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Hestia is one of the major deities in the ancient Greek religion, she is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the family, the home, the state and domesticity, who is also associated with cooking, virginity as well as sacred and sacrificial fire, she was a founding member of The Twelve Olympians who passed her place to Dionysus, the God of Wine.

Genealogy and Family[]

Hestia was born the first child of the couple, Cronus, Titan of the Harvest and Rhea, the Titaness of motherhood and fertility. She has five younger siblings, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus and a paternal half brother named Chiron. Hestia chose to be an eternal maiden therefore never married nor had children of her own. She does however though have many nieces and nephews, including Persephone, Hebe, Eileithyia, Apollo, Hermes, Ares and Hephaestus. Her two nieces, Athena and Artemis are also eternal maidens like her.


Role and Significance[]

Hestia is the goddess of the home and hearth and the protector of the house, keeping the fireplaces of homes burning. She is also one of the least active deities, dedicating most of her life to tending the sacred fire on Olympus.

Ancient Greeks believed all hearths were her altars. In ancient Greece, the worship of Hestia was centred especially around the hearth, both domestic and civic. The hearth was essential for warmth, food preparation, and the completion of sacrificial offerings to deities. At feasts, Hestia was offered the first and last libations of wine. Pausanias writes that the Eleans sacrifice first to Hestia and then to other gods. In each Greek city there was a huge fire lit in Hestia's honour looked to for protection, that was expected to be maintained by citizens. Hestia also symbolized the alliance between colonies and their mother cities.

Stories[]

Shortly after Hestia was born, her father Cronus swallowed her whole, petrified of the prophecy, Uranus had previously told Cronus, that one of his own children would defeat him and take over his place as the leader of the Gods like Cronus had done to his father Uranus. This also made Cronus determined to maintain his power and treat his own children as his enemies. Hestia, was later joined in her father's stomach by four of her siblings: Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, . As immortals Hestia and her siblings survived and grew to maturity. Years later, they got thrown up by their father Cronus, thus being freed from their imprisonment thanks to their youngest sibling, Zeus, tricking his father into drinking a special concoction created by Metis, an Oceanid and the Goddess of Intelligence. The five siblings having been freed ran away from their father with Zeus. Whilst Hestia, Hera and Demeter journeyed to the home of Oceanus and Tethys, their brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades ventured to the Underworld where they made an alliance with the Hecatonchieres and the Cyclops who also made the three brothers their new weapons. The six siblings then reunited and alongside other Gods who allied to them, such as Nike, Helios and Hecate, fought together against the evil Cronus and his allies in the Titanomachy (Titan Wars) and after finally defeating them, imprisoned their enemies in Tartarus. Hestia and her siblings then settled peacefully on Mount Olympus and got on with their responsibilities, no longer threatened by Cronus. Much later she would pass her seat on Mount Olympus to her nephew, Dionysus, the god of the wine.

Other stories of Hestia include a myth about her having two Gods that were infatuated with her and wanted to marry her, Poseidon and Apollo and the two proposed marriage to her but Hestia instead politely declined their offers, not wanting to offend either of the men by choosing to marry one over the over. It was after this that Hestia vowed to become a virgin goddess.

Another story speaks about the god, Priapus, lusting after Hestia and wanting to have intercourse with her and he thought he had a chance to when he saw the Goddess sleeping, but before he could Hestia happened to be awakened by a Donkey, who cried out as his nose had been stung by a bee, now awake the Goddess stopped Priapus from taking her virginity. Due to the animal saving her, she made the donkey one of her sacred animals.

More coming soon!

Gallery[]

Hestia's gallery can be found here.

Appearance[]

Personality[]

Hestia is a quiet, benevolent, pacifistic, caring Goddess and the most peaceful and humble deity of the Greek Pantheon, who spends most of her time at home, tending to the sacred fire of Mount Olympus, rarely leaving her property and avoiding conflict with others. She is the mediator of the Gods and her hearth is always open to people. She and her nieces, Artemis and Athena are the most well known Virgin Goddesses, single and dedicated to their duties. Her temper is volcanic in nature; it is very hard to make her cross and she is slow to anger, but when she finally gets angry, her rage is a force of nature, something mighty to behold. She can control fire, and her flames give her a warm and kind personality. She watches over homes and make sure that they don‘t catch fire. She only sets fire to a house when grievous sins have been committed by those who reside within that house. 

Symbols[]

Hestia's symbols are the hearth (fireplace), a kettle, torch, candle and fire. Her sacred animals are the pig, crane and donkey. Her sacred plant is the Chaste-tree.

Titles and Epithets[]

Hestia's epithets included basileia (“queen”), chloomorphos (“verdant”) and aidios (“eternal”).

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Like all Major Goddesses, Hestia has eternal youth and immortality, she can never die or become ill. She also does not require sleep.
  • Hestia has control over fire, and used this ability to fight her father Cronus.

Relationships[]

Trivia[]

  • Because Hestia must stay by her hearth on Olympus and tend the fire, her only manifestation among humans is the crackling of the fire. It is said that the crackling of flames is the sound of the Goddess laughing.
  • Whilst she was the first born child of her parents, Hestia was the last to be vomited out by Cronus, hence her being known as "both the oldest and the youngest".
  • Hestia's official Greek name is Ἑστια. 
  • Hestia's Roman name is Vesta.

Monthly Update[]

Hestia has been chosen to be this Wikia's theme in the coming months.

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