nature by the suggestion of others. According toEncyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca (Guiley 388), witches are the "practitioners ofwitchcraft”. They are expertise in sorcery and magic. The word "witch" was a coinage of theEnglish language in the late 13th century, coming from the Middle English word "witche"which is derived from the Old English terms "wicca, wicce and wiccian，，，referring “to worksorcery, bewitch." The term “witch” is nowadays usually linked with female figures while"sorcerer" tends to be seen as a male prerogative. However，in the ancient folklore, a “witch”can be either male or female and during the witch persecutions from the 15th to 17th centuries，the word "witch" was applied to both sexes. The English language is rich in synonyms, andthere are several partly overlapping terms such as “magician，，，"conjurer". Anthropologistsand historians have distinguished the synonyms by identifying whether the supernaturalpower is innate or externally acquired, but giving that this paper is to analyze the generalimage of this female figure in literature, the difference between "enchanter", "sorceress" and"witch” is not emphasized.
2.2 "Goddess of Witchcraft： Classical Images
Myth is one of the most ancient literary sources. Katherine A. Fowkes even puts forwardthat "the roots of fantasy tap ancient myth, legends, and folk tales. In the West, stories ofwonders and marvel can be traced all the way back to Homer's Odyssey, Ovid'sMetamorphoses，Lucius Apuleius's The Golden Ass, and the chivalric romances of the lateMiddle Ages" (15). Many literary figures can find their source in myth and the witch is noexception. According to the description of the goddess and female monsters, there are severalwho are with supernatural powers and among them，three witch goddesses in the myths aremore familiar to readers and widely accepted by scholars as the prototype of the later witches.They are Hecate, Circe and Medea.As the goddess of all forms of magic and witchcraft，Hecate was far more important inantiquity than the mythical sorceress. In the Greek mythology，Hecate was the daughter of theTitans Asteria (sister of Leto) and Persesis and was a powerful goddess who eventuallyevolved to become the patron of magic and witchcraft. Hecate had three aspects: goddess offertility and plenty; goddess of the Moon; and queen of the night, ghosts and shades (Guiley158). Her role as a tripartite goddess in modem days is associated with the concept of "theMaiden, the Mother and the Crone" (Donna 213). Hecate was widely revered since she was aninfluential goddess who possessed infernal power. Wandering the earth at night with a pack ofred-eyed hell hounds and a retinue of dead souls, she was constantly associated withcrossroads，fire, the Moon, knowledge of herbs, incantations, sacrifices and rituals throughouthistory. The classical sources of Hecate are rich. For instance in Theogony, Hesiod dedicated along passage to the praise of Hecate and her varied powers: She was given splendid gifts tohave a share of the earth and the sea.Circe, also an original “witch goddess" (Guiley 225), was written in both Odyssey andMetamorphoses, Composed near the end of the 8th century BC, Odyssey was filled with avariety of female figures that represent male fantasies. Apart from the ideal women who werehelpful to the heroes such as the faithful wife Penelope who kept his suitors at bay and waseventually reunited with him, and the virgin Nausicaa who provided aid after his shipwreck,there were then several femmes fatales whose images were opposite to the ideal types. Thesefemmes fatales made wide use of their power to impede or delay Odysseus' journey home.The alluring Siren tempted the sailors to deaths, and the hybrid Scylla bolted the men sail past.The epic also mentioned a woman who played magic and she is regarded as one o
