Lady_Lilith wrote:Siona: I read somewhere Hekate's cult of witches were feared and this links her to Madea and Kirke.
Yes, it's possible the links either comes from her being described as their mother in some places, or perhaps the other way around, but the both of them were said to serve Hekate at any rate, so the tie was there. Like a lot of ancient deities, she was thought to have power over something, and so was thought to be able to ward it away, as well. A lot of Athenian homes had little shrines to Hekate by the door to ward off witchcraft and evil.
Isn't Hekate also connected to Lamia?
Yep, she sure is. They're one of the groups of spirits that are said to wander with her from the underworld. Ghosts in general, but often restful or vengeful dead in particular were in her company. Lampades are another group, they're underworld nymphs who carry torches with her, and they and Hekate had a role in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Empousa is another monster-spirit which is sometimes said to be in the company of Hekate, and could change shapes... usually into a pretty woman to catch men.
Actually I quite like this little bit of a play...
Xanthias : And now I see the most ferocious monster.
Dionysos : O, what's it like?
Xanthias : Like everything by turns. Now it's a bull: now it's a mule : and now the loveliest girl.
Dionysos : O, where? I'll go and meet her.
Xanthias : It's ceased to be a girl: it's a dog now.
Dionysos : It is Empousa!
You say she is associated with Artemis but I am not clear on this. Though I have seen it many times in later lore. She also had an association with the moon, did she not? I always thought her more lunar ideals came from medieval art.
Artemis and Hekate are both often shown as maidens wearing short skirts, carrying a torch or twin torches, in the company of hounds, and helpers in childbirth. There are some texts where Artemis-Hekate is mentioned. In some places, Hekate was even the creation of Artemis. (
http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/HekateGo ... Iphigeneia)
Then in later times, Roman era Greece, Selene was added and you'd sometimes see the full triad of Artemis-Hekate-Selene. Artemis had already been identified with Selene for some time... it's speculated that this came about more because of Apollon's association with Helios, so of course Apollo's sister (Artemis) would fit with Helios' sister (Selene). But that is where many of Artemis' lunar ties originate from, they weren't really there otherwise, and didn't start getting emphasized as a main thing until much later (like, after the rise of Christianity). Then, in a really roundabout way, this is where Hekate's lunar ties probably originate from, as well. Hekate being associated with Artemis, who was associated with Selene, who then became associated with Hekate. It's all a bit of a mess really, lol. Alone, earlier, Hekate would have been thought more to be tied to moonless nights, when witches would often practice (and I believe it is Medea who had the power to remove the moon from the sky so she could practice on any night?), as well as being linked to the night in general, and to the stars like her mother. But she did come to have some of those mild lunar ties in classical times, and would sometimes be described as the moon.
I don't really know why Diana sort of took over Hekate's role in later times specifically, but if I had to guess it would be because of similar things as above. Mixing and merging of deity traits over time, and maybe mixed with information being lost and shuffled around.