Analyzing the Orphic hymns: Hecate (#1)

Hello everyone! Espiridion here. Today I’ll be talking about the Orphic hymn to Hecate, analyzing it a little bit and doing the best I can to provide some insights on it. This is the first post of a little series I’m planning on doing, sharing and analyzing each Orphic hymn a little bit. The Orphic hymns are a series of poems written under the tradition of Orphism, a set of religious beliefs originating in the Hellenistic world and Greek tradition, said to be based on the teachings of the legendary poet Orpheus and focusing on death-and-rebirth deities, such as Dionysus and Persephone (Orpheus himself traveled to the under old and came back, too). Each Orphic hymn is addressed to a Greek god in particular, not only singing their praise but also giving us a very poetic and cosmological look to them. Without any further ado, let’s get right into it!

What does the Orphic hymn to Hekate say?

There are, of course, many translations. This is the translation made by Apostolos N. Athanassakis, very literal and straightforward. I find it rather faithful to the hymns original words and meaning:

”Lovely Hekate of the roads

and of the crossroads I invoke.

In heaven, on earth,

then in the sea, saffron-cloaked,

tomb spirit reveling in the souls of the dead,

daughter of Perses, haunting deserted places,

delighting in deer,

nocturnal, dog-loving,

monstrous queen,

devouring wild beasts,

ungirt and repulsive.

Herder of bulls,

queen and mistress of the whole world,

leader, nymph,

mountain-roaming nurturer of youths,

maiden, I beseech you to come

to these holy rites,

ever with joyous heart,

ever favoring the oxherd.”

This other translation is the one made by Thomas Taylor. It isn’t as faithful to the original wording of the hymns, not a straightforward and literal translation. But Thomas Taylor gives the hymns a poetic spin, weaving rhymes into them and reinterpreting them to make them more musical and phonetically-pleasing. He had a spiritual understanding of them and arranged them on a way I feel is very suiting for ritual. While some consider them outdated, I find them pretty charming. Here is his version:

”I call Einodian Hecate, lovely dame, of earthly, wat'ry, and celestial frame,

Sepulchral, in a saffron veil array'd, leas'd with dark ghosts that wander thro' the shade;

Persian, unconquerable huntress hail! The world's key-bearer never doom'd to fail

On the rough rock to wander thee delights, leader and nurse be present to our rites

Propitious grant our just desires success, accept our homage, and the incense bless.”

About the goddess Hecate…

•Domains: Witchcraft, crossroads, gateways, ghosts, necromancy, the moon, the night.

•Symbols and associations: Torches, keys, daggers, dogs (specially black dogs), polecats, snakes, lions

•Depictions: Aside from being depicted along with her symbols, she is sometimes depicted as having three bodies, this likely being due to her association with three-way crossroads. She is also at times depicted with boots and a knee-length skirt; the attire of a huntress.

•Family: Her mother is Asteria, the goddess of falling stars and nightly oracles. Her father is Perses, the god of destruction (which is inferred only due to his name). Both of those gods are titans, Hecate herself being a titan goddess. That parentage would also make her a cousin to Artemis and Apollo on her mother’s side. This is the most popular version, but a few obscure ones make her the daughter of either Zeus and Asteria, Aristaios or Demeter. While some say she is a virgin goddess, an author says she was the mother of Medea and Circe, two of mythology’s most preeminent witches (as well as Medea’s brother, Aegialeus). Another author says she was the mother of Scylla, a terrifying sea-monster with twelve feet, six necks and triple rows of sharp teeth in each mouth. Scylla is often depicted as being half-woman and half sea-monster.

Analyzing the hymn

•Hecate’s Orphic hymn is the first of them all, this likely being due to her role as a key-bearer and a keeper of gateways. She doesn’t only rule over physical roads, crossroads and gateways, but also spiritual ones. She rules over liminal spaces, those that are both an end and a beginning, and thus opens up “doors” between worlds, roads between realms. This is why she is a goddess of necromancy, allowing people to connect with the other world and its inhabitants. Witchcraft itself is a way of connecting with various realms for various purposes, as well as accessing different states of consciousness, traveling from one to the other. Thus the position of her hymn as the first one of this collection is not a coincidence, for it is her who opens up the way for any and all rituals to take place. She is also called “key-bearer” in this hymn, which couldn’t be more fitting.

•Hecate is described in this hymn as being present in heaven, in earth and in the sea. As I mentioned before, Hecate is a titan goddess. The titans ruled the world prior to the Olympian gods, this until Zeus overthrew his father, the titan god Cronus, and took his place as ruler of the universe. However, despite being a titan, Hecate did not have any of her power stripped away by Zeus, nor did she receive any punishment. In fact, not only did she retain all she had, but Zeus is also said to have given her splendid gifts. Hecate is said to have power over the skies, the earth and the sea, either because Zeus granted that to her or because such was her privilege since the time of the titans. Thus she holds power over all portions of the universe and is present in all of these.

•Hecate is called “Enodia” in this hymn, an epithet meaning “in the road”. This is also the name of a Thessalian goddess associated with roads, cementeries, ghosts, purification, protection and the city of Thessaly itself. Curiously enough, Thessaly was known for its witches, particularly regarding their usage of herbs. Thessalian witches were said to be able to draw the moon down from the sky.

•Hecate is described in this hymn as “saffron-cloaked” or “saffron-veiled”. Saffron is a spice obtained from crocus flowers, the spice’s color being red or orangish. When the moon is bright and covered by clouds, it appears to be shrouded in an orangish glow. Thus Hecate, a moon goddess, is saffron-cloaked/veiled.

•This hymn emphasizes Hecate’s connection to the dead, describing her as a sepulchral goddess and as “reveling in the souls of the dead”. Hecate is in fact closely tied to the underworld and is in many ways a chthonic deity. Hecate is said to have helped Demeter search for Persephone, her daughter, after she was abducted down to the underworld by Hades. Hecate lit up the way for the search using her torches, but the fate of Persephone was ultimately revealed to Demeter by the sun-god Helios, who saw it all from his lofty position in the sky. When Demeter and Persephone reunited at last, Hades agreeing to let Persephone visit her mother for half of the year, Hecate rejoiced along with them. When Persephone had to go back down to the underworld as its queen, Hecate decided to follow her, becoming her attendant. Thus Hecate does not only have a strong connection to the underworld, but also to its queen, Persephone.

•Hecate is described in this hymn as “delighting in deer” and “mountain-roaming”, thus portraying her as a huntress. As I mentioned before, Hecate does have hunting associations and is sometimes portrayed in huntress attire. This may point to some syncretism between Hecate and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt who is also a moon-deity. Hecate’s association with the wilderness is also highlighted when the hymn calls her “nymph”, nymphs being spirits of nature.

•Hecate is portrayed as an horrifying goddess in many instances of this hymn, being called things such as “repulsive” and “monstrous”. Another translation of this hymn portrays her as “roaring like a beast”. Hecate does in fact have a very much terrifying aspect to her. In the Argonautica, when Jason makes an offering to the goddess, Hecate appears forth wearing a garland of snakes twirled around twigs of oak, the ground shakes beneath her and the “twinkle of a thousand torches” lights up the scene as dogs bark shrilly around her and the nearby nymphs cry out in terror. Jason himself is terrified and retreats, but is careful not to turn around as he does. Thus Hecate is a goddess who can be utterly fearsome, as is fitting for a deity who rules over things such as ghosts, witchcraft and necromancy. This is probably why she was at times syncretized with the goddess Ceto, who represented the dangers of the sea and was the mother of many sea monsters.

•Simultaneously, Hecate is described in the beginning of the hymn as “lovely”, and what is more natural to witches than being both extremely beautiful and absolutely terrifying, all in one being? Another translation interprets the hymn as later calling Hecate “irresistible”, too, once again highlighting her beauty.

•Hecate is somewhat associated with cattle, thus her Orphic hymn calling her a “herder of bulls” and asking for her favor towards ox-herds. This is very common among moon deities, not only in Greece but across the world, perhaps in part because the shape of a crescent moon resembles bull horns.

•Hecate being called an ox-herd herself may also be a metaphor, intended to convey that she is a leader, one who guides people and moves them forward, “herding them”. This hymn also calls her a “leader” explicitly, as well as “queen and mistress of the whole world” (that perhaps also because she holds power over all parts of the universe, as mentioned before). That implication would also imply the line asking Hecate to favor the “ox-herd” is asking for her to favor ritual or religious leaders of sorts, those involved in her rituals.

•Hecate is called a “nurturer of children” in this hymn. Hecate is indeed considered to be a protector of children, and Hesiod, a famous poet of Ancient Greece, says Zeus granted to her the honor of being a “nurse of the young”. This notion is common among moon-deities, Artemis for instance also being held in this regard.

— 🗡🕯 :snake: —

And that’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed this post and found it interesting. What are your thoughts on the Orphic hymn to Hecate? Feel free to leave a comment! May Hecate’s torch guide you all, peace! :new_moon: