30 Days of Devotion to Hekate: Day 5

5. Members of the family – genealogical connections.

Parents:
1. Perses (the destroyer) and Asteria (Starry One) - Hesiod Theogeny 404, Apollodorus 1.8
2. Perses - Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 24, Orphic Hymn 1, Lycophron 1174, Apollonius Rhodius 3.1036, Diodorus Siculus 4.45.1, Ovid Metamorphoses 7.74, Seneca Medea 812
3. Zeus and Asteria - Schol. on Apoll. Rhod. 3.467 ap Musaeus
4. Nyx - Bacchylides Frag 1B, Scholiast on Apoll. Rhod. 3.467
5. Aristaios - Schol. on Apoll. Rhod. 3.467 ap Pherecydes
6. Demeter - Orphic Frag, Scholiast on Apoll. Rhod. 3.467.

Perses - Greek Titan God of Destruction. He was one of three sons of the Titan Krios/Crius and Eurybia. Most remaining works that survive are but fragments that describe his role as husband to Asteria and father to Hekate.
Asteria - An Oracle. A Titaness whose name suggests that She is of the Stars. One version of the birth of Artemis and Apollo has Asteria transformed into the isle of Delos so as to provide a place for Leto (her sister) to give birth.
Nyx - One of the Protogenoi (cosmic forces that predate the Titans) whose purview is Night. A primeval Goddess born of Chaos.
Zeus - King of the Gods. notorious womanizer, He is a heavenly ruler, with powers over law and the weather.
Demeter - Goddess of Agriculture whose name literally means The Mother. She’s most well known for the story of the Abduction of Persephone and of being pursued by Poseidon. Her wrath could be truly intimidating. Though her main purview was the Harvest, she also held dominion over marriage.
Aristaios - A Shepherd God who also governs the apiary arts (bee-keeping), olive harvests, herbalism. He is the son of Apollo and Kyrene.

Lovers:
Phorkys - God of the hidden reaches of the Sea. Known as the “Old Man of the Sea” he is the father of a range of monsters. He slept with Hekate, who bore forth Skylla. He, too, is often depicted as a Torchbearer.

Aeetes - Demigod son of Helios, who is married to Hekate in versions of Her story wherein She is a mortal Queen. He is also King of Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece.

Hermes - Messenger God of Thieves, Roads, and Trade. He shares many traits with Hekate, including the role as a Guide between the Worlds. In spite of stories where the two are described as lovers, there are no surviving bits that mention them having children.

Offspring:
Skylla - A Sea Monster best known from Her role in the Odyssey.  Herakles killed Her but Phorkys resurrected his daughter with his torches.

Kirke - In the versions where Hekate is a mortal queen wed to King Aeetes, they have three children, Kirke, Medea, and Aigialeus. Kirke is, of course, the witch of Odyssean fame who turned his men into pigs and seduced the hero.

Medea - The witch who fell in love with Iason in the Argonautika, who helped him attain the fleece and thereafter assisted his escape. She is also one of Hekate’s most prominent devotees.

Aigialeus - Medea’s brother who was murdered by her to halt the pursuit of her father who was chasing after Jason and the Argonauts.