[440] Hecate was closely associated with Demeter and Persephone. According to one tradition, she was the daughter of Demeter ( Eur. Ion1048, Schol. Apoll. Arg. 3.467, schol. Theocr. ii. 12). In art she often appears in scenes relating to the mission of Triptolemus, and, as “ἡγεμόνη”, in the “κάθοδος” or “ἄνοδος” of Persephone; see Roscher Lex. 1900 f., Preller-Robert i.^{2} p. 761 n. 1, and 763. Farnell (Cults ii. p. 511 f.) thinks that the connexion is due, in part at least, to her chthonian character. This is very probable; it is to be noted, however, that the moon is widely thought to influence vegetation (see Frazer G. B. ii. p. 154 f.), and this belief may possibly have contributed to the association of Heeate, as a moon-goddess, with Demeter or Persephone.
The Homeric Hymns, edited, with preface, apparatus criticus, notes, and appendices. Thomas W. Allen. E. E. Sikes. London. Macmillan. 1904.
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