Hestia was the goddess of home and fire, known as Vesta to the Romans. She presided over the cooking of meat and bread, and so always received a portion of a ritual sacrifice.

Hestia was portrayed as a modestly dressed and veiled woman holding a flowering branch, sometimes with a kettle or cauldron by her side. Her symbol was the flame and her sacred animal was the calf.

Mythology

Hestia was the firstborn of Cronus and Rhea and the first to be swallowed. When Cronus disgorged Hestia, she was the last one out, so she was considered both the oldest and the youngest of her siblings. Hestia gave up her seat on Mount Olympus to Dionysus to prevent conflict and to tend the sacred fire there.

Various gods, including Poseidon and Apollon, sought to marry her, but Hestia asked Zeus to remain a maiden. He agreed and she remained at his hearth. As the hearth was considered the center of domestic life, Hestia was considered the goddess of domestic happiness; the inner part of every house was sacred to her. She was also considered to have invented the art of housebuilding. The hearth was also the altar on which sacrifices were offered, so Hestia presided at all sacrifices. The hearth fire was not permitted to go out unless it was ritually extinguished and ritually renewed.

In the public sphere, the hearth of the town hall functioned as Hestia’s official sanctuary. When a new colony was founded, sacred flame would be brought from another town hall. In Rome, the Vestal Virgins were the female priests of Vesta. The duty of the Vestal Virgins was to maintain the sacred fire in her temple. As the only female priests in Rome, this position was sought-after and only filled by girls from the great families of Rome.

Hestia does not appear in many myths due to her passive nature. In one, recounted by Ovid, Hestia lay down for a nap on the grass. Priapus, on the lookout for goddesses and nymphs, spotted her and tiptoed over to seize her. (Priapus was a minor fertility god, protector of livestock, fruits, gardens, and male genitals. His own genitals were grotesquely oversized. He was the son of Aphrodite by either Dionysus or Zeus.) Just then, a donkey wandering in the field brayed and the goddess woke up and fled back to Mount Olympus.

Hestia in Popular Culture

• Hestia does not figure much in popular culture. There is an Australian lingerie maker called Hestia, and the old sulfur matches that were later superseded by safety matches were known as vestas. Vesta cases, usually silver, are often collected by antiques enthusiasts; the cases were needed because the old matches were so unstable.

• Hestia was a character on BASToF Syndrome, a 2001 South Korean animation television series and movie.

• Vesta appeared in the Marvel Comics Thor series. Like most of the other Olympian comic heroes, Vesta possesses qualities of superhuman strength, can fly, change her shape and become invisible at will.

Back to Ancient Greek Olympian Gods