Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Hecale ( grc-gre, Ἑκάλη ''Hekálē'') was an old woman who offered succor to

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

on his way to capture the Marathonian Bull.

Mythology

On the way to Marathon to capture the Bull, Theseus sought shelter from a storm in a shack owned by an ancient lady named Hecale. She swore to make a sacrifice to

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

if Theseus was successful in capturing the bull. Theseus did capture the bull but when he returned to Hecale's hut, she was dead. Theseus built a

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

in her honor ( Hecale was a deme of the tribe Leontis). The legend is described in a fragmentary poem, the '' Hecale'', by

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

and in the "Life of Theseus" by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

. Translation of Plutarch's text:

"Theseus, wishing to be actively employed, and at the same time to win the favour of the people, went out against the Marathonian bull, which was causing no small annoyance to the inhabitants of the Tetrapolis, and he overcame the bull and drove it through the city to exhibitit, after which he sacrificed it to Apollo Delphinius. Hecale and the legend of her reception and entertainment (of Theseus) seem to be not quite without some portion of truth. For the demes round about used to meet and hold a Hecalesian festival in honour of Zeus Hecalus, and honoured Hecale, whom they called by the pet name Hecaline, because when she entertained Theseus, who at the time was quite young, she addressed him as an old woman would and greeted him with that sort of pet names. When Theseus was setting out to the contest she vowed in his behalf to offer a sacrifice to Zeus if he came back safe. She died, however, before his return, and received the above mentioned honours, in return for her hospitality, by order of Theseus, as Philochorus relates."

One of today's Athens northern suburbs, Ekáli, an affluent and very exclusive residential community on the western foot of Mount Penteli, is called by that name.

Hecalesia

Hecalesia (Εκαλήσια), a festival at Athens in honour of

Hecalesius and Hecale.Plutarch, Theseus, 14
/ref>

References

External links

* Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Lives'' with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. 1
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
Women in Greek mythology Attican characters in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub