The Rotting Goddess: The Origin of the Witch in Classical Antiquity

by Jacob Rabinowitz

Witchcraft in antiquity, and particularly the Goddess Hekate, has never been seriously studied, but sidelined as an variety of magic, or as a purely literary phenomenon, or as identical to the much-later Salemists. Here, then, is the first complete and comprehensive study of the topic from the time of Homer to the Greek Magical Papyri (800 bc–400 ad), examining the slow stages by which Hekate was demonized and the mythology of the evil witch arose, and how it was not until hundreds of years later that the actual practice of witchcraft developed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Mythology, Witchcraft, Religion, Magick, Paganism

154 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Per · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://web.archive.org/web/200709272...
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Here you will find [...] a complete and comprehensive study of Hecate and the witches for the 1200 year period from Homer to the Greek Magical Papyri (800 B.C.-400 A.D.), citing all substantial classical references and offering cross-cultural parallels to support my inferences.

I was googling around for information on Hecate, and found this book referenced from the Wikipedia page. Going by Hesiod's Theogony, Hecate is one of the pre-Olympian goddesses, more aligned with the older Titan set of gods. On top of this, she's not a full offspring of the normal Gaia/Uranus set of Titans, which leads on to Zeus and so on, but comes partly from the Gaia/Pontus line of gods. She sort of sticks out, and this book picks up on that straight away.

Hecate’s powers date “from the very beginning,” Hesiod informs us, in his seventh-century B.C. poem The Theogony, and we may perhaps take him literally. Even though the detailed features of Hecate are lost in the “dark backward and abysm of time,” much may be responsibly inferred from her geography, which alone suggests pre-Olympian, Pre-Titanic and even primaeval origin.
An impressive quantity of coins, statues, reliefs and dedications, along with the literary record, place Hecate’s origin in Carian Asia Minor (southeastern Turkey), with an important sanctuary at Lagina. In Caria Hecate enjoyed considerable dignity and political importance — she was protectress of the city of Stratonicea, together with Zeus, and was prominently worshipped alongside various other deities including Gaia. Hecate’s veneration elsewhere in the vicinity included initiatory cults on Aegina and Samothrace.

The book goes on to show what various Greek and Roman authors have written about her, as well as Circe and Medea, slowly tying them all together with the more modern concept of witchcraft. This wasn't necessarily what I was looking for when picking the book up, but it absolutely did help put Hecate in a good context for understanding her place in mythology.

It's certainly been well researched. Only really negative thing I can say about it is that it's pretty heavy on digressions and sometimes feels like it loses focus.

In this essay I have shown, through all of Hecate’s adaptations and evolutions, a steady demonization of her originally benign traits. The full outline of the figure so prejudicially treated only came into view as we turned our attention from Hecate to her followers, the witches. They effectively displaced and fully represented her by the end of antiquity. I have noted that the witches finally attain godlike powers, and this trend is paralleled by the steady waning of Hecate.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this because most mythology is told as a static representation of what was said, believed, and practiced. Though there were many quotes, for example from Seneca and Virgil, that I thoroughly enjoyed and gave context to the author's claims, my favorite part of this interpretation is the focus on how beliefs changed over time and the proposition of some reasons as to why this happened. All that being said, The Rotting Goddess reads like an academic book: a little dry and wordy with plenty of references.

[Seph · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent dissertation on the regional origins and cultural evolution of the goddess Hecate, paired with the author's personal thesis on the origin and degradation of the archetypal Witch in myth and religion from the 8th century BCE in ancient Greece, through the 4th century CE in Rome.

[Bood · Rating 4 out of 5]

IA HECATE!