On the Theogony. 87 



the ruler of Olympus ; and tlie sovereign guardian of oatiis is appropriately 

 attended by their most inviolable form. 



Perses, a third son of Crius, espoused Asterie, a daughter of his uncle 

 CcEus (1. 1409). From the bride's name, we naturally here expect an 

 astronomical or astrological allegory. Hecate is the daughter of this 

 union.* The offices of Hecate are mysteriously and strikingly described. 

 Jupiter has allotted to her a share of the earth, the ocean, and the starry 

 heaven j— she is most honoured by all the gods, and the most efficient 

 deity v\ ho can be invoked by human prayers j — she possesses exclusive 

 influence over the elder race of Titan gods, nor has Jupiter abridged any of 

 the prerogative which she exercised under that earlier dynasty J — s!ie bestows 

 on her votaries victory in \\s.r and success in the peaceful conflicts of the 

 games ; — the mariner looks to her for deliverance in the storm, and the 

 hunter for success in his chase ; she gives increase of flocks and herds, 

 and is the guardian and patroness of the young of the human race. The 

 scholiast informs us that Hesiod is thus copious in the praises of this god- 

 dess, because she was the especial object of worship in his own country of 

 Boeotia. Virgil and others would lead us to identify her witii the triple 

 power of Diana : 



" Tergeminamque Hecatem, tria \lrginis era Diana; :" — 

 in the heavens the moon, in tlie earth the huntress goddess, and in the 

 infernal regions Proserpine. Tliis may well illustrate the inextricable con- 

 fusion of mythology. We have already had the moon as the daughter of 

 Hyperion and Thia, and shall hereafter find Diana and Proserpine among 

 the daughters of Jupiter. If we might be allowed a new conjecture on so 

 obscure a subject, we should be rather inclined to consider Hecate, the 

 daughter of Asterie, as representing the general principle of Stellar influ- 

 ence, pervading, according to the astrologists, every department of nature 

 and every contingency of events. AVe can easily account how this principle 

 became identified with the moon, the i)ueeii of the host of heaven ; and the 

 universality of her dominion will be indicated by iier triple office in the 

 lieavens above, tlie earth, and the shades below. 



Hecate is altogether a very obscure mythological character ; she is said to have 

 heen also denoted by the names of Hrimo and Tithrambo. She is sometimes identi- 

 fied with the triple power of Diana, celestial, terrestrial, and infernal, but more pro- 

 minently connected with the latter. There is also much confusion between Ceres 

 and Diana ; and i'roserpine, the daughter of Ceres and consort of I'luto, becomes 

 still more identified with Hecate, as an infernal goddess. Dr. Prichard compares her 

 to Isis, in her nialeficient or vindictive character, Kgypt. Myth. Ul. But the attri- 

 butes assigned to her by Hesiod are rather benevolent than otherwise, and equally 

 applicable to the heavenly and earthly influences of this threefold power. The name 

 of Hecate does not. we believe, once occur in Homer. 'Ihe fragments ascribed to 

 Oq^heus where it does occur, are of doubtful antiquity ; and we do not remember 

 any authority in which it is used, from the age of Hesiod to that of the Greek 

 dramatists. 



