#but it doesnt and hasnt been
So, I wanna point out a thing. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, there’s a line that says the following:
“Then Hekatê approached them, the one with the splendid headband. And she welcomed back the daughter of holy Demeter with many embraces. And from that day forward, the Lady [Hekatê] became her [Persephone’s] attendant and substitute queen.” (438-40)
The phrase I bolded suggests that Hekate assumes Persephone’s roles as Queen of the Underworld when Persephone is with Demeter. While we already know Hekate has power over the dead and is a goddess of the Underworld in Her own right, it seems that She may actually rule beside Hades while Persephone is away.
This is just really interesting to me, that Hades and Hekate may have a platonic monarchical relationship over the Underworld at times. Also, this illustrates that Hekate’s role over the dead may be far earlier in origin than many people give credit for. It’s just a small quote and piece of info, but I think it’s nifty.
I’m very sorry I have to correct this, but this interpretation is based on an inaccurate translation. The Greek text reads:
τῆισιν δ᾿ ἐγγύθεν ἦλθ᾿ Ἑκάτη λιπαροκρήδεμνος,
πολλὰ δ᾿ ἄρ᾿ ἀμφαγάπησε κόρην Δημήτερος ἁγνῆς·
ἐκ τοῦ οἱ πρόπολος καὶ ὀπάων ἔπλετ᾿ ἄνασσα.
I can only assume what was translated as “substitute queen” is ὀπάων ἔπλετ᾿ ἄνασσα. The actual translation, however, should be “the queen (Hekate) became (Persephone’s) companion”. Ὀπάων, from the verb ὀπάζω “to follow”, refers to a comrade or attendant; “substitute” is nowhere near the realm of its meanings, and I have no idea where the above translation got it from. [EDIT: I found the source and it’s Gregory Nagy’s translation. Still have no idea how he came up with that though.]
Other online translations of the hymn give its correct meaning, e.g. Theoi has “from that time the lady Hecate was minister and companion to Persephone”.
Still, the actual translation doesn’t entirely disassociate Hekate from the Underworld. By becoming Persephone’s attendant, Hekate takes on a role in her cult, and may well have acquired some chthonic aspects from that.
