Hecate:
The statues in Hades’ vault that formed his alarm system looked like the Faerie Queens to Harry, a resemblance that was not purely in his head, as Michael noticed it too. Hannah mistakes them for Hecate. Hades himself later confirms a relationship with Hecate, who facilitated his marriage to Persephone, by misleading her mother to allow them a honeymoon, and by working out the compromise between husband and mother-in-law. According to myth, that “compromise” refers to the origins of the seasons themselves. The agreement was that Persephone would spend half the year with her mother, during which time the world would be allowed to bloom and be warm and fruitful, and half the year with Hades, during which time her mother’s grief would cause cold and barren desolation. Tricking people into letting something happen with the pretense of help that turns out to be less than you expected. Architect of political settlements between supernatural powers. Having a hand in the conflict that governs the change of seasons. Gee, doesn’t Hecate sound like a Faerie Queen?

In Cold Days, the Mothers have a discussion concerning Harry’s summons of Mother Winter. Mother Winter says that Harry “knew certain names. He was not wholly stupid in choosing them, or wrong in using them.” Mother Summer asks “Did he…?” and Winter replies “No, not that one…” Later, when discussing the names Harry used, Mother Summer says “you’ve only guessed the name of one of her masks - not our most powerful name.” That discussion of Mother Winter’s aliases is initiated by Harry asking Mother Summer “Who are you, really?” What’s interesting in the apparent number confusion is that the relationship among the Faerie Queens is explicitly codified in Cold Days. Mab and Titania are sisters, Maeve refers to the late Aurora as her cousin, and they are both the daughters of their respective queens. But if Mab and Titania are sisters, in such a gynocentric family, it stands to reason they should have the same mother, rather than being paternal half-sisters. But these sisters have two mothers. Mothers who share a house, when otherwise Summer and Winter cannot act without balking each other. Mothers so close that what one knows the other knows, as Mother Summer states, when Harry balks as discussing internal Winter affairs with a Summer Queen. Mothers who have a single name between them that is “our most powerful name” (and in this cosmology the ‘most powerful’ name would also be the most accurate and true name).

I see one of two possibilities here. Either the Mothers are dual aspects of a single goddess, Hecate (or of whom Hecate is yet another mask or aspect), or they are Hecate and Persephone (which is which should be fairly obvious), with a much closer tie than might otherwise be known. It would explain why Hecate would have been so invested in protecting Persephone’s marriage, if they were aspects or guises of the same being. It could also be that each is wed to Hades in some fashion, who is the father of Mab & Titania, adding another layer of significance to Hades’ statues in his vault – something of a family portrait. It might also explain his apparently unfounded rooting for Harry to obtain the weapons he is holding, as well as the parallels between his behavior and the Faeries. Michael refers to them as being “lawyers about everything” and Hades is characterized as a judge every bit as scrupulous as the Faeries in their attention to balance.

Names:
In the vein of the names of the Mothers, that seems to be an increasingly significant issue in the series. I first noted Harry’s propensity for naming beings when he gave Demonreach a first name in the first chapter. Giving it the Demonreach name was a key aspect of his binding the island and spirit to him. That also appears to have been the case with Lasciel’s shadow, who had a strong reaction to his calling her “Lash”. He breaks Bob free from Cowl’s control by reminding the spirit that he was the one to give it a name. His abortive use of a nickname for Uriel is one of the few issues on which the archangel is able to make Harry take him seriously, and his comment about how close “Sheila” is to “Lasciel” when the shadow creates an illusory love interest for him implies the Fallen is working under a similar restriction of nomenclature.

He comes up with a special nickname for Molly to symbolize his acceptance of her as a peer, does the same thing in altering his reference to Billy/Will Borden, and makes a connection between Butters coming into his own power and feeling worthy to address Murphy as “Murph”.

In this book alone, Harry imposes additional significance or justification to his various physical stunts by declaring the various leaps or maneuvers “Parkour”, to the annoyance or amusement of his various companions. He bulls his way past the BFS doorman by reciting the warrior's name. Kringle makes a distinction between the powers and obligations he possesses depending on which name he is using, Harry mentally notes his own need to name things as applied to the “octokongs” and we see the Carpenter children, each having a nickname issue arise. Young Harry is addressed by his father as “Hank” giving him a nickname distinct from his namesake’s. One daughter has her own nickname for big Harry, calling him Bill, and Hope’s nickname of “Hobbit” is referenced, though her view of the name appears to have reversed from the days when he won her over by using her real name in spite of the mocking introduction by her siblings. Now, he calls her by her proper name, and she corrects him using Hobbit.

During the course of the caper, Harry makes an issue of almost every teammate’s name. He speculates on the meaning of Goodman Grey’s, and on the ethnic or religious implications of Hannah Ascher’s, and deliberately mocks Nicodemus by the use of a diminutive he dislikes. He notes the contrast between Binder’s real name and his nomme de guerre. The first words he exchanges with Anna Valmont concern aliases.

I’m very interested to see what the parasite’s name will be.

Hades
I so agree with that entire discussion of the original myths about Hades, versus the pop culture portrayal; especially in the comparison of him to the Olympians. I was pretty much indifferently assuming yet another psychotic Satan/Grim Reaper mash-up and was pleasantly surprises by Harry’s interactions with him. I also liked the reference to the legend of Europa (How jaded to you have to be for that to sound like fun? )

This epic urban fantasy series has been brought to you by the letter "M"
Thanks to Malcom & Margaret, Molly, Murphy, Maggie, Mouse, Mister, Mab, Maeve, Michael, Mort, Marcone, Morgan, Merlin, Mai, Martha (Liberty), Ms. Mallory, Meyers, (Harvey) Morris, Major-general (Toot-Toot) Minimus, Mickey Malone & MacAnally.

Fun companion fact: Every woman whose name begins with "L" is not only drop dead gorgeous & overtly sexualized but tries to seduce Harry into something bad. The most innocuous of them, Lily (whose pre-Summer job was nude modeling), tried to get him to turn against Mab. The most benevolent, Luccio, seduced him under the compulsion of Peabody in order to have an agent in place near the most independant Warden. I think even the girl who made off with his ghost-protection bracelet, after coming on to him, in Grave Peril was a Linda or Lucy or something. Even LarTessa the Denarian offered sex to get him to surrender Gard & Hendricks. And of course, Lasciel, Leanansidhe and Lara go without saying. Give Lacuna time.