Macbeth Hecate Quotes

Witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1. This quote from Macbeth’s soliloquy shows how much a once well-regarded warrior with a moral conscience has been corrupted by the malevolent influence of the Witches. Aligning himself with the supernatural, he believes that the murder of Duncan is like an offering to Hecate. Hecate is the ancient Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, the moon and the night. Witches were said to have gathered in the woods at night to offer sacrifices to Hecate.

Ere the bat hath flown
His cloister’d flight, ere, to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 2. Macbeth hints to his wife of his plan to kill Banquo and Fleance before nightfall. The passage references the supernatural, a goddess associated with witches, bats and beatles. Hecate was goddess of witchcraft, night, moon and ghosts. She is described as black, a symbol for evil in the play. Macbeth’s “deed of dreadful note” is the murder of Banquo and his son. We also find an example of personification in “The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums Hath rung night’s yawning peal.”

All you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 5. Hecate’s speech to the Three Witches gives quite an insight into Macbeth’s character. The angry goddess brands him wayward, spite and wrathful, accusing him of loving only himself and not caring about the Witches. What is being indicated here is that Macbeth is no longer under the spell of the Witches, but has now fully embraced evil and is on par with the Witches.

He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
He hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 5. Goddess Hecate prophesies that Macbeth will be fooled by her magic into thinking he is immune to fate, he will mock death, and think he is beyond wisdom and fear. Overconfidence is man’s greatest enemy, she says. This is foreshadowing the apparitions that appear to Macbeth in Act 4, lulling him into a false sense of security, leading to his death.
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