Ep 11: Hekate & Ares - Be Very Afraid

... Welcome to Episode11. Listen as we wander in the shadows of ancient crossroads with the goddess Hekate, the patron of today’s witches. She was as close a friend to Hades as she was to the divine huntress, Artemis. We finish the second half of the episode in the company of the god of war, the remorseless Ares.

Hekate easily slipped between the world of the living and the dead. And whereas Hekate moved through the shifting dark of mysteries, Ares drove men into the darkness of death.

Narrated by mythologist and best-selling author, Patrick Garner,  Garner's Greek Mythology is unlike any other Greek history series.  Here these divine beings are viewed as if they were anything but mythical...

If you love these podcasts, you'll also enjoy new stories about the gods in Garner's novel Homo Divinitas, now available as an audio book on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Join us as our adventures continue! (Musical score includes selections from Fesliyan Studios and Free Sounds Library. Many thanks to both.)

Transcript

PODCAST #11 ... HEKATE & ARES (Be Very Afraid)

Ω

HEKATE ... SHE'S THE ORIGINAL BADASS SUPERHERO. BUT SHE'S STEALTHY. SHE WORKS IN THE SHADOWS ...

YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF HER. SHE'S NOT AS FAMOUS AS ZEUS OR APOLLO ...

THINK OF A YOUNG WOMAN WHO SLIPS EASILY FROM THE WORLD OF THE LIVING TO THAT OF THE DEAD. AND THEN BACK AGAIN ... SHE KNOWS NO BORDERS.

SHE'S FOUND AT CROSSROADS AT NIGHT, TORCH IN HAND, SURROUNDED BY ... HELLHOUNDS ... ANYONE WHO HEARS THE SHRILL BARKING COWERS.

SHE BEFRIENDS HADES AS EASILY AS SHE DOES THE LOVELY ARTEMIS ...

AND THEN THERE'S ARES ... ONE OF THE 12 OLYMPIANS, HE THRIVES ON FEAR & IS DRIVEN BY AN UNCONTROLLABLE DESIRE FOR MAYHEM ...

Ω

WELCOME TO EPISODE 11 OF GARNER'S GREEK MYTHOLOGY. I'M YOUR HOST, MYTHOLOGIST & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, PATRICK GARNER.

BEFORE WE BEGIN I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE LISTENING. THIS SERIES HAS BECOME A GREAT SUCCESS.  WE'VE HAD 1,000s OF DOWNLOADS & LISTENERS HAVE TUNED IN FROM OVER 60 COUNTRIES. 

SO, WELCOME TO OUR SECOND YEAR. THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE! AS ALWAYS, THIS SERIES WILL FOCUS ON ONE THING ... GREEK GODS, OF COURSE ...

HERE THE ANCIENT GODS ARE NOT CONSIDERED IMAGINARY. HARDLY. INSTEAD, THEY, LIKE YOU, ARE HERE, NOW ...

Ω

HEKATE! ... SHE'S A DIVINITY WHO TODAY IS CONSIDERED THE GODDESS OF WITCHES. SHE'S CELEBRATED BY MANY OF THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES WICCAN.

SHE'S Heh-KAH-tay, IF YOU'RE GREEK, or HECK-a-tay, IF YOU SPEAK ENGLISH ... AS WE HAVE NO WISH TO INSULT THE GODDESS, WE'LL USE THE GREEK PRONUNCIATION ... 

UNLIKE ARES, HEKATE WAS NOT A CHILD OF ZEUS. YET SHE WAS ACCEPTED BY THE OLYMPIANS AS IF SHE WERE. 

IN FACT, SHE WAS FAR OLDER THAN ANY OF THEM. NONE OF THAT MATTERED AS SHE NEVER AGED ... AND YET SHE REPRESENTED ALL AGES.

HEKATE BECAME KNOWN AS A TRIPLE GODDESS. SHE PERSONIFIED MAIDEN, MOTHER & CRONE ... YOUTH, ADULTHOOD & OLD AGE. 

SHE WAS ALSO THE THIRD GODDESS IN THE DEMETER-PERSEPHONE-HEKATE TRIO. REMEMBER THAT HADES ABDUCTED PERSEPHONE & DRAGGED HER INTO THE UNDERWORLD. 

IT WAS HEKATE WHO FOUND HER THERE. YOU MAY RECALL THAT PERSEPHONE'S MOTHER, DEMETER , WAS FRANTIC AT HER DAUGHTER'S DISAPPEARANCE & SCOURED THE WORLD FOR A YEAR TO FIND HER.

FINALLY SHE TURNED TO HEKATE ... & HEKATE SUCCEEDED.

THE 3 BECAME LINKED FOREVER. TOGETHER THEY INITIATED WHAT WERE CALLED THE MYSTERIES, OR THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES.

WHAT WERE THESE MYSTERIES? ESSENTIALLY THEY WERE A PASSPORT INTO A BETTER AFTERLIFE. 

HEKATE WAS PERFECT FOR THIS AS SHE — UNLIKE ANY OF THE OTHER DIVINITIES — COULD SLIP BETWEEN WORLDS AS IF THERE WERE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN THEM ...

Ω

BUT NONE OF THIS SOUNDS LIKE WHAT WE THINK OF WITCHES, DOES IT? IT DOESN'T, BECAUSE SHE HAD NO NEED FOR WHAT WE CALL MAGIC.

INSTEAD, HEKATE COULD AS EASILY PULL DOWN THE NIGHT AS SHE COULD ILLUMINATE THE DARK CROSSROADS SHE FAVORED. 

HER TORCHES COULD BURN FAR BRIGHTER THAN A FULL MOON. HER EYES COULD SEE THROUGH THE NIGHT & INTO MEN'S SOULS. 

AT A MERE GLANCE FROM HEKATE THE HELLHOUNDS THAT SURROUNDED HER WOULD FALL INSTANTLY SILENT ...

AND AT A SWIPE OF HER HAND THE SKY WOULD DARKEN & THE STARS DISAPPEAR ...

Ω

BUT LET'S CLARIFY SOMETHING: HEKATE WAS NOT A WITCH. AND SHE DIDN’T CAST SPELLS. TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, THERE WERE NO WITCHES.

WITCHES WERE INVENTED BY THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 6 OR 700 YEARS AGO. CHURCH FATHERS BELIEVED THAT SATAN WAS EVERYWHERE & THAT WITCHES WERE HIS AGENTS ...

THE MODERN CONCEPT OF WITCHES IS VERY DIFFERENT. THOSE CALLING THEMSELVES WICCAN REACH BACK FOR INSPIRATION INTO THE TIME OF THE GREEK GODS, LONG BEFORE CHRISTIANITY.

WHAT CAN BE CONFUSING IS THAT IN TODAY'S NEOPAGANISM, HEKATE IS ASSIGNED QUALITIES NEVER IMAGINED BY THE ANCIENT GREEKS ...

THERE'S FAR MORE TO TELL. HERE'S A TWIST THAT INVOLVES ARTEMIS. MANY OF THE ANCIENT WRITERS SAY THAT SHE & HEKATE BECAME CLOSE FRIENDS ... OR DID THEY?

SOME SPECULATE THAT THEY WERE THE SAME PERSON. WHAT'S REMARKABLE IS THAT HEKATE WAS ONE OF MANY LAST NAMES FOR ARTEMIS, AS IN ARTEMIS HEKATE.

IF WE FOLLOW THIS WINDING ROAD, THEN HEKATE WAS SIMPLY A DARKER ASPECT OF ARTEMIS. AND WHY NOT? 

IF WE'VE SEEN ANYTHING THROUGHOUT THESE EPISODES, IT'S THAT THE GREEK TALES WERE TERRIBLY TANGLED. 

MANY OF THE GODS WHEN YOU BEGIN TO POKE AROUND ARE LIKE RUSSIAN NESTING DOLLS. THEY KEEP APPEARING, ONE INSIDE ANOTHER, IN DIFFERENT FORMS.

SO IMAGINING ARTEMIS AS HEKATE, OR HEKATE AS THE INCARNATION OF A DARK, FOREBODING ARTEMIS IS PLAUSIBLE ...

Ω

STATUES OF HEKATE  WERE OFTEN PLACED AT CROSSROADS & BOUNDARIES. SHE WOULD HOLD A TORCH IN EACH HAND TO ILLUMINATE BOTH SIDES OF A BORDER ...

BUT REMEMBER HER BORDERS WERE NOT LIMITED TO THE MATERIAL WORLD. WITH A MERE THOUGHT SHE COULD CROSS THE LINE BETWEEN THE LIVING & THE DEAD. 

SHE HELD THE POWER TO SWING OPEN OR TO CLOSE THE GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD.

SHE COULD WANDER THROUGH HADES' DARK REALM WITHOUT INTERFERENCE. AND AS WE SAW WHEN SHE RESCUED PERSEPHONE, HEKATE COULD CONTROL THE PASSAGE OF OTHERS FROM ONE REALM TO ANOTHER.

AS SHE STRODE THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD, HER FREQUENT COMPANION WAS A LARGE BLACK DOG KNOWN SIMPLY AS, 'SHE-DOG.' SO FEARSOME WERE THE TWO THAT, AS THEY PASSED, EVEN THE SHADES OF THE DEAD STEPPED ASIDE.

HEKATE & DOGS ... THE HOWLING OF HELLHOUNDS ... HER COMPANION, SHE-DOG ... 

HOUNDS WERE SO CLOSELY TIED TO HER THAT IT WAS SAID THAT HEKATE COULD EVEN APPEAR AS A DOG ... 

Ω

WE'VE SPOKEN OF HER AS THE TRIPLE GODDESS. IN THAT ASPECT SHE ALSO ACTED AS A GUARDIAN OF ALLEYS, DOORWAYS & ANYWHERE DANGER MIGHT LURK ...

YOU REMEMBER THAT THE GREEKS, FOR ALL THEIR BRILLIANCE, WERE EXTREMELY SUPERSTITIOUS.

AS TRIPLE GODDESS SHE WAS OFTEN SHOWN IN THREES, EACH HEKATE FACING OUTWARD, TORCH IN HAND, BACK AGAINST A CENTRAL COLUMN, SEEING EVERYWHERE.

THESE STATUES WERE CALLED, HEKATAION. TOGETHER, THEY SAW ALL & GUARDED AGAINST ALL THAT WAS EVIL ...

AND SO HEKATE, WHETHER A MANIFESTATION OF ARTEMIS OR NOT, SLIPPED LIKE A PHANTOM THROUGH THE LIGHT OF THE FULL MOON OR DANCED THROUGH THE DARKNESS AT THE GATEWAY TO DEATH ...

Ω

I SPEAK OF DEATH ... AND DOING SO IS A FITTING SEGUE.

WHEREAS HEKATE MOVED BETWEEN LIGHT & DARKNESS, THE GOD ARES EMBRACED DARKNESS & EXTINGUISHED LIGHT.

HE REVELED IN DEATH ON THE BATTLEFIELD, HOWLING LIKE HEKATE'S DOGS IN HIS DELIGHT AT THE CARNAGE.

HEKATE'S DARKNESS WAS THAT OF SHADOWS. BUT ARES' DARKNESS WAS THE BLACKNESS WHICH SWIRLS UPON A MAN WHO RECEIVES A DEATH BLOW IN THE HEAT OF WAR ...

WHEN ARES' HIGH, COLD SKRIEK OF BLOODLUST CARRIED OVER A BATTLEFIELD, THE STRONGEST MEN WOULD TREMBLE IN FEAR.

ONE CAN IMAGINE HIM AT HIS BIRTH CRAWLING OUT OF SOME DISMAL SWAMP, THE OFFSPRING OF VENOMOUS SNAKES. BUT, NO, INSTEAD HE WAS THE BLACK SHEEP OF DIVINE ROYALTY.

HE WAS THE SON OF ZEUS & HERA, ALTHOUGH NEITHER WAS FOND OF HIM. ZEUS WAS FAMOUS FOR SAYING BEFORE THE OTHER GODS THAT HE REGRETTED ARES' BIRTH.

ARES HAD A SISTER AS WELL. ERIS ACCOMPANIED HIM IN BATTLE. SHE WAS APPROPRIATELY NAMED, AS IN GREEK THE WORD ERIS MEANS STRIFE ... 

EVERYONE ASSOCIATED WITH ARES WAS TROUBLE. IN ADDITION TO HIS BLACK-HEARTED SIBLING, ARES WAS FLANKED ON THE BATTLEFIELD BY HIS CHILDREN, PHOBOS & DEIMOS.

THEIR NAMES MEAN PANIC & ROUT — ROUT MEANING WHAT HAPPENS TO SOLDIERS WHO RETREAT IN UNCONTROLLABLE FEAR. 

AND THEIR MOTHER? APHRODITE ... THE CHILDREN WERE THE PROGENY OF THE YEARS-LONG AFFAIR BETWEEN ARES & THE GODDESS OF LOVE.

APHRODITE WAS CONSIDERED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THE GODDESSES. ARES TOO WAS RENOWNED FOR BEING HANDSOME ...

Ω

BUT, GOOD LOOKS ASIDE, HOW DO WE EXPLAIN THE AFFAIR BETWEEN ARES & THE GODDESS OF LOVE? 

IT SOUNDS A BIT LIKE THE MARRIAGE OF WAR & PEACE, OR NIGHT & DAY. YET THESE INEXPLICABLE PAIRINGS OCCUR. YOU'VE HEARD THE PHRASE, OPPOSITES ATTRACT ...

AND IN FACT UNDERSTANDING ARES IS EASIEST WHEN HE'S COMPARED TO THE OTHER OLYMPIC GODS. 

FOR INSTANCE, WHILE HIS LOVER APHRODITE PERSONIFIED ANIMATION & VITALITY, ARES EPITOMIZED GRUESOME DEATH.

WHILE ALMOST ALL THE OLYMPIANS WERE MULTIFACETED, HE WAS NOT. HIS SOLE OBSESSION WAS MAKING WAR.

PROMETHEUS GAVE MANKIND FIRE. ATHENE GIFTED THE FIRST SAILING SHIP & OLIVE TREES. APOLLO TAUGHT MEN THE ART OF HEALING. DIONYSUS GAVE THE GREEKS WINE & THEATER.

WHAT DID ARES CONTRIBUTE? WEAPONS ... BOWS & ARROWS, SPEARS, WAR MACHINES THAT BROUGHT DOWN WALLS PROTECTING TOWNS ...

HE GAVE DESTRUCTION. HIS CONTRIBUTIONS ACCELERATED SLAUGHTER. HE WAS SINGLE-MINDED & UNSPARING. HE WAS AN OUTLIER & ALMOST AN OUTCAST.

WHILE ATHENE WAS THE GODDESS OF WAR, HER APPROACH WAS INTELLIGENT. SHE WAS FAMOUS FOR HER ANALYSIS & STRATEGY ... 

ARES HAD NO INTEREST IN PLANNING. HIS STRATEGY WAS TO LUNGE INTO THE FRAY, BLIND TO ALL CONSEQUENCES.

Ω

HE TRIED TO CONQUER BY INTIMIDATION. BUT IN REALITY, LIKE MANY BULLIES, HE WAS A COWARD. A TELLING INSIGHT INTO THE REAL ARES OCCURRED IN THE TROJAN WAR.

ALL THE GODS & GODDESSES WERE INVOLVED, EACH ROOTING FOR EITHER THE GREEKS OR TROJANS. ARES HAD TAKEN THE TROJANS' SIDE, WHICH INFURIATED ATHENE WHO HAD SIDED WITH THE GREEKS.

APHRODITE HAD APPEARED ON THE BATTLEFIELD TO PROTECT ONE OF HER SONS WHO FOUGHT FOR THE TROJANS. SHE WAS CAUGHT UP IN THE FRAY & A SOLDIER SLASHED HER WRIST WITH HIS SPEAR.

ARES WAS UNAWARE HIS LOVER HAD BEEN WOUNDED. HE WAS ALSO UNAWARE THAT ATHENE WAS SECRETLY PROTECTING THE ATTACKER WHEN SHE RUSHED TO TELL ARES THAT HE MUST AVENGE APHRODITE IMMEDIATELY.

RELUCTANTLY, ARES ENTERED THE KILLING GROUND WHERE HE ENCOUNTERED THE SOLDIER  ... ARES ATTACKED BUT, WITH A SINGLE THRUST, THE GREEK WARRIOR SANK HIS SPEAR INTO ARES' BELLY.

TO THE SHAME OF THE OTHER GODS, ARES FELL TO HIS KNEES, CRYING OUT IN PAIN. HOMER WROTE THAT ARES BELLOWED LIKE 10,000 MEN & FLED THE BATTLEFIELD IN TEARS.

HE RAN TO HIS FATHER, ZEUS, WHIMPERING THAT HE'D BEEN WOUNDED ... EVEN APHRODITE HAD ENDURED HER INJURY WITHOUT COMPLAINT, 

ZEUS ADMONISHED HIM, SAYING, "DO NOT SIT BESIDE ME & WHINE. TO ME YOU ARE THE MOST HATEFUL OF ALL THE GODS ..."

AND WHAT ABOUT APHRODITE'S ATTRACTION TO ARES AFTER THIS? WELL, NONE OF THE GODS LIKE A COWARD ...

Ω

IT GETS WORSE. THE SPARTANS BELIEVED THAT ARES COULD GIVE THEM AN ADVANTAGE ON THE BATTLEFIELD IF THEY OFFERED HIM HUMAN SACRIFICE. THE USUAL GOATS & SHEEP WOULD NOT DO.

THEY USED PRISONERS OF WAR INSTEAD. ONE REASON THIS WAS PROBLEMATIC FOR NON-SPARTANS WAS BECAUSE GREEKS WERE IN BATTLE SO OFTEN THAT ANYONE COULD BECOME A PRISONER AT ALMOST ANY TIME. 

MEN WHO LOST TO THE SPARTANS WERE EITHER SLAUGHTERED OR TURNED INTO HELOTS—A CLASS OF SERFS IN SPARTA ALMOST THE EQUIVALENT OF SLAVES. 

AND THE OUTRAGES RELATING TO ARES' WORSHIP WENT ON ... IN GREECE, DOGS WERE ALMOST NEVER OFFERED IN SACRIFICE. 

BUT ONCE AGAIN, IN SPARTA, THE CITY REGULARLY CELEBRATED ARES BY SACRIFICING HOUNDS IN UNUSUAL NIGHTTIME CEREMONIES.

ONE MUST WONDER WHAT HEKATE THOUGHT AS HER BELOVED DOGS WERE OFFERED UP TO THE HEARTLESS GOD OF WAR ...

Ω

WHEN THE ROMANS CONQUERED GREECE, THEY RENAMED ARES MARS. IN THIS NEW INCARNATION, HE WAS SUDDENLY LESS IMPULSIVE, MORE LEVEL-HEADED.

THE ROMANS TRIED TO MAKE ARES MIRROR THEIR OWN ARMIES, THAT IS, BE MORE TACTICAL & DELIBERATE. NO LONGER WAS IT SEEMLY FOR THE GOD OF WAR TO LURCH INTO BATTLE.

AND NO LONGER DID THE GOD OF BLOODLUST APPEAR ON THE BATTLEFIELDS. HIS BLOOD-CURDLING SHRIEK WENT SILENT.

... DON'T MISTAKE MY MEANING. HE WAS STILL THERE, AT EVERY BATTLE ... HE REVELED IN THE CARNAGE. OBVIOUSLY, THERE'S A GENE IN BOTH GODS & MEN THAT DRIVES THEM TOWARD ENDLESS WAR. 

AND WHEN THE ROMAN EMPIRE MET ITS END, ARES MOVED ON MUCH LIKE HIS LOVER, APHRODITE, WHO WAS NOW THE GODDESS VENUS.

THE WORLD COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT LOVE. NOR, APPARENTLY, COULD IT CONTINUE WITHOUT WAR. 

APHRODITE & ARES WERE WHAT WE MIGHT CALL ESSENTIAL WORKERS & THEIR WORK WENT ON ...

Ω

THAT IS, UNTIL WE SEE ARES IN MY BOOK, CYCLADIC GIRLS. 

THERE HE CONFRONTS TIMESSA, ONE OF ARTEMIS' NYMPHS, WHO SUDDENLY HAS POWERS GREATER THAN THE DIVINITIES.

AND THE GODDESS HEKATE? DOES SHE STILL LINGER ON DARK NIGHTS AT CROSSROADS, ACCOMPANIED BY SHRILL HOUNDS? ... OF COURSE ...

Ω

IN OUR NEXT EPISODE WE ENCOUNTER HERMES, HERA & HESTIA ... HERMES WAS A DIVINE MESSENGER, A TRICKSTER & A PROTECTOR OF THIEVES ... HERA WAS ZEUS' SEVENTH WIFE ...

AND HESTIA WAS A VIRGIN GODDESS, THE GUARDIAN OF THE HOME & THE HEARTH. 

HERMES & HESTIA APPEAR IN MY BOOKS AS WELL IN SURPRISING ROLES ...