Hecate

"I am the goddess of the Mist. I am responsible for keeping the veil that separates the world of the gods from the world of mortals. My children learn to use the Mist to their advantage, to create illusions or influence the minds of mortals. Other demigods can do this as well. And so must you, Hazel, if you are to help your friends."

- Hecate to Hazel Levesque

Hecate is the daughter of the Titans Perses and Asteria. She is the Greek goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, crossroads, trivial knowledge, necromancy, ghosts, and the night. According to The House of Hades, she is also the goddess of the Mist. She also represents the dark side of the moon, or the Harvest Moon, and is associated with many things including childbirth, nurturing the young, gates, walls, doorways, and sometimes even change. She can stay on Olympus, in the deep sea, in the Underworld, and also on Earth. Her Roman counterpart is Trivia.

First Titan War
Hecate was a third-generation Titaness born to Asteria and Perses. She sided with the Olympians during the First Titan War, and was allowed to retain power after the Titans were defeated.

Abduction of Persephone and the First Giant War


When Persephone was abducted by Hades, Hecate was in a nearby cave and overheard the former's screams. She immediately rushed to help, but upon arrival, Persephone was already taken to the Underworld. Hecate sensed that someone was abducted, but couldn't identify who it was or the kidnapper, as her magic was really weak during the day. Unsure of what to do next, the Titaness decided to go back into her cave and wait until nightfall to gather more information through her spells. However, both Zeus and Hades were covering up the abduction with stronger magic, preventing Hecate from learning more about it.

After ten days of searching, Hecate found Demeter calling for Persephone in the area around her cave. She immediately pieced together what had happened and met with Demeter, sharing her belief that Persephone had been abducted by an unknown god. This made Demeter even more distraught, and feeling sympathetic, Hecate offered to help by using her torches to light the goddess' journey through the night. During the day, Hecate returned to her cave to rest, promising to help Demeter again after nightfall.

Eventually, Persephone was reunited with her mother, and as reward for helping Demeter during her search, Hecate was given a place in the Underworld as an attendant to Persephone. The Titaness was more than happy with this arrangement, as the darkness of the Underworld made it a better place for working magic than a drafty cave.

During the First Giant War, Hecate was opposed by Clytius. She defeated the giant by setting him alight with her torches.

The Sea of Monsters


Hecate does not formally appear in the book, but is mentioned to be the mother of Circe.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
Hecate does not formally appear, but it is mentioned by Dionysus that she has gone over to Kronos' side. She also sends two of her Empousai (Kelli and Tammi) to attack Percy Jackson.

The Last Olympian
It is mentioned that Hecate uses her magic to cloak New York City and prevent mortals from entering or leaving. She also sends magical lights towards Olympus, though the nature of these lights are unknown as the wards of Olympus and Aeolus' wind minions repel them quickly.

At the end of the book, Hecate's Cabin at Camp Half-Blood is under construction, along with those of many other minor gods. Her cabin is made of magical stones that, if dropped, would either explode or turn everyone within a half mile radius into a tree.

The Lost Hero
Hecate is mentioned as being the mother of Lou Ellen, the head counselor of the Hecate Cabin.

Son of Magic
The goddess makes her first appearance and it is revealed by Alabaster C. Torrington, her most powerful child, that she was forced to rejoin the Olympians in order to keep them from killing him. She also lost more children in the Second Olympian War than any other god. When Lamia, who has allied herself with Gaea comes to kill Alabaster, Hecate steps in and saves them from each other's magic. She decides to restore Alabaster's companion, Dr. Howard Claymore, in Mistform so that he may watch over her son while he is in exile.

The House of Hades
She made Hazel Levesque choose her path in the three gates in the Mist. It is revealed that she found the spell that resulted in Hazel's birth. Hecate promised to obscure the progress of the Seven, but said that Hazel needed to learn to manipulate the Mist. At the climax, she fights by Hazel's side against the Gigante Clytius. Together, they defeat the bane of magic.

The Blood of Olympus
During the Seven Heroes of Olympus' final battle with the giants in Athens, Hecate fought alongside Hazel. It is unknown which giants she helped kill though. After the battle, Nike tried to put a golden laurel wreath on Hecate's head but she swat it away.

Personality
A lover of solitude, Hecate's true nature is very much unknown. She spends a great deal of time in the Underworld, being a close friend of Hades and Persephone especially. She apparently resented not being honored by the demigods and being ignored by the Olympian gods despite her many years of faithful service, leading to her supporting Kronos in the Second Titan War. She also grew tired of the Olympians mistrusting her and refusing her a seat in their hall. Since her children have been given their own place at Camp Half-Blood, she has given up her grudge against Olympus, but seems protective and worrisome of her children, many of whom were lost, captured, or embittered by the experience of the Second Titan War. As the Goddess of the Mist, she is also very mysterious. As the Goddess of Crossroads, she believes in choices and expects people to make their own choices.

Appearance
According to Rick Riordan's website, "Hecate is usually dressed in dark robes, holding twin torches (all the better to see you and burn you with, my dear). She is accompanied by a she-dog and a polecat, which used to be her enemies before she morphed them into animals. In later times, Hecate was pictured as a woman with three heads, or three entirely different forms for morning, noon, and night."

In The Demigod Diaries, she is described as being dressed in white robes with ornate silver designs, like runes or alchemy symbols. Her dark hair barely came down to her shoulders. There is a green shimmer that surrounds her like an aura. Her face is like a Greek statue — pale, beautiful, and ageless.

When Hecate appears in front of Hazel Levesque in The House of Hades, she uses the Mist to form three blurred, smoky images of the same woman moving in unison. Once in the center of the courtyard, her three forms merged and solidified into one young woman in a dark, sleeveless gown. Her hair was set in an Ancient Greek style high-set ponytail. Her gown seemed to ripple as if the cloth was ink spilling off and wears sandals. Carrying two old-fashioned reed torches, she was accompanied by a black Labrador retriever and a polecat. She was described as "beautiful, but deathly pale."

Trivia (Roman form)
Hecate can change into her Roman counterpart of Trivia. As Trivia, she becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike. While Greeks envisioned her as a powerful and mysterious being, for the Romans she was the "Queen of Ghosts" because of her role of guarding the borders between the human world and the realm of the dead. In The House of Hades, Hecate claimed that she had no Roman aspect, that she was always Hecate.

Abilities

 * She possesses the standard powers of a goddess and a Titaness.
 * Trivial Knowledge: As the Goddess of Trivial Knowledge, Hecate knows much about trivial information.
 * Mystiokinesis: As the Goddess of Magic, Witchcraft, and Sorcery, Hecate has divine authority and absolute control over magic. Her magic is weak during the day and strongest at night. Just her presence makes the area she is in engulfed by magic.
 * Empousai Creation: By combining together dark magic, animal, bronze, and ghost, she was able to create the Empousai, bloodsucking, winged monsters.
 * Hypnokinesis: Using Sleep spells, she is able to manipulate sleep and dreams.
 * Chronokinesis: Using Time spells, she is able to control and manipulate time.
 * Pyrokinesis: Hecate presumably possesses little control over fire. She scooped a handful of fire and sculpted it into a miniature relief map of Italy.
 * Prophecy: As the Goddess of Magic, Hecate can see multiple futures that could happen therefore being able to predict prophecies as well.
 * Necromancy: As the Goddess of Necromancy and Ghosts, Hecate has divine authority and absolute control over the dead, though not as much as Hades.
 * She can call forth endless waves of the dead to fight for her.
 * She can destroy Skeleton Warriors.
 * She can put the dead to sleep.
 * She can silence the dead with a gesture.
 * She can physically grab a ghost.
 * Mist Control: As the Goddess of the Mist, she has divine authority and absolute control over the Mist. A swirling column of pure white Mist surrounds her when she is present.
 * She can create illusions.
 * She can create false memories.
 * She can make monsters invisible or have them be seen as something else.
 * She can hide locations.
 * She can summon Mistforms.
 * She can disguise people.
 * She can hide people, beings, and objects.
 * She can influence the minds of mortals.
 * She can teleport through the Mist.
 * Umbrakinesis: As the Goddess of the Night, she has divine authority and absolute control over darkness and shadows, though to a lesser extent than Nyx.
 * Darkness Generation: Hecate can shoot solid bolts of darkness and surround enemies in pitch-black clouds of dark space.
 * Dark Shield Construction: Hecate can solidify shadows into virtually impenetrable shields.
 * Shadow Camouflage: Hecate can use shadows to become imperceivably from others.
 * Shadow Travel: Hecate can travel at great speeds using shadows.
 * Night Vision: Hecate can see clearly in the dark.
 * Night Empowerment: Hecate is stronger at night or in dark places.
 * Shadow Mimicry: Hecate is able to transform into (living) darkness or shadows.
 * In mythology, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades gave her power in all three major realms (sky, sea, and the Underworld).

Attributes

 * Twin Torches (symbol)
 * Key (symbol)
 * Rope (symbol)
 * Dagger (symbol)
 * Crossroads (symbol)
 * Dog (animal)
 * Polecat (animal)

Family
Hecate is the daughter of Perses and Asteria, the sister of Leto and Lelantos. As such, she would thus be the cousin of Apollo, Artemis and Aura from maternal side and of Nike, Zelus, Kratos, Bia and of the Anemoi from paternal side.

Other Relatives

 * The sorceress Medea is descended from her.

Trivia

 * The English word "trivia" stems from Hecate's Roman counterpart, Trivia.
 * Despite having a Roman form in mythology, she stated that she was always Hecate. However, this could be because she is not affected by the Greek/Roman split.
 * The goddess Trivia is sometimes viewed as a separate deity, patron of travelers and crossroads. In the case of Hecate, her Greek name is spelled Hekate with its Latin (and English) form being Hecate.
 * Trivia is Latin for three roads. This term is sometimes used to refer to Diana (Artemis) when she stands at crossroads
 * As revealed in  Son of Magic, Hecate lost more children in the second Titanomachy than any other god.
 * Despite having children in the series, Hecate was a virgin goddess in some myths.
 * "Trivia" refers to obscure knowledge which Hecate/Trivia presided over.
 * Dogs, polecats, and frogs are her sacred animals.
 * She is symbolized by twin torches, a key, rope, dagger, and three crossroads.
 * Her name means "will" but at the same time, if we consider her name's spelling and pronunciation, it means her that operates from afar, her that removes or drives of, the far-reaching one or the far-darter.
 * According to Roman mythology, her Roman counterpart, Trivia, used to kidnap young maidens, whom she later changed into Nymphs.
 * Hecate appears as a character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
 * It was stated in The House of Hades that Hecate is, in fact, a Titan, thus implying that her children might not be considered proper demigods.
 * Still, in the same book, Nyx states that Hecate is her daughter, however, this is likely either an error by Rick Riordan or Nyx was just over-exaggerating.
 * She is known to her empousai as "The Dark Lady".
 * In The Son of Magic, Hecate is described with black hair and green eyes, like her son Alabaster Torrington. In The House of Hades, her hair is blond and with black eyes. However, since she is a goddess, Hecate's appearance can change at will.
 * This can also support a theory of Hecate being the triple-faced goddess, thus having three separate appearances and personalities.
 * Her Egyptian equivalent is Isis. However, the spelling and pronunciation of her name is remarkably similar to that of the goddess Heket. Also, they both preside over childbirth.
 * Her Norse equivalents are Odin, Freyja and Gullveig.
 * Even though she is one of the few Titans who supported the Olympians in the First Titan War, she is treated as a minor goddess, which angers her and is probably the reason as to why she sided with her Titan relatives in the Second Titan War.
 * Hecate is the first Greek god to fight against her Gigantes counterpart (Clytius).