Okay, this is a way late response, but the three women are actually a reference on the triple moon goddesses of Classical Mythology, which would make them the archetype of the Hecate Sisters: "Phoebe" and "Cynthia" are both titles of Artemis, whereas "Lucy" is a reference to Lucina, one of her Latin titles (as goddess of childbirth). (Also, when playing the game, I didn't feel that there was "no definite answer;" it seemed to me that them being based on the three aspects of the moon goddess was definitely the correct answer.)
It's been ages since I played that part of the game, so I'm willing to grant that they didn't map exactly on the Hecate Sisters trope as used on this wiki, but the fact that they are three sisters based on (and named after) aspects of the Moon Goddess means that there's a real connection.
Edited by DoktorvonEurotrash It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird
Wouldn't GREY'S ANATOMY apply to this trope as well? Meredith Grey as the Mother, her younger sisters (Lexi, then later Maggie) as the Maiden, and Miranda Bailey as The Wise Woman.
Cutting some more examples that are under suspicion of shoehorning:
- Bella of Twilight is described as an old soul because she's more responsible than her mom and she keeps to herself. When she found out she had conceived she was determined to carry the child despite the danger the pregnancy could bring her. Rosalie and Esme were the two women who were on her side on this because they understood Bella's desire to have children. Esme has always had strong maternal instincts that she shows through kindness to her surrogate children and the family's allies. Rosalie is described as always having been beautifully elegant and proud of it but she would trade her beauty for the chance to grow older and become a mother.
- The yuri Visual Novel Akai Ito mixes this with some other stuff. As seen from the viewpoint of the protagonist, Kei:
- Crone: Sakuya and Nozomi
- Mother: Yumei and Sakuya
- Soulmate: Uzuki and Yumei(!)
- Daughter: Tsudura and Nozomi
- Also, Kei herself can fit into any of the above role, depending on the route:
- Sakuya: Daughter and at one of the ending where she's given Emergency Transformation to save her life, she becomes the Crone.
- Uzuki: Companion
- Tsudura: Mother
- Yumei: Daughter and Companion
- Nozomi: Mother
- In the original My Little Pony, the witch Hydia and her daughters inverted this trope. Reeka has aspects of all three types, Hydia is The Crone and the more manipulating aspects of The Mother, and Draggle is The Maiden.
I don't know what the problem is with the Twilight example. There is a group of three women that want the pregnancy to continue. The old soul is the crone, the one with strong maternal instincts is the mother and the beautiful one that wants to grow older is the maiden.
To be honest, "old soul" sounds like a rhetorical sleight-of-hand to somehow get an example. The "old soul" is Bella, that is, the pregnant woman; wouldn't it make much more sense if the pregnant woman is the mother? The example also does not say who Esme and Rosalia are; just two random friends? What exactly do these three woman do together that sets them apart? Supposedly this trope is a subtrope of Power Trio; it takes more than just to agree on something to make a Power Trio.
Observe that the actual definition of The Hecate Sisters, according to the trope page, is "[t]he three aspects of a triune goddess or trinity of goddesses appear as sisters." These three woman are neither a "trinity of goddesses" nor "three aspects of a triune goddess", and they are apparently not sisters either.
And how is it even relevant that the third woman wants to be older or a mother? That's not a required part of the "maiden" role.
Personally I would exclude the example for not being about an "trinity of goddesses" alone.
Edited by LordGro Let's just say and leave it at that.
We apparently aren't going to agree but The Hecate Sisters are trio of female archetypes, not necessarily a trinity of goddesses.
Bella probably does fit the crone archetype, but gosh would that example need some rewriting.
OH MY GOD; MY PARENTS ARE GARDENIIIIINNNNGGGGG!!!!!
Agreed that it's about female archetypes not a trinity of goddesses, but good lord that's massive shoehorning.
Actually, if we take away the "goddess" part of this... this does get a wee bit too completely identical to The Three Faces of Eve.
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Examples #2 and 3 are Zero Context Examples. Simply listing a character's name and the role they fill is not enough. It is required to explain how/why they fill those roles.
"Old soul" is kind of a vague description to begin with. What is an old soul?
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
How would you rewrite it lakingsif?
The Hecate Sisters looks very different from The Three Faces of Eve starting with the age thing. One has a child and the other has a crone.
"Old soul" as in Wise Beyond Their Years.
Except the age thing is... utterly irrelevant. As evidenced by the claim that Bella, the eighteen year old girl, is the old crone here.
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Motion to remove this sentence from the introduction:
"The maiden is like the sexy one, the mother like the admirable one, and the crone like the mannish one of the Four Girl Ensemble."
Not only is it badly written, it is biased and redundant. The Trope is described fully without this attempt to link it to another Trope.
"Wicca (or rather some forms of it) centers around the triple goddess: Maiden, Mother and Crone. There is also a variation of this this concept with four goddesses or forms of the Goddess: Maiden, Mother, Matriarch/Priestess, or Crone (see the text about Hecate above). "
There are also groups that teach a Five-Fold Goddess, expressed either as Maiden, Mother, Lover, Warrior, Crone. Or as Daughter, Harlet, Crone, Sister, Mother. The latter is the hidden basis of the ritual of the Masonic Order of the Eastern Star.
An interesting way to combine this with The Three Faces of Eve might be to make the Crone the Child, since it is common to depict really old people as basically reverting to Childhood.
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More likely, if The Hecate Sisters were ever combined with The Three Faces of Eve it would be that the Crone is the Wife as they are both wise. The Maiden and Seductress would be the same since they're both sexual. The Mother and Child are both full of life.
Edited by lexicon
"the idea of Maiden, Mother and Crone is almost certainly modern" Also what Maiden means "Metaphorically" was entirely different in the Ancient world, certain the Pre-Christian world.
We're used to artistically affiliating Virginity with Purity and Innocence, and possibly Naivete. But to the Ancient Greeks it meant being Untamed. The Amazons where called "Warrior Maidens" whether literally virgins or not, because they didn't marry. There are 3 Virgin goddesses among the Olympians, none are Innocent Princess who's purity has to be protected. Their Artemis the Huntress, Athena a goddess of Wisdom but also at times a warrior goddess, and Hestia was probably the closest thing to a Crone among the 12.
The Three Faces of Eve is in fact a little more faithful to ancient Triple Goddess alignments, besides that again their Maidens where not childlike.
Edited by MithrandirOlorin
EDIT: I have moved a bunch of examples that are not this trope. Most of them were moved to or were already on Same-Sex Triplets. I'm going to try clearing misuse out of the wicks since TRS is closed.
But seriously, Hecate was never an example of this trope in actual, genuine Classical Mythology. It really should not be named after her, that just encourages people to think it's from ancient times.
Edited by ArcadesSabboth Oppression anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere. Hide / Show Replies
While the name is misleading, it refers to the three Greek moon goddesses (Selene, Artemis, and Hecate, three representations of the same natural phenomenon), so naming it after Hecate has some justification.
It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird
Can't we name it after the Fates instead, that seems more apropriate.
Optimism is a duty.
I removed this example:
After checking a game guide
, it looks like this is shoehorning. Obviously all three sisters are young and pretty, i.e. "maidens". The example also does not say if there is anything supernatural or magical about these sisters, so I do not know if this is The Weird Sisters either. "A trio of sisters" is not a trope in itself.
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