When Persephone was taken, only Hekate and the Sun noticed.1 On the tenth morning Hekate came down the road with a torch.
When Persephone was taken, only Hekate and the Sun noticed.1 On the tenth morning Hekate came down the road with a torch.
When Persephone was taken she cried out, and in the Hymn to Demeter only two heard her. Hekate heard the voice from her cave. The Sun saw it from the sky.
Demeter searched for nine days with torches in her hands. On the tenth morning Hekate came to meet her on the road, with a torch of her own, and told her what she knew: she had heard a voice and seen no face. Then the two of them went to ask the Sun. Some friends show up with a light.
Homeric Hymn to Demeter 22–26, 47–63.
Phosphorus is Greek for “light-bringer”. Euripides calls Hekate that, and it was a name for the morning star too.Next time a friend walks home in the dark, stay on the phone until they’re in.
1 Homeric Hymn to Demeter 22–26, 51–53