History Characters / ClassicalMythologyMinorDeities

[[folder:Hecate / Hekate / Trivia]]
!!Ἑκάτη | Trivia
Goddess of magic, crossroads, and ghosts (among other things that overlap considerably with other gods), very popular in UsefulNotes/{{Neopaganism}} today even outside Hellenism. Had three appearances, or sometimes just three heads. Lived in the Underworld with Hades and Persephone and was a close friend to the latter. Feared and revered by night travelers, but worshiped by about-to-deliver mothers. In some versions, she's depicted as a Titan who sided with the Olympians in the Titanomachy, though usually, her heritage is unexplained. She was identified with the Roman goddess '''Trivia'''. Modern historians suspect she originated the primary deity of a culture conquered by the Greeks, who proceeded to assimilate her into their own mythology.

* ActionGirl: Joins the Olympians despite her status as a Titan, and later fights in the Gigantomachy. To a lesser extent, she is also this in Demeter's search for her daughter, Persephone.
* AttemptedRape: Once, Hermes tried to rape her. She roared so loud she scared him off, earning her the epithet "Brimo" ("angry"). Other sources describe this encounter as consensual.
* AtTheCrossroads: Hecate is the goddess of the crossroads, and presides over all the strange things that might potentially happen there. On the first day of each month, the day of the New Moon ("Deipnon"), Ancient Greeks would leave food offerings for Hecate and her host of the dead that poor people would eat.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Had a lot in common with Hermes. This resulted in him deciding to take her as a lover, at least in accounts where she wasn't a virgin. In most accounts, they're LikeBrotherAndSister.
* CanonImmigrant: It's likely that Hecate's worship originated in ''somewhere'' that wasn't Greece, but there's a lack of clear consensus as to where; one common theory is that she was adapted from the Egyptian goddess Heqet, though this has never been proven, with others being she came from Anatolia, being there either a Sun goddess with ties to the Underworld or one of nature and childbirth akin to Artemis even if for the latter idea some suggest her being Mycenaean instead. Her many conflicting functions with other gods, bizarrely powerful nature even when compared to Zeus, and lack of consistent parentage seem to support this idea.
* CompositeCharacter: Hecate gained most of her lunar associations through being syncretized with Selene and Artemis, and became associated with midwifery and childbirth through being syncretized with Eileithyia. She was also sometimes identified with other chthonic goddesses like Persephone and Ereshkigal.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Despite the association with night and the undead, Hecate was just a loner comfortable staying in the shadows and was a lot nicer to mortals than most deities, not that she wasn't a danger to anyone stupid enough to disrespect her. {{Zigzagged}}, in that one of her common symbols was the light of her torches, that she was outright called a ''light-bringer'' by some, and that the Orphic Hymn to Hecate describes her wearing saffron (yellow-colored) robes (''Krokopeplos'').
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: According to Hesiod's ''Catalogues of Women,'' she was originally Iphigeneia, the daughter of Agamemnon, whom Agamemnon sacrificed to Artemis so that his army could sail to Troy. Artemis saved her and made her a goddess. (This isn't consistent with Hesiod's description of Hecate as an ancient Titan goddess in ''The Theogony,'' but [[CanonDiscontinuity since when has mythology been consistent?]])
* DistaffCounterpart:
** To her cousin Apollo, courtesy of being identified with Artemis so much. One of Apollo's epithets, Hecatos, is the masculine version of Hecate's name (and means "working from afar"), he is associated with the sun as she is with the moon, she is the protector of crossroads while he of the streets, and their cults also mixed a lot.
** To Hermes, who shares many of her domains. He is also a god of roadways and gateways, is also a psychopomp who guides souls to Hades, and is also associated with magic in specific contexts (even more so after being syncretized into Hermes Trismegistus). This may be why Hermes is the closest thing to an official consort that Hecate has.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In her first mention in the mythos, in Creator/{{Hesiod}}'s ''Literature/{{Theogony}}'', she just appears as a goddess with powers over the heavens, the earth, and the sea without no mentions at all of her association with magic and witchcraft.
* EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity: She was this for Medea and Circe, having taught them how to use magic and [[MasterPoisoner especially poisons]].
* ForcedTransformation: Turned a mortal witch named Gale into a polecat for having "abnormal sexual desires."
* GodOfTheMoon: She became a lunar deity during the Roman period. She was often depicted as [[TheHecateSisters a triple goddess in this form]], forming a triad with Luna, the moon itself and emblematic of the sky, and Diana, who as the goddess of hunting was emblematic the earth; Hecate herself represented the underworld.
* IHaveManyNames: For a relatively minor goddess, she has many epithets, including ''Brimo'' ("angry, terrifying"), ''anassa eneroi'' ("queen of those below"), ''Enodia'' ("of the roads"), ''Nycteria'' ("nocturnal"), ''Nyctipolos'' ("night-wandering"), ''Propylaia'' ("the one before the gate"), ''Trikephalos'' ("three-headed"), ''Soteira'' ("savior"), ''Euplokamos'' ("bright-tressed"), ''Kourotrophos'' ("protector of children"), ''Krokopeplos'' ("saffron-robed"), ''Scylacagetis'' ("leader of dogs"), and Borborophorba ("[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast she who feeds on filth]]"). The Romans called her Trivia, which means "three roads."
* TheHecateSisters: TropeNamers, but not TropeCodifier. When Hecate appears as three women back-to-back, this represents her capacity as a [[AtTheCrossroads goddess of the crossroads]], with each head looking in a different direction and the three being also Hecate (ie, three-bodied) instead of three independent deities. All three women are apparently ageless, or else explicitly young.
** Some Roman writers do show her in such a trio with Artemis/Diana and Selene/Luna, as the chthonic aspect of a triple goddess of night, witchcraft, and femininity (with Artemis being the earthly aspect and Selene being the celestial aspect).
* JackOfAllTrades: Both a status she started with and continued well into Late Antiquity. It seems that she had ''many'' conflicting roles until gaining a more unique association with magic.
* HotWitch: She's usually depicted as a young woman.
* KissingCousins: In some versions she is the mother of Scylla by Apollo, her first cousin.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: The '''goddess''' of magic.
* LandSeaSky: Uniquely, she holds power in all three domains of the sky, the sea, and the Underworld, and was one of the few Titans to actually ''gain'' power under Zeus.
* {{Lunacy}}: Due to her association with the moon.
* MasterPoisoner: Hecate's knowledge of herbal properties was unlimited, which was all the better for the very witchy art of brewing potions (called ''pharmakeia,'' φαρμακεία). Many plants sacred to her, e.g. aconite, nightshade, mandragora, and yew are infamously poisonous.
* MultipleChoicePast: Usually the only daughter of Asteria and Perses, but many authors have her different origins. She is also said to be the daughter of Zeus (by either Hera, Pheraea or Asteria), another Perses who is Helios' son, Demeter, Leto, or even Tartarus. In one version of her origin story, she is [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Iphigenia]], having been granted apotheosis by Artemis.
* NatureAdoresAVirgin: Another virgin goddess. In accounts where this is {{Subverted}}, she pairs up with Hermes.
* {{Necromancer}}: Hecate is the goddess of necromancy. She travels around with a train of ghosts accompanying her, and several rites from the ''Greek Magical Papyri'' invoke her help to enslave the restless dead to the caster's will.
* NiceGirl: Hecate is often compassionate in the myths in which she appears. In the "Homeric Hymn to Demeter," she helped Demeter find her daughter Persephone. She also turned the Trojan Queen Hecuba into a dog to save her from slavery (or various other awful fates in the fallout from the Trojan War), adopting her as her canine familiar. She also helped a midwife called Galthinas, who helped to deliver Heracles, after the Fates punished her by making her infertile. Hecate (Hera in other accounts, given Galthinas helped Alcmena to deliver Heracles) turned Galthinas into a polecat and adopted her.
* OlderSidekick: Often portrayed as such for Persephone, acting as her attendant in the Underworld and being at least one generation older than her.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Extremely powerful according to many stories, (with Zeus himself according her special status, according to Hesiod), but somehow was mostly left out from the big names. Possibly because of her above status as CanonImmigrant.
* PairTheSpares: Probably why Hermes was regarded as her consort in some, albeit few, accounts.
* PerkyGoth: She preferred hanging out in the dark, gloomy Underworld over Mount Olympus, and while "perky" isn't the right word, Hecate was maternal, generous with her blessings, and considered a friend to all outcasts.
* PhysicalGod
* ThePowerOfTheSun: Most historians believe as noted above that she was originally an Anatolian Sun goddess, maybe with ties with the Underworld.
* {{Psychopomp}}: She guides souls of the dead across the earth.
* RememberTheNewGuy: A possible way to interpret Hesiod's incredible praise of her and her appearance in the Eleusinian Mysteries. These myths served as ways of integrating Hecate by downplaying her many, ''many'' conflicting roles. As mentioned in OvershadowedByAwesome, she's not as popular in myths as her Olympian peers, possibly because Artemis largely filled any niche she would have had before her later association with torches and witchcraft.
* SadlyMythtaken: Despite the modern depictions, she was actually never depicted as "maiden, mother, and crone" (and the triple Moon symbol (")O(") very associated with her is also modern). When she's manifested in three bodies, they're all the same age.
* TakeAThirdOption: Having crossroads as her domain makes Hecate the Goddess of taking a third option. There's a reason her Roman name literally means "three paths."
* WalkingTheEarth: A goddess of crossroads. Later depictions of Hecate portrayed her as constantly roaming in search of souls who had lost their way to the Underworld. She also became identified with a sort of "World Soul" in Late Antiquity, at least in some cults, providing guidance in a philosophical sense.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hermaphroditus / Hermaphroditos]]
!!Ἑρμαφροδιτος
The child of Hermes and Aphrodite ([[PortmanteauCoupleName hence their name]]), Hermaphroditus had the very niche godly domain of intersex individuals and effeminacy. In the older myths, they were named because their features were a perfect mix of their parents--having their mother's breasts and their father's genitalia. Later myths (started by Ovid) depict them as having originally been a boy who was almost raped by a nymph, but the nymph wished to never be parted from him... which led to the two being merged into one, a being with the features of both a man and a woman. Obviously, we get the word "hermaphrodite" from them.
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[[folder:Tyche]]

This goddess is a unique one within the pantheon. While every god was usually heavily worshiped only in specific places, such as Athena being the patron god of Athens, Tyche had a unique role, in that was the deity that governed the prosperity and fortune of a city-state (aka, its destiny or fate). As such, she was a tutelary goddess: a protector of specific locations, but every city had their own iconic version of her and considered her their protector. She is believed to have controlled the fortunes of humanity.

A psychopomp of "blessed death" in Hades' retinue.

* CanonForeigner: The only mentions of her are from obscure, post-Christian texts that were written long after the Ancient Greek traditions fell out of practice.
* GodCouple: Is said to be this with Thanatos, given they serve in the same function it could be seen as the mythological equivalent of a workplace romance.

* DualityMotif: Noted to have limbs that are "half light and half dark," denoting her status as a ChildOfTwoWorlds.
* ExtraParentConception: The Orphic Hymn to Melinoë states that she receives her dark half from Hades and her bright half from Zeus, implying that both of them are her father.

* MadArtist: More manic than outright mad, but she considers nightmares to be fine art that she constantly tries to innovate.

* NightmareFetishist: Her role as a goddess whether you make her goddess of nightmares or ghosts.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: A somewhat literal example. She sees nothing wrong with the twisted logic and horrifying state of nightmares, in fact, she just trying to impress you with their creativity.
* ObliviouslyEvil: What mortals view as nightmares, she views as art. She's just trying to show-off her work but tends to scare the Tartarus out of people in the process.