Hecate (CC 1,2)

In Greek mythology, Hecate is a goddess associated with entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, etc. She is usually seen holding a key or torches. She was a protecting goddess, mainly worshiped in Athenian households in Greece. Athens is where the first statue of the goddess, Hecate, was found. It was believed that she would provide the family with daily blessings. It is seen that she has a universal role and is a savoir. Hecate is also seen as an Earth deity or a worldly spirit. She is identified as Trivia in the Roman gods and goddesses, which originated from the Greek gods and goddesses, but they were renamed. In some cases, she is seen in three different forms, but is often found in only one. In some cases, she is actually seen in four forms, but that is very rare. When she is seen in three forms, she has three heads composed of a dog, a serpent, and a horse. This is seen more commonly among Egyptian art. She is also seen in Classical Greek art with torches, a key, serpents, daggers, and other items. There are also pieces of classical art of the goddess with a dog by her side.

Hecate was an only child, a rarity in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Perseus and Asteria. Asteria was the daughter of two Titans, Phoebe and Coeus. Asteria was also the sister of Leto. Leto was a mortal, who was one of the parents of the twin gods, Artemis and Apollo. The other parent was the lightning god, Zeus. Asteria was also seen as the star goddess, of shooting stars and of oracle. She was a Titan. This is the reason that Hecate is seen as a Titan. Hecate is seen as a pre-Olympian goddess, because she was seen in the beginning of time rather than later with gods like Cronus and later, Zeus. Asteria was seen fleeing into the Aegean Sea as a quail in order to escape the oncoming Zeus, it is obviously seen that he chose Leto rather than Asteria because she fled into the Aegean Sea before Zeus could get to her.

Hecate is seen in different ways in Ancient Greek writings. An example of this would be the writings of Theogony. In this writing, she is depicted more as a household goddess and a goddess of humble household worship rather than the temple goddess that she was actually seen as in Greek mythology. This did have a positive effect on the goddess’s myth, though. It spread the knowledge of the goddess and made her more popular than what she was at the time. In Athens, she was seen as a goddess that was worshipped in daily life. This was along with the more popular gods and goddesses of Zeus, Hermes, Hestia, and Apollo. They were the main gods and goddesses of the household. In some ways, she was seen as a foreign goddess, who was later accepted in Greek mythology. The reasoning behind this was the numerous amounts of art and statues that were seen for worship of Hecate, but it was seen at a later time in different parts of the world. Sometimes she is seen as a helper or protector of the humans. She is seen in a more positive way than other Titans because she was on the Olympian side of the Battle of Gods and Titans, which took place in order to get rid of the brutal ruler, Cronus. She was also not sent to the underworld after this war. The Titans who were against Zeus in the war were sent to the underworld or were greatly punished in a different way, such as Atlas holding up the world.

Hebe (BB 1,2)

In Greek mythology, Hebe is a god, the daughter of his well-known parents, Hera and Zeus. She was also known as Ganymeda. Hebe’s name means ‘Flower of Youth’ and this makes sense because she was the goddess of eternal youth. Because she was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, Hebe had many siblings. Some of these siblings were Ares, Athena, Apollo, Helen, Hercules (oddly enough he would become her future husband when Hercules becomes a mortal), Eileithyia, Eris, Artemis, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Helen of Troy (who was half mortal and half immortal), Hephaestus, Perseus, Minos, the Muses, and the Graces. She has many more half mortal and half immortal brothers and sisters because her father is Zeus, but the ones that are listed above are the most prominent of those children. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus. She would serve them their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Hercules. She isn’t that famous of a goddess because she served the more popular and powerful gods and goddesses, rather than becoming one herself. She is also the goddess of young people. She can grant people youth, but she cannot delay aging for older people. She drew baths for Ares and helped Hera into her chariot when her assistance was needed by the gods. This is her only power.

                Hebe was the god that granted Iolaus his wish to become young again. Iolaus was the nephew of Hebe’s future, Hercules. Iolaus was known for helping Hercules on some of his labors. He was one of the reasons that he had to complete twelve labors instead of the ten labors he was originally given to complete. Eurystheus, who was in charge of the labors, declared that he was cheating on the labors because he was given help by Iolaus. He also thought that Hercules cheated on some of his labors, but that is a different story. Hercules gave Iolaus his first wife, Megara and they had a daughter together. Iolaus wanted to be young in order to fight Hercules’ tormentor, Eurystheus, the man in charge of Herucles’ twelve labors.

                Hebe was Herucles’ fourth and final wife. His third wife, Deianira, thought that he was cheating on her with another god, Iole. She soaked on of his shirts in poison in order to kill him but he was half mortal and half immortal at the time seeing that he was the son of Zeus. This shirt was called the poisoned shirt of Nessus. When he put on the shirt, it burned his skin. He tried to take off the shirt and it stuck to his flesh, so when he tried it separated his flesh from his bones. He then chose to die voluntarily and had a pyre constructed in order to kill him. He couldn’t completely dies seeing that he was half mortal and half immortal. After he was “killed,” he became a god on Mount Olympus. The mortal part of Hercules died and he was completely immortal. The gods transformed him completely into an immortal so he could join his father on Mount Olympus. This is when he met Hercules. When Hebe was married to Hercules, they had two daughters together. They were named Alexiares and Anicetus.

                                There are multiple fountains and artwork created in praise to this goddess. There are multiple in the United States. An example of this would be in Vicksburg, Mississippi. There is a fountain there and also a rose garden located near it. There are also different statues of Hebe in international locations, such as Birmingham city centre in England and Forli, Italy. 

Greek Monsters (1/?) (AA)

                One animal in Greek mythology was Chimera. It was an animal depicting of three different parts. It was a lion, snake, and a goat. It was generally seen as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and its tail is of a snake. It was a monstrous fire breathing animal. Chimera was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Typhon was a giant Greek monster that threatened the Olympians. It was unleashed by Uranus so that he would remain in a powerful state.  He was eventually captured and put underneath a mountain, Mount Aetna, to spend eternity. The Greeks believed that when any volcanoes erupted it was Typhon getting angry.

Chimera was also the sibling of Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. Cerberus is the guard dog of the underworld for the god, Hades. The Lernaean Hydra was defeated by Hercules. Whenever one of the five Hydra’s heads was cut off, two more would regrow in its place. When Hercules had to defeat it for one of his five labors, he burned where the head would regrow to prevent two more heads from reappearing. He was helped on this labor, and it didn’t count for his punishment of performing twelve labors completely.

The Chimera is generally seen as a female because of its mention in Ancient Greek writings, such as The Iliad. “Sightings” (It is a mythical animal after all. It could not be seen even if someone wanted to see it) of the Chimera were generally seen as omens for storms, disasters, or wreckage of some sort.

In one version of Greek mythology, Chimera is seen as the wife of her brother, Orthus. Orthus was a two-headed dog, similar to his brother Cerberus that had three heads total. He was owned by a three-bodied giant, Geryon. Geryon is often described as a Greek monster with human faces. Orthus was the guard for Geryon’s herd of red cattle in the “sunset” land of Erythria. For Hercules’s tenth labor, he needed to capture these red cattle to move onto his next task. When he arrived on this land, he killed Geryon, Orthus, and Eurytion and left with the cattle. Eurytion was the master of Orthus, who was also involved in guarding the cattle of Geryon. He was also mentioned in the modern novel Percy Jackson: The Battle of The Labyrinth.

Chimera was killed by Bellerophon, helped by Pegasus who is the offspring of Medusa, under the order of King Iobates of Lycia. Bellerophon was a great hero of Greek mythology. With Pegasus, who could fly, Bellerophon flew overhead Chimera and killed her. He did this while maintaining a distance from her so he would not be killed by the fire in which she would kill with if provoked. This monster is often seen in Greek art.

Another kind of Greek monsters were the Gorgons. There were three Gorgons: Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale. Out of these three Gorgons, Medusa was the only mortal. They are commonly seen as three women with snakes as their hair and women whose glance will turn a person into stone. Medusa was killed by the mortal hero, Perseus in his quest to save his mother from her dreaded faith. Perseus killed Medusa when she was sleeping so that he would not turn into stone by looking into her eyes. These Gorgons are mainly seen in the writing of Homer. The name Gorgon is derived from the Greek word, “gorgos.” This literally translates into dreadful or terrible, suitable for these monstrous Greek women. They supposedly live on their own island in order to prevent massive killings.