View Poll Results: Should Hecate Be One of Wonder Woman's Matron Goddesses?

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  • Yes

    6 40.00%
  • No

    9 60.00%
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  1. #1
    Fantastic Member
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    Default Should Hecate Be One of Wonder Woman's Matron Goddesses?

    Should Hecate be one of Wonder Woman's Matron Goddesses? Perhaps she should've been the one to create the magic lasso rather than Hephaestus?

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    If JLD is to followed, the answer is no.

    But I think that's a rather simplistic answer. If we look at ancient Greece, Hecate was a very important goddess there, as the goddess of boundaries. As such she protected doorways, crossroads, guided the spirits of the dead away from—or towards—the living, and various other stuff. If some writer can write a good story based on that, I wouldn't be opposed to it.

    However, Wonder Woman already suffers from a rather diffuse power set that is not well used. Most writers have focused on strength (Demeter), speed and flight (Hermes). Some pick up on unity with beasts (Artemis) or wisdom (Athena). Sisterhood with fire (Hestia) and loving heart and empathy (Aphrodite) is hardly ever explored. Getting boundary-crossing powers would simply add more stuff to an area which is already underused.

    FWIW, the Magic Lasso has changed more than a bit in its origin. From the beginning it was made by the Amazons themselves, under the direction of Athena and Aphrodite. I think Pérez had Hephaestus make it, and right now it's the Lasso of Hestia. Now, Hecate seems like a good deity for the lasso, but its nature as fire and that Hestia is the goddes of the hearth IMO makes her an even better candidate.

    Another thing is that Diana's matrons has always been Olympian gods and goddesses, and Hecate has never been that.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  3. #3
    The Superior One Celgress's Avatar
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    I'll say no. It just doesn't feel "right" to me.
    "So you've come to the end now alive but dead inside."

  4. #4
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    She was one of the gods who was power of the lasso in last cannon

  5. #5
    They LAUGHED at my theory SteveGus's Avatar
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    Hecate was a goddess that classical antiquity was rather ambivalent about. But the last thing Wonder Woman needs now is a link to witchcraft or the underworld.
    "At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

  6. #6
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveGus View Post
    Hecate was a goddess that classical antiquity was rather ambivalent about. But the last thing Wonder Woman needs now is a link to witchcraft or the underworld.
    The ancient Greeks were rather ambivalent about lots of gods. They were much more forces of nature, or aspects of society, than any form of moral or benevolent beings. If any of them liked you, then one could be reasonably certain that at least one of them would dislike you immensely.

    Wonder Woman also already has a clear connection with a chthonic goddess, in the form of Demeter. And seeing Hecate as a goddess of witchcraft is probably also a rather modern view of the goddess.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  7. #7
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    The ancient Greeks were rather ambivalent about lots of gods. They were much more forces of nature, or aspects of society, than any form of moral or benevolent beings. If any of them liked you, then one could be reasonably certain that at least one of them would dislike you immensely.
    Exactly. Poor Arachnee remember Athena's jealousy. Nevertheless, gods in mythology and in comics are not exactly the same. Even Ares wasn't depicted as evil in mythology (but still short-tempered)

  8. #8
    Incredible Member SonOfBaldwin's Avatar
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    You're going to get a definitive answer to this in WONDER WOMAN: HISTORIA.
    Author of the Instant New York Times bestselling novel, The Prophets, from G.P. Putnman's Sons.

  9. #9
    Extraordinary Member kjn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manakel View Post
    Exactly. Poor Arachnee remember Athena's jealousy. Nevertheless, gods in mythology and in comics are not exactly the same. Even Ares wasn't depicted as evil in mythology (but still short-tempered)
    Yeah. What I would like to see is a modernisation of the gods, but not a Christianisation of them, but it's really tricky to do. It's far too easy to fall into some simplistic feminist version of them with good goddesses and bad gods (like Pérez had more than a hint of). I think Rucka had the intellectual concept of the Greek gods as representing forces more than morals, but he couldn't get it across in execution at all. The one writer who has come closest to that concept is Wilson, which shouldn't be surprising given that she has a strong background in theology and history.

    But I also think that having the gods be too active puts a hamper on Wonder Woman's own narrative.

    Quote Originally Posted by SonOfBaldwin View Post
    You're going to get a definitive answer to this in WONDER WOMAN: HISTORIA.
    Well, JLD already provided one. And when it comes to Historia, no clue on when we will get to see it.
    «Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])

  10. #10
    Astonishing Member Korath's Avatar
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    In regard to Hecate, the main problem is that mainline Western culture still see Witchcraft as negative, and witches (of all genders) and non -altright Neo-pagans are just not numerous enough to be heard and understood and thus unable to make this vision truly evolve. Which means that we are stuck in much of the same problems as thirty or forty years ago when it comes to depicting ancient Gods and Goddesses, where they take much of the Christian God and its mythological cohort (angels, demons, etc.) attributes and are often used as mouthpieces to take shot at another faith entirely with the creators not brave enough to actually aim directly at the Monotheism.

  11. #11
    Incredible Member SonOfBaldwin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kjn View Post
    Well, JLD already provided one. And when it comes to Historia, no clue on when we will get to see it.
    Kelly Sue DeConnick has a take that's different from what we see in JLD. It remains true to the myths while also adding a different edge/perspective.

    DeConnick does her research and is also an intersectional, inclusive feminist. Read B*TCH PLANET to see what I mean.
    Author of the Instant New York Times bestselling novel, The Prophets, from G.P. Putnman's Sons.

  12. #12
    Ultimate Member SiegePerilous02's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SonOfBaldwin View Post
    Kelly Sue DeConnick has a take that's different from what we see in JLD. It remains true to the myths while also adding a different edge/perspective.

    DeConnick does her research and is also an intersectional, inclusive feminist. Read B*TCH PLANET to see what I mean.
    Will Hecate even be in it?

    The only ones confirmed so far are the Olympians (and even there I'm not sure about Apollo and Dionysus)

    EDIT: though maybe that's who the goddess in the middle of the top row is in this picture
    Historia Goddesses.jpg
    Last edited by SiegePerilous02; 01-28-2020 at 03:52 PM.

  13. #13
    Ultimate Member marhawkman's Avatar
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    Hecate doesn't LIKE WW though.

    Also... Circe is said to be empowered by Hecate.... yes, modern Circe is a minor deity, but OG Circe was mortal. But a minor deity empowered by a greater one is possible I guess.

  14. #14
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    In some myths Circe was Hecate’s daughter. And even than Hecate had it out for the Amazons. In the Greek myths she was older than the Greek gods in some. They feared her.

  15. #15
    Moderator Nyssane's Avatar
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    I voted no.

    I prefer Hecate as a neutral presence in the Wonder Woman mythos. But if I had to pick her side, I'd rather she be antagonistic over helping Diana.

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