize the unspoken presupposi­
tion shared by all of them: Hecate's place in the poem is motivated 
by the poet's personal beliefs or private devotion, his wish to honor a 
local deity or to identify himself with a social class. All these reasons 
for Hecate's inclusion are extraneous to the structure and context of 
the Theogony, and they all have recourse to the personal quirks or 

12 C.f P. Philippson, "Genealogie als mythische Form," SymbOs/o Suppl. 7 (1936) 
12-13. 

13 For example, Pfister (supra n.2) 8: "Hesiodos hat aber den Versuch gemacht, der 
von Homer unterdri.ickten, wohl aber auch in Boiotien, wenn auch nicht in prachtigen 
Tempeln, sondern in volksti.imlichen Begehungen verehrten ... Bauerngottin zu An­
sehen zu verhelfen." W. Aly, "Hesiodos von Askra," in Heitsch (supra n.2) 65 n.23 
(from RhM 1913), calls Hecate "die Gottin des inoffiziellen Privatkultes." 

14 Marquardt (supra n.5) 260. 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

30 THE HECATE OF THE THEOGONY 

circumstances of the poet.16 After extensive, but it must be confessed 
pointless, praise, Hecate plays no further role, nor is she integrated 
into the theological argument of the poem or the cosmos Hesiod so 
carefully constructs for us. The Theogony culminates in the triumph 
of Zeus and the establishment of the eternal Olympian order. The 
question abides whether Hecate, so elaborately praised, remains pe­
ripheral to that order. 

The answer can only lie in a renewed scrutiny of the Hesiodic text. 
As a few recent studies have demonstrated, 16 progress can still be 
made in illuminating the features of Hecate, but it must be based on 
the assumption that sufficient clues toward an interpretation reside 
within the confines of the poem. Both the structure of the "Hymn to 
Hecate" and its pivotal position in the Theogony throw light on Hesi­
od's purpose as well as the significance of the goddess in Hesiod's 
theology. 

The description of Hecate comes just before the center of Hesiod's 
poem and is followed immediately by the account of the birth of Zeus 
and the other Olympians. In effect, Hecate is the last-born of the 
older gods-with the exception of the sons of Iapetus, whose geneal­
ogy is postponed until immediately after the deposition and binding 
of Cronus. Hecate and Prometheus thus flank the crucial event of the 
Theogony P although neither episode occurs in its strictly chronologi­
cal position. Both are proleptic: in the Prometheus story, Hephaestus 
and Athena, who mold and adorn the first woman, have not yet been 
born; and Zeus' final concession of timai to Hecate presumably can-

15 Perhaps the most extreme among these is P. Walcot, "Hesiod's Hymns to the 
Muses, Aphrodite, Styx and Hecate," SymbOsfo 34 (1958) 13-14, who after noting the 
coincidence of the name o(Hesiod's brother and that of Hecate's father, concludes: 
"the story of Hecate had a very personal implication as far as Hesiod was concerned. 
Hesiod's respect for Hecate is of the same order virtually as his love of the Muses. 
Both provide a contrast with his normal hatred of women" (italics mine). Van Gro­
ningen (supra n.2) 269 asserts that the Theogony was performed at a festival in honor 
of Hecate. Needless to say, no evidence exists for either view. 

16 I should mention the careful analysis of J. Bollack, "Mythische Deutung und 
Deutung des Mythos," in Terror und Spiel: Probleme der Mythenrezeption, ed. M. Fuhr­
mann (Munich 1971) 111-18; also the provocative remarks of M. Arthur, "Cultural 
Strategies in Hesiod's Theogony: Law, Family, Society," Arethusa 15 (1982) 68-70, 
concerning the role of Hecate within the larger framework of male and female roles in 
the Thegony; and D. Boedecker, "Hecate: A Transfunctional Goddess in the Theog­
ony?" TAPA 113 (1983) 79-93, who views Hecate in Dumezilian terms. 

17 Cf. Arthur (supra n.16) 68: "The Hekate story, with that of Prometheus/Pandora, 
frames the narrative of the birth of Zeus and is attracted into its orbit of meaning by its 
narrative quality, which sets it off from the catalogue of the preceding several hundred 
lines. Hekate's character is not established by the conditions of her birth alone, but is 
only finally fixed in relation to the reign of Zeus." Cf. the remarks of N. 0. Brown, 
Hesiod's Theogony (New York 1953) 28-29. 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

JENNY STRAUSS CLAY 31 

not occur until the final dasmos in line 885 after the defeat of the 
Titans. Thus theology rather than chronology determines the place­
ment of the Hecate episode. 

We may begin the case with a simple review. Zeus, we are told, 
"honored Hecate above all and gave her splendid gifts, to have a 
share of the earth and sterile sea. And she also received a share of 
honor from the starry sky; and is very much honored by the im­
mortal gods" (411-15). Later we learn that ''of all those who were 
born from Earth and Sky and received honor, of all these she keeps a 
share" (421-22). But it turns out that these universal privileges are 
not a new dispensation under the reign of Zeus, but belonged to 
Hecate originally: "nor did the son of Cronus do her violence, nor 
did he strip her of what she had received from the Titans, the earlier 
gods; but these she keeps, as from the beginning the distribution was 
accomplished" ( 423-25). 

Several things bear emphasizing in these lines. First, it is clear that 
Hecate does not simply receive earth, sea, and sky as her sphere of 
influence. The Greek is quite precise: the goddess received a share of 
honor on earth, in the heavens, and in the sea. The notion of portion 
or share is emphatically repeated (413, 426). All talk of Hecate as a 
'universal goddess' must therefore be carefully modified.18 The sec­
ond characteristic of Hecate's power which Hesiod underlines by 
three-fold repetition <Exew 413, EXH 422, 425) is the continuity of 
the goodess' share of time. She keeps what honor she originally had 
and, in fact, "even got much more, because Zeus honors her" (428). 

In this connection we may compare the story of Hecate's cousin 
Styx, told a few lines earlier (383-403). There Hesiod describes the 
policy of Zeus on the eve of his battle with the Titans. Calling to­
gether all the gods, Zeus promised that whoever joined his side 
would be allowed to keep the honor he held previously; and whoever 
had been without honor or privilege under Cronus would receive 
both, T1 BeJ.LtS E(rriv. In an act that ensures Zeus' ultimate victory, 

18 E. Rohde, Psyche 3 II (TUbingen 1903) 82 n.3, who considers the entire passage an 
interpolation, calls Hecate a "Universalgi::ittin" and adds: "Das Ganze ist eine sender­
bare Probe von der Ausweitung, die in einem lebhaft betriebenen Localcult eine ein­
zelne Gottheit gewinnen konnte. Der Name dieses durch die ganze Welt herrschenden 
Damons wird dabei (da eben Alles auf den Einen gehauft ist) schliesslich gleichgiltig." 
I hope to show below that the latter statement is incorrect and that Hecate's name is 
not irrevelant. Taking issue with Jacoby (Hermes 61 [1926] 179), who calls Hecate an 
"Allgi::ittin," Friedliinder (supra n.2) 125 correctly explains the limitation of Hecate's 
powe~.s: "Nicht Her~in des Ails ist sie, sondern iiberall hat sie 'Anteil' ... Nirgends 
verdrangt Hekate die anderen Gi::itter. Von einer Allgottheit vollends ist in diesem 
Bezirk religii::isen Denkens nicht die Rede. Doch iiberall ist sie dabei." Cl Kraus (supra 
n.5) 62~ and West's comments (28lf) ad 413-14. · 



32 THE HECATE OF THE THEOGONY 

Styx goes over to his side, bringing along her appropriately named . 
children, Kratos, Bie, Zelos, and Nike. In return, Zeus makes her 
"the great oath of the gods" and establishes her children as his con­
stant companions. Evidently Styx had little to hope for under the old 
regime of Cronus, and her loyalty to Zeus was amply rewarded. 

This little episode foreshadows and· guarantees the final victory of 
Zeus and the telos of the Theogony. But it also points up a peculiar 
feature of the Hecate story. As West notes, Hecate does not appear 
to render any special service .to Zeus,l9 yet she not only retains her 
prerogatives from the old order, but is accorded the additional title of 
kourotrophos. Indeed, the text emphasi2jes repeatedly that it is Zeus . ·• 
who honors her-and not the other way around. Zeus, in fact, almost 
seems to court Hecate's favor.20 He must in some sense recognize 
the importance and utility of maintaining Hecate's functions and timai 
urider his new regime. 

The twice-applied epithet mounogenes (426, 448) offers an indica~ 
tion of Hecate's special status. West gives the commonly accepted 
interpretation. of the term at line 426: "Presumably an only daJ,lghter 
might .be in· danger of f3A.af37J . . . having no brother to protect her 
interests"; and at 448 he confesses that he does "not know what is 
the point of the addition eK f.LTJTpo.;;. " 21 BoBack, on the other hand, 
renders JLQvvoyevi).;; EK f.LTJTpo.;; eoil(m as "von ihrer Mutter geboren, 
um.einzig zu sein,'' and draws attention to the use of mounogenes in 
Parmenides an.d Plato:as epithets of Being or the cosmos.22 From a ;. 
different perspective, Arthur likens the position of mounogenes Heca~ 
te to that of an epikleros.23 Both interpretations can readily be com­
bined .• tobring out Hecate's unique position as inheritor of the three 
cosmic realms, Pontos, Gaia, and Uranus, and who sums up in her 
person alE;ofthe preceding cosmogony and theogony.24 Zeus, it ap-

. 19.\\f~sti84 ad423~24; and Marquardt (supra n.5) 247, "Zeus_'reasons for non,ornlg 
Hecate;,.which presumably go beyond affection or familial ties;-are never mentioned 
Hesiod~" , · 

20 (f Boedecker (supra n.16) 90: ''We might conclude that Zeus needs her more 
thanshe,needs him." 

21 West 284, 289. The scholia also offer a different interpretation: oi yap p.,ovoyeve'is 
?TA:EOVEf<:TOtxn 7TUVTOTE. Sui yap TO (.1/T/ E)(EtV allell.cpov<; 0 p.,ovoyev,Y,<; ?TI\.ewvo<; TE'rV)(7JKE 
T~j£ijs: This • would suggest that being niounogenes is not considered a drawback tut 
rat)leran ad:yautage. .·· 

22 Bbllack (supra n.l6) 117. 
·. 23 A:rthur (supra n.16) 68. At Op. 376 Hesiod calls an only son who is to be the sole 

heirto 1the pate~nal estate mounogenes. 
· 24 R.Schwab!, RE Suppl. 12 (1972) 443 s.v. "Hesiodos," has made the interesting 

observation :that .the treatment of Hecate's genealogy is unique in the. Theogony: it 
violates the •apparent rule of patrilineal descent which forms the organizational principle 
ofHesiod's catalogues, by recounting Hecate's birth in conjunction with the genealogy 



JENNY S-TRAUSS CLAY 33 

pears, honors Hecate not despite the fact that she is. mounogenes, but 
.. because of it-in recognition of her unique status. 

The catalogue at 429-49 reveals both Hecate's functions and the 
extent of her powers over the lives of men.25 Her presence and good 
will appear to assure success to every human endeavor. Yet the list 
makes equally clear that Hecate's extensive powers are not indepen­
dent of those of other divinities. In council, she grants pre-eminence, 
while in war she gives victory and glory "to whom she wills"; but 
Victory has taken up her abode with Zeus, who· likewise has . the 
power of granting kudos.26 Hecate sits by kings as they render judg­
ments; yet we know from Hesiod's proem that kings are from Zeus, 
and their successful judicial pronouncements depend on the honey of 
t!J.e Muses. Similarly, we are told that Hecate is beneficent when she 
stands by horsemen and those who compete in games: "and. easily he 
carries off a fine prize, having won with strength-and might, and he 
gives glory to his parents" (435-39). Once again, it is clear that 
Hecate is not being made into the goddess who presides over athletic 
competitions. As we know from countless tales of heroic contests, 
ariy god can intervene on behalf of his favorite: Yet Hesiod tells us 
thatHecate's support and good will ate somehow crudalto winning. 
Exactly how becomes manifest in the following verses· (440-43): 

And for those who work the stormy sea, 
and who pray to 'Hecate and to the Earthshaker, 
easily the splendid goddess grants a big catch, 
and easily she takes it away, once it has appeared­

if indeed she wants to. 

• Here, finally, we can gain insight into the operation of Hecate's 
extensive yet not fully indep~ndent powers. She grants success in 

ofher mother, Asterie. Schwab! (450) further characterizes the combined offspring of 
the union of Pontids and Uranians (of which Hecate is one): "Sucht man nach einem 
gemeinsamen Neuner filr die Wesen des Abschnitts, so ist er wohl am ehesten.einer-

.. seits in der starken Bindung an elementare (kosmische) Bereiche und anderseits in der 
f: Hnheimlichkeit zu finden." 
WL: ~5 Neither of West's transpositions are necessary or convincing. Following Schoe-
~ mann, Opuscula Academica II (Berlin 1857) 220-21, but not his edition of 1868, West 
\.. transposes 434 before 430 despite the harsh change from singular to plural. This ig­
~·i.::-:,.nores the fact that 430-33 define the traditional two-fold virtue of the epic hero, who 
··· ~excells ·both in speech and in warfare. Cf II. 9.443, cited by Schoemann: Kings render~ 
\L ingjudgments, like the rest of the activities in Hesiod's catalogue (424-46), belong to 
::;;,;peacetime. Cf /1. 16.387-88 and 18.497-506, cited by West. Horsemen, to be sure, 
{··;belong to both peace and war, but there is no compelling reason to transpose 439. 
ic:. '\' 26 C.f fr.75.19-20 M.-W., where Zeus and the other immortals are said to be able to 
'/ .:imrit kudos; also Scut. 339, where Athena v~v a8avarns xepCTtV Kat Kilaos exovCTa. 
t 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

34 THE HECATE OF THE THEOGONY 

fishing if she is invoked in conjunction with Poseidon and if she is 
willing. So too in conjunction with Hermes, Hecate can increase the 
flocks, and, if she wills it, she can make many from few and, on the 
contrary, diminish the many (444-47). 

Hesiod's catalogue of Hecate's powers, while not exhaustive, gives 
the impression of universality.27 But it is quite evident that these 
powers are not autonomous. Each area in which Hecate manifests her 
influence belongs either to a specific god (Poseidon, Hermes) or to a 
possible diversity of gods.28 Yet in each sphere her good will forms an 
essential ingredient of success-just as its absence seems to lead to 
failure. Consequently, Hecate must not be regarded as simply bene­
ficent or as a kindly Heifergottin,29 for that constitutes only half her 
power and neglects her darker side. Bollack correctly sums up her 
ambiguous nature: "Unmassnig im Guten wie im Bosen, wirkt die 
Gottin mit einer schwerelosen Leichtigkeit"~ and he defines her dom­
inant trait as "die Allgegenwart des Zufal/s." 30 The essential character 
of Hecate, then, resides in the easy exercise of arbitrary power over 
success or failure in every human enterprise. 

The repeated emphasis throughout the passage on Hecate's will31 

has led some scholars to postulate a Hesiodic etymology of her name 
as 'the willing goddess' .32 This gloss is surely in keeping with Hesi-

27 Cf Boedecker (supra n.16) 79f, and Friedlander (supra n.2) 125. 
28 Cf Schoemann (supra n.25) 225: "Mercurium deum pastoralem fuisse nemo 

ignorat. Atque sicut huius in hoc munere socia esse Hecate dicitur, et paullo ante in 
navigantium tutela Neptuni, sic etiam in ceteris, quae supra commemorata sunt, om­
nibus alii quidam dei nominari potuissent, quorum ilia munerum societatem haberet." 

29 Arthur (supra n.l6) 69 considers Hecate as "the first of the major female figures 
in the poem who is presented in a wholly positive light" and speaks of "her beneficent 
character" (70). Marquardt (supra n.S) 244 first claims that "expressions of Hecate's 
... benevolent nature form a recurring theme in the Hymn," but then more correctly 
asserts that "the unpredictability of Hecate's favor is a recurring theme in the Hymn" 
(247). 

30 Bollack (supra n.16) 115; Schoemann (supra n.O 185 suggests that Hecate should 
be understood as a personification of "die gottliche Wirksamkeit": "Diese Wirksamkeit 
wohnt nun freilich allen Gottern bei, ist eine Eigenschaft von allen; das aber konn1e 
den Dichter nicht hindern, sie doch auch als eigene gottliche Person aufzufiihren." .\. 
striking parallel to Hecate's ambiguous power in human life comes from Pindar's opel­
ing invocation to aw-retpa Tvxa in Olympian 12. 

31 cP 8' e8b .. n 429; OIJ K' E8EAY/O"LIJ 430; ot<; K' EBEAY/O"L(v) 432, 439; e8eA.ovmi '}'t: 8v~ 
443; 9v~ y' e8b .. ovaa 446. 

32 Walcot (supra n.15) 11. C.f. G. Hermann, "De mythologia Graecorum antiquis­
sima dissertatio," Opuscula II (Leipzig 1827) 185, and "De Apolline et Diana pars 
posterior," Opuscula VII (Leipzig 1839) 306, who, deriving Hecate from eKwv and 
EKT/TL, renders her name as Volumnia. A. Fick, Die griechischen Personennamen 2 (Got­
tingen 1894) 452, translates Hecate as "nach dem Willen." Cf W. Prellwitz, "Participia 
praesentia activi in der Zusammensetzung," Glotta 17 (1929) 147. Schoemann (supra 
n.25) 228-30 offers an alternative etymology connecting Hecate with EK£k (!: K. 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

JENNY STRAUSS CLAY 35 

od's intention, but the perspective is once again skewed by mistaking 
for good will what is Hecate's essential arbitrariness. Hecate is not the 
'willing goddess', but the one by whose wili-EKTJn-prayers are ful­
filled and success granted. To give an example of Hecate's function: I 
pray to Hermes to increase my flocks or to Zeus for victory. Both 
Hermes and Zeus surely have the requisite power to accomplish my 
wish; yet my prayer may or may not be answered. Something has 
intervened to bring about my success or failure. That something is, in 
fact, Hecate. If I have been successful, it is because of the propitious 
conjunction of Hecate and some other god; it is by the will of Zeus, 
EKTJTt. 4to~, or another divinity, and Hecate has played her role as 
intermediary. 

On the basis of this interpretation, it is possible now to understand 
the enigmatic, if not absurd, statement at Theogony 416-19, which I 
purposely omitted in my analysis of the opening section of the pas­
sage: 

Kai yap vvv, OTE 'TT'OV TIS E7nx8oviwv av8pciJTrwv 
, ~ • \ \ \ \ I •\ I 
EpuWV tEpa Kal\a KaTa VOJ.U)V tl\aCTKTJTat, 

KtKA.i}crKEt ·EKUTTJV' TroA.A.i} TE oi ECT'TT'ETO Tt.f.1.7J 
•" '\' 'l' 1,1.. 8 \ • ~~/: • I peta f.I.UI\ , CtJ TrpO~pWV 'YE Ea V1TOuE.,.ETat EVXa~ ... 

The lines appear to assert the bizarre notion that every act of sacrifice 
or propitiation involves an invocation to Hecate and that success 
resides in the goddess' kindly reception of the prayer. Now, no such 
custom every existed among the Greeks, and Hesiod could rightly be 
accused of perpetrating a meaningless absurdity. The few scholars 
who have confronted this oddity have suspected some ritual basis for 
Hesiod's curious assertion, but they do not elaborate.33 There is in 
fact some suggestive evidence for a custom that may have inspired 
Hesiod. When, on occasion, a series of offerings to various divinities 
was established, the goddess designated as kourotrophos was some­
times given the right of first sacrifice, the so-called prothyma.34 The 

Brugmann, lndogermanische Forschungen 17 (1904/5) 1-11. The modern consensus is 
that 'EKaTTJ is the feminine of "EKaTo<;, epithet of Apollo, and perhaps of Anatolian 
origin. C.f. Wilamowitz (supra n.l) 117; and Kraus (supra n.5) 14, "Dass Hekatos die 
mannliche Form zu Hekate ist und dass beide aus der gleichen Wurzel, dem gleichen 
Vorstellungskreis entsprungen sind, ist sicher." What matters of course is not the 
scientific etymology but Hesiod's interpretation of the goddess' name. 

33 For instance, Marquardt (supra n.5) 244 comments on 416-18: "Hecate's presence 
in such prayers, especially if she is invoked with other gods, may reflect only ritual." 

34 See T. H. Price, Kourotrophos (Leiden 1978) 10, 105, 108, 111, 123 (although 
Price may insist too much on identifying the kourotrophos with Ge). For the meaning 
of 11'po8vw and 11'po8vp,a see J. Casabona, Recherches sur /e vocabulaire des sacrifices en 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

36 THE HECATE OF THE THEOGONY 

existence of such a custom would make sense of Hesiod's claim at 
the end of his praise of Hecate that Zeus added to her honors the 
role of kourotrophos (450). Be that as it may, Hesiod's peculiar state­
ment supports our interpretation of the name and function of Hecate 
as the one by whose will prayer is accomplished and fulfilled. 

The decisive proof of the correctness of such an understanding of 
Hecate's critical mediating role comes from the words of Hesiod 
himself in his opening invocation to the Works and Days. There he 
summons the Muses to hymn their father Zeus: 

., ~ ' a ' , ~ • ,.... , A.~ , A.~ , O:V 'TE uta ppOTOL a:vupE~ 0~ a'o/"TOL TE 'o/"TOL TE, 
• ' ' " ' A ' '\ ., PTJTOL T app7JTOL TE ~w~ JJ,eyal\ow EK7JTL. 

The next two verses clearly echo the Hecate passage of the Theogony: 

pea J.LE :v yap {3puXEL, pea Be {3pu!to :VTa xaA.e1TTEL, 
pEta 8' apt(,''f/AO:V p..t:vv8et Kat a87JAO:V ae~EL ... 

The significance and importance of Hecate for the Theogony as a 
whole now begin to emerge. As in the case of several other deities, 
Hesiod develops Hecate's functions by etymologizing her name. This 
procedure finds its parallel in Hesiod's treatment of Metis and Aphro­
dite~ he evolves the figure of Metis from the formulaic expression 

grec (Aix-en-Provence 1966) 103-08, and J. Mikalson, "Prothyma," AJP 93 (1972) 
577-83. The literary evidence comes from Plato Com. Phaon fr.174.5-11 Edmonds. 
Addressing a Chorus of women enamoured of Phaon, Aphrodite tells them that if they 
want to see Phaon, they must sacrifice to her first as a kourotrophos and then perform 
other sacrifices to other divinities: 

Ei yap <l>awva 8i'w9' i.&Lv, 7TpoTEA.Eux Bii 
vJ,J.iXs 'TTOti,am 'TTOAAa 7TpOTEpov TouxBi. 
1rpiffra ,.Uv EJ..Wt yap KovpoTporbqJ 7TpofJVETat 
'TTAaKOVc; EVOPXT'/~. UJLVAO~ EYKVJLWV, KLXAat 
EKKai&x' oA.oKA.T'/pot ~Am 1-'EI-"Y~vac., 
A.a~ BWBEK' e'TTwEA.T'/va. TaA.A.a BE 
i!BT'/ < 1rapa > mifra < y' > EVTEA. i, 'en'· aKovETE. 

The Suda gives under the entry KovpoTpocf>o~ yT,: mVry, BE 9Wai cfxxut 1rp(ffrov 'Eptx-
9ovwv EJJ aKpo'TT6A.n Kat f3w,.J,v iFJpvuau9at, xaptv a'TTOBtFJOvm rfi yfj TWV Tpocf>Eiwv. 
KaTauTi,uat BE vO!-"J..WV ToV.. fJVovTa~ nvt 9Ei{J. mVT[I 1rpo8vuv. Here the aetiological 
myth may simply reflect established custom. C.f. Etym.Magn. s. v. 9VT/A.ai. For the epi­
graphical evidence see F. Sokolowski, LSCG 20.6 and notes (sacred calendar of Mara­
thon, IV B.c.); and especially LSCG 18, the sacred calendar of Erchia (first half IV 
B.c.). C.f G. Daux, "La grande demarchie," BCH 87 (1963) 603-04, and the analysis 
of S. Dow, "The Greater Demarkhia of Erchia," BCH 89 (1965) 201-02. In the latter 
inscription the kourotrophos is mentioned six times, and she is always the first to re­
ceive sacrifice (a pigling). Whoever the kourotrophos is here-and the term is more a 
function title than an identifying name-she cannot be Hecate, since Artemis-Hecate is 
listed separately. Dow comments (204): "though she was always a minor deity, there 
would be sense in grouping Kourotrophos with the Olympians, since sacrifices to her are 
always prothymata to Olympian sacrifices" (italics mine). 



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

JENNY STRAUSS CLAY 37 

JJ.:ryTiera Ze~ and invents a new genealogy for Aphrodite from her 
epithet ovpavia.35 Similarly, Hesiod connects the name of Hecate 
with the canonical phrase EK'YJTt atos- and ovK aeK'YJTt 6ewv.36 But it 
must be admitted that such a verbal connection would have remained 
a minor curiosity, a clever conceit and nothing more, if Hesiod had 
not recognized its theological utility. 

The lengthy treatment of Hecate at a pivotal moment in the Theog­
ony attests not to a personal whim of Hesiod's, but to the poet's 
understanding of her critical mediating function. Hecate mediates not 
only between the old and the new order, the Titans and the Olym­
pians: her powers bridge the three spheres of the cosmos, and she 
forms the crucial intermediary between gods and men. The logic of 
the placement of the Hecate episode is now apparent. It stands di­
rectly before the focal event of divine and cosmic history, the birth of 
Zeus, and forms the necessary complement to the story of Prome­
theus, which follows. In the Prometheus myth, Hesiod offers an 
account of the origins of the great schism separating gods and men.37 

Prometheus' attempt to deceive Zeus through the distribution of 
meat, Zeus' retention of fire, Prometheus' countertheft, and Zeus' 
final act of revenge in the form of the first woman-all serve to 
define what will henceforth be the condition of mankind. The suc­
cessive acts in the duel between Prometheus and Zeus and Zeus' 
final and complete triumph explain the permanent separation of men 
from the gods, of which the institution of sacrifice is an emblem. 
Henceforth, all communication between men and gods requires the 
mediation of sacrifice and prayer. 

The description of Hecate gives an explanation of how the media­
tion inaugurated by Prometheus' deception operates in the post­
Promethean age under the everlasting reign of Zeus. In the Prome­
theus episode, human beings are the passive victims of a divine 
comedy played out at their expense. By contrast, in the passage 
devoted to Hecate, men are not only more strikingly present than 
anywhere else in the Theogony; they are also depicted as active agents 
busily engaged in all spheres of human endeavor.38 But, above all, 

35 On Uranian Aphrodite see West 212. 
36 C.f. Theog. 529; II. 12.8, 15.720; Od. 1.79, 3.28, 4.504, 6.240, 12.290, 15.319, 

19.86, 20.42, 24.444; Hymn.Hom. Ven. 147. 
37 C(. J.-P. Vernant, "Le mythe prometheen chez Hesiode" in Mythe et societe en 

Griw. ancienne (Paris 1974) 177-94; and "A Ia table des hommes," in La Cuisine du 
sacrifice (Paris 1979) 37-132. 

38 We tend to forget how little the Theogony deals directly with human beings. Schoe­
mann (supra n.O 183 grasps the peculiar character of the passage: "Es ist dieses Stuck 
der Theogonie das einzige in seiner Art. Denn von dem, was die Gotter filr die Men-



STRAUSS CALY, JENNY, The Hecate of the "Theogony" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine 
Studies, 25:1 (1984) p.27 

38 THE HECATE OF THE THEOGONY 

they are men 'like us' who pray and sacrifice to the gods kata nomon. 
"And so, even now, whenever men pray or make sacrifice, they 
invoke Hecate" by whose will success is granted or denied. Absorbed 
and consolidated into the Olympian pantheon and taking her place in 
Zeus' cosmos as an essential element of the post-Promethean order, 
Hecate thus forms the middle term of Hesiod's theodicy and fully 
deserves her place in the Theogony. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 

June, 1983 

schen thun, von ihrem Walten im Leben derselben, von den Gaben die sie gewahren 
oder versagen, kurz von Allem, urn deswillen sie von den Menschen verehrt und 
angerufen werden, ist in keinem anderen Theil der Theogonie eigentlich die Rede."