International Women's Day: Reclaiming Hekate

At the end of last year I went to the National Museum of Australia to see the excellent exhibition, Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages. The collection of treasures from the British Museum is touring until 27 August 2023, and I would thoroughly recommend attending if you get the chance. A highlight for me was the marble statue of Hekate from Italy (161-200 AD).

In her book, Feminine Power: The Devine to the Demonic, which accompanies the exhibition, Belinda Crerar writes, "The goddess Hekate is one of the most enigmatic deities of the classical world. Her reputation as the infernal 'goddess of witchcraft' has become cemented in modern popular culture and stretched back to classical belief, but it is a narrow characterisation of a complex and multifaceted ancient divinity. To the Greeks and Romans, Hekate was associated with liminal times and places, and, importantly, stood between life and death at the entrance to the underworld; yet her powers encompassed protection and guidance." 

Hekate's famous triform image appears in Greek art from the fifth century BC onwards. The statue in this exhibition shows her with three bodies and three faces, each young, with flowing hair and crowned diadems. In her six hands she holds a roe and the handles of torches and daggers. Her flaming torches, common attributes in both sculpture and painting, situate her in darkness, but associate her with guiding light, and she is often also shown holding keys to illustrate her power to open or bar the way.

As a goddess of transition, Hekate is often represented in statues set up in entranceways to private and sacred spaces or at road junctions, where each of her three faces looks down a different path. 

Last year in Romania at the Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu, I encountered a very similar statue in the courtyard of the Altemberger House. The attached plaque claims it is a Hekate Triformus Statue from the 2nd-3rd centuries, 'Probably Salinae (Ocna Mureș, Alba Country)'. 

Hekate's earliest and fullest description is found in Hesiod's epic poem, Theogony of the seventh century BC, which contains an extended hymn in praise of Hekate just before the birth of the Olympian gods. In Hesiod's account, she is not an underworld deity but is said to hold dominion over the earth, sea and sky. She appears to stand apart and distinct from the gods who follow, as if she is more ancient and more honoured than they are, and Hesiod is keen to stress that even Zeus, king of the Olympians, pays Hekate special respect above all others.

The reason for this reverence is made clear when Hesiod explains that success or failure is determined by Hekate's will: she can stand protectively in harm's way or step aside as she chooses. A primordial but ambivalent force, Hekate was given the epithet kourootrophos, the 'nurse of the young' by Hesiod, and the contemporary but unknown author of the Hymn to Demeter describes her as 'tender-hearted'. 

In some later Greek, but particularly Roman literature, Hekate's underworld associations become more pronounced, and she is portrayed as a more sinister force. Her approach was said to be heralded by howling dogs and she is no longer honoured by Zeus but now by Circe, Medea and Erichtho, the sorceresses and witches of classical literature who make sacrifices to her and vows before her altar for aid in their magic. 

The shift in the conception of Hekate in literature may have been influenced by actual magical rituals of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. A Greek prayer found in a handbook of incantations and magical formulas from Egypt (dated c. 275-375 AD) describes her in demonic terms as bull-faced, having snakes coiled across her brow, stalking graveyards and consuming the dead. 

As is often the case, female power is subverted by those who fear it and made to seem evil. Some male observers cannot cope with women being multi-faceted, so they cast them as two-faced as though that is a bad thing. To modern audiences, Hekate is largely known through being the 'leader' of the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth. She is presented as a sadistic, controlling and merciless commander of the coven, angry to have been excluded from previous plots and determined to control the prophecies and apparitions in order to maximize their manipulative affect and contribute to Macbeth's downfall. Naturally this has particular relevance for me as I played Hecate in a 2016 production of Macbeth by Canberra Repertory Society. 

"I am for the air; this night I'll spend

Unto a dismal and fatal end:

Great business must be wrought ere noon:

Upon the corner of the moon 

There hangs a vaporous drop profound;

I'll catch it ere it come to ground

And that distill'd by magic sleights

Shall raise such artificial sprites

As by the strength of their illusion

Shall draw him on to his confusion; 

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear

He hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear:

And you all know, security

Is mortals' chiefest enemy." - Macbeth (Act III, scene v), William Shakespeare

As Hecate in Macbeth (2016)

In keeping with reclaiming mythical and magical female figures from history to embody more empathetic, inclusive and complex interpretations, it is worth noting that since the late 19th century AD, Hekate's relevance has been revived and her spiritual importance has been incorporated into religions such as Wicca and Modern Paganism. 

As a lady in Macbeth (2016)

Friday Five: Cities in Transylvania

Piața Mare, Sibiu

As most of you will know, I have recently returned from two weeks in Transylvania. The main purpose of the visit was so that Him Outdoors could compete in the World Age Group Duathlon Champions (he came fifth, which is such an excellent result that even he is happy with it!) but of course I managed to get in some serious tourism. Here are the highlights of the cities (some of them were towns but let's not get bogged down in definition) we explored. 

Five Cities in Transylvania:

1. Brașov: Located in the centre of Romania and surrounded by the Southern Carpathians, Brașov has a population of 253,200 making it the seventh most populous city in the country. It was a walled city and, despite a fire which destroyed much of the fortifications, some of the gates are still in existence. It has a vibrant central square, one of the narrowest streets in Europe, an abundance of churches, a Hollywood-style sign on top of Mt Tâmpa (accessible by a by a cable-car), and a great cafe, restaurant and bar scene. Historically, the city was the centre of the Burzenland, once dominated by the Transylvanian Saxons, and a significant commercial hub on the trade roads linking the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe. The Saxon merchants obtained considerable wealth, exerted strong political influence, and their influence on the architecture of the city is still evident. 



Brașov from above

2. Cluj-Napoca: Two fabulous squares lined with cafes and restaurants, a family-friendly park for promenading and boating on a lake (we also saw group zumba and people strung out in hammocks), an evident rave scene, and a well-frequented botanic gardens are among the highlights of this vibrant city with a strong student vibe (evidenced in a number of excellent craft beer bars and a couple of microbreweries). A stunning mix of Gothic and Baroque architecture combine with Communist-era Brutalist buildings, which tell their own story alongside the statues of various political and religious figures. The National Museum of Ethnography exhibits feature stuff like mills, looms and folk costumes, and a startling collection of scary-looking icons on glass, while the stadium appears positively futuristic from the top of Cetațuia Hill. 



Restaurant scene in Cluj-Napoca

3. Sibiu: Encircled by the remains of medieval walls and towers, Sibiu is known for the Germanic architecture of its old town. It is also known as The City with Eyes due to the iconic eyebrow dormers on the roofs of the houses, whose initial purpose was as a ventilation system, but legends say they were built to frighten the people and make them believe they were being watched. There is not one; not two; but three piața, and from the top of the Council Tower one can see six church spires. In 2007 Sibiu was the European Capital of Culture, and it has many museums and art galleries, including the ASTRA National Museum Complex (a 96-hectare open-air museum with a focus on ethnography) and the Brukenthal National Museum (in which every other picture is Crucifixion this or Annunciation that, or a still life with a dead rabbit). The city straddles the Cibin River via the Bridge of Lies - rumour has it if you tell a lie while standing on the bridge it will fall down. 



Eyes on the Bridge of Lies, Sibiu

4. Sighișoara: Listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the city is a popular tourist destination for its well-preserved walled old town, with multiple towers marking out the fortifications. It's relatively small with 164 houses in the city, most of which are over 300 years old and are considered historical monuments. One such is the birthplace of Vlad Țepeș, otherwise known as Vlad III or Vlad Drăculea (but not Vlad the Impaler), one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and proof that one person's war criminal is another's national hero. I mean, sure, he committed acts of unspeakable cruelty and mass genocide (boiling people to death and driving spikes into their heads were favoured pastimes) but he defended Romania from invading Turkish hordes, so, you know…



Part of the fortifications of Sighișoara

5. Târgu Mureș: Proving that not all cities in Transylvania have beautiful buildings and bustling squares, there is a substantial component of Communist-era architecture here, as many of the original buildings were demolished by the communist regime of the 1970s. It is surrounded by beautiful forests and bucolic country vistas where farmers scythe the fields by hand and storks perch atop telegraph poles to build their enormous nests. Restaurants are copious and offer a range of dishes from hearty meats in creamy cheese sauces to some of the best vegetarian food I have ever tasted, garnished with edible flowers. Guide books may complain that the fortifications are over-restored, but they are used frequently for shows and celebrations, with a bar in the walls and atmospheric lighting at night. Ethnically, it has one of the largest Roma populations of any city in the country and the remainder are roughly equal Romanians and Hungarians with a smattering of Germans and Jews. The Palace of Culture is a remarkable building in the city centre richly decorated with mosaic panels and stained glass windows. The art within is equally incredible with a the Romanian and Hungarian collections being exhibited on separate floors. 

Mosaic ceiling at the Palace of Culture, Targu Mureș