User:Druzydragon/sandbox

Sources in progress

- https://www.ancient.eu/Hermes/

- Hyde, Lewis. 1998. Trickster Makes this World. New York: North Point Press [Hermes- "the spirit of the doorway leading out, and of the crossroad at the edge of town... He is the spirit of the road at dusk, the one that runs from one town to another and belongs to neither" (p.6)]

- http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/entries/hermes.html

- Johnston, S. I. “Crossroads.” Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, vol. 88, 1991, pp. 217–224. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20187554. (overview of crossroads in greek and roman culture, includes mention of Hecate)

- http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hermes.html

Liminal being additions (under Hybrids):

Tritons from classical mythology, half-human sea beasts

Satyrs and their elder counterparts the Silenoi from classical mythology, half-man half-goat (similar to the Roman Faun)

Harpies from classical mythology, half-woman half-bird (see also: Furies)

[Gilmore, David D. (2012) Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 38-45]

"CROSSROADS Difficulty, need of guidance, uncertainty. Place at which a man moves from one realm to another. In antiquity the meeting of many roads typified the world's navel at which the statue or emblem of of a deity of travelers was placed to direct those in doubt; thus it became a place for worshiping Christ, Hermes, Jizo, Mercury, and other deities. The statue of the Japanese Jizo, like that of the Greek herm, was sometimes mischievous and moved around to confuse a wanderer. In the middle ages a place of rendezvous for demons and witches, and a burial place of suicides. Into modern times the site of a small country settlement. Among Christians it once was a burial place second in sacredness to the consecrated church. Ancient Teutons sacrificed criminals to the gods at crossroads, hence and execution ground."

[Jobes, Gertrude. (1961) Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols Part 1. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p.388 ]

^Hecate on p.740

Oxford Classical Dictionary- Hermes entry (p.668), partial quotes: "He is characterized by a great variety of functions. Above all, he is a messenger god, who carries out the orders of Zeus with due respect. ..... He is also the god who guides: he shows transhumant shepherds the way and leads teams of animals; he guides people, especially travelers, for whom he marks out the route in the form of a pillar or herm."

Oxford Classical Dictionary- Hecate entry (p.649-651), partial quotes: Hecate was a popular and ubiquitous goddess from the time of Hesiod until late antiquity. Unknown in Homer and harmless in Hesiod, she emerges by the 5th cent. as a sinister divine figure associated with magic and witchcraft, lunar lore and creatures of the night, dog sacrifices and illuminated cakes, as well as doorways and crossroads. .... certainly outlandish in her infernal aspects, she is more at home on the fringes than in the centre of Greek polytheism. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition. ...because her functions overlap with those of other divinities, she lacks individuating features. ...She was worshiped in liminal places.... So-called 'suppers of Hecate'--consisting of various breadstuffs, eggs, cheese, and dog-meat-- were put out for her at the crossroads each month to mark the rising of the new moon. ...As 'the one of the roadways', she protected the crossroads as well as the graves by the roadside. ...After c.430 BC, the goddess of the crossroads is often represented as a standing female figure with three faces or bodies, each corresponding to one of the crossing roads. ...A curse tablet from the imperial period addresses her similarly as 'Lady Hecate of the heavens, Hecate of the Underworld, Hecate of the three roads, Hecate of the triple face, Hecate of the single face'."

[Hornblower, Spawforth, Eidinow. (2012) The Oxford Classical Dictionary fourth edition. Oxford University Press]

>>New section for the Crossroads (mythology) page:

Greek/Classical Mythology
In Greek mythology, crossroads were associated with both Hermes and Hecate, with shrines and ceremonies for both taking place there. The herm pillar associated with Hermes frequently marked these places due to the god's association with travelers and role as a guide. Though less central to Greek mythology than Hermes, Hecate's connection to crossroads was more cemented in ritual. 'Suppers of Hecate' were left for her at crossroads at each new moon, and one of her most common titles was 'goddess of the crossroads.' In her later three-fold depictions, each of the three heads or bodies is often associated with one of three crossing roads.

--note to self: also add to the Burial section--

Burial section addition:

While they became a place of burial for suicides and others unable to be given proper burial in the Middle Ages, the crossroads were once a burial place second only to the consecrated church for Christians.