The Hecate Sisters: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:hectatesisters.gif|frame|Waxing, [[Stealth Pun|full]] and waning]]

 

Sub-trope of the [[Power Trio]] and cousin to [[The Three Faces of Eve]]. The three aspects of a triune goddess or trinity of goddesses appear as sisters. They are the maiden (often [[Everyone Loves Blondes|blonde and beautiful]], and either a [[Naive Everygirl|naive ditz]] or a budding seductress), the mother (often plump and rather eccentric, or pregnant, as the page image shows) and the crone (often [[Deadpan Snarker|sharp-witted, sharp-tongued]], bitter and unsentimental). In terms of a [[Freudian Trio]], the maiden is the Id, the crone is the Superego, and the mother is the Ego. Even though they are the same being, they seem to know and think different things, so they bicker. In fantasy stories, these characters may be exactly what they appear, or they may be a trio of witches or wise women who reflect the aspects of the goddess.

This trope has the unusual distinction of being either [[Older Than Feudalism]], or [[Newer Than They Think]]: Most of what we know about triple-goddess mythology comes from the author and mythologist Robert Graves, who, like many of his early 20th-century contemporaries, tended to add his own ideas wherever he felt they were needed.

 

 

Compare [[The Three Faces of Eve]] and [[Same Sex Triplets]].