Epithets: Aizeos
Vigorous. PGM IV 2241-2358.
…World-wide, dog-shaped, spinner of Fate, all-giver, Long-lasting, glorious, helper, queen, bright, Wide-aimer, vigorous, holy, benign…
- Lines 2280-2283, Betz version.
This particular spell contains a lengthy list of descriptives given to Hekate. She is conflated with Mene, Alkyone, and Kore, and is called upon along side of Hermes. The spell places Hekate’s power over the Fates, over Helios, and names her the Queen of Tartarus. It’s powerful stuff.
The footnote regarding these epithets gives a student of the Gods pause though – most of the original list is corrupt, giving only syllables or letters here and there, so the translation we have is conjecture. Betz freely confesses that many of these are questionable. And sadly, he doesn’t let on which ones are pure conjecture, nor which ones are debated, or why. How utterly frustrating!
The LSJ gives Aizeos a translation of “in full bodily strength, vigorous,” as of a “stout, lusty slave.” Nice. Gladstone describes this as a term applied to princes, and speculates that vigor and strength were necessities in order to be an heir in antiquity. The ideal heir is one who is undefeated at the Games, and gifted in song, and powerful on the battlefield. The word also generally suggests the vitality of youth, so it is most readily given to the young heroes from the Iliad.
All in all, there’s not a lot that’s been said about Hekate Aizeos by the scholars. When I rest my mind upon the epithet, I see Hekate battling the Titan Clytios with her bright torches, and I see Her tall and powerful over the magicians of the PGM. This is my Goddess wielding Helios as a sword, and this is my Goddess striding across the world gathering in the outcast and unwanted to her skirts. The images make my head swim and my heart sing.
Sources:
Lsj.translatum.gr
Betz, Hans Dieter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Oxford, 1996. Gernet, Louis. The Anthropology of Ancient Greece, Johns Hopkins, 1981. Gladstone, William Ewart. Juventus Mundi: The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age, Macmillan, 1869. Whiter, Walter. Etymologicon Universale, Univ. Press, 1822.
Images:
The Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, 2nd c. BCE, originally from Pergamon in modern day Turkey, but now in the Museum of Pergamon in Berlin, Germany. The frieze is a version of the Gigantomachy which includes the scene of Hekate slaying Clytios. Via wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mus%C3%A9e_de_Pergame_(Berlin)_(6349360387).jpg
