Virgin Goddesses

The Virgin Goddesses (or maiden goddesses) are Artemis, Athena, and Hestia. This means that they do not marry and have children the usual way or not at all.
== Hestia ==
Hestia is the goddess of hearth and family. She still remembers when her father Kronos swallowed her and her siblings. She was sought after by both Apollo and Poseidon as a wife, but she rejected them and went to Zeus. In order to avoid a fate similar to Metis, Hestia swore to Zeus that she would never marry. She instead would take care of every family member and all the humans who need hearth. Zeus admired his sister and cared for her, so he blessed her oath of virginity.
== Artemis ==
Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and the moon. She doesn't have children because she was very affected by the act of helping her mother, the Titaness Leto, to give birth to her twin brother Apollo after she was born. Seeing that it took days and nights for her brother's birth, Artemis was so affected by this that she swore to be a virgin goddess and that she didn't like men after that. She instead decided to form a group of female hunters who share her view. Zeus admired his daughter and cared for her, so he blessed her oath of virginity like he did with his sister.
Artemis' only romance was the great hunter Orion, but he died after being inflicted with madness by Apollo. One example of Artemis' hatred for romance and men is that when her and her huntresses were bathing in a woodland pond when the prince Actaeon, while hunting with his hounds, came upon them unknowingly and watched them bathe. Angered by his action, Artemis turned him into a deer and ended his life in sorrow when his hounds attacked him, believing him to be the prey of the hunt.
== Athena ==
Athena is the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She was born from her father Zeus after he had swallowed her mother, the Titaness Metis, when he heard the Oracle's prophecy that she would give birth to not only Athena but to a son who would one day overthrow him. Later, when he complained of a headache, Hephaestus took an axe and smacked it on Zeus' head. Soon, Athena came out already matured and in battle suit, taking her mother's position as goddess of wisdom. One of the reasons she became a virgin was to avoid having a fate similar to her mother, Metis.
Even though she is a virgin goddess, Athena has demigod children, who are born from her own thoughts combined with the thoughts of mortal men she loves. These children are "gifts" to the men she favours. She considers that this meeting of minds is the purest kind of love that one could give upon. However, Athena had a child through accidentally mixing her divine essence with Hephaestus. She used a handkerchief to wipe the tears off of her skirt. As a result, the handkerchief turned into a human.
== Trivia ==
* Chiron mentioned that three is a holy number, as it is the number of the Fates, the Big Three, the Virgin Goddesses, and the Furies.
* The three goddesses all have Titan mothers.
** Hestia is the only one with a Titan father.
* Athena is the only Virgin goddess in the series who doesn't (even occasionally) take on the form of a child.
** She also is the only one out of the three who has demigod children.
* There are also other non-Olympian virgin goddesses, such as Hecate; although she has demigod children in the series. According to mythology, she is able to have children using parthenogenesis, in a way similar to Athena's.
* It is very likely Cupid's arrows can work on a Virgin Goddess, as most gods fear Cupid for the power of his arrows. However, the Homeric Hymns mention that Aphrodite has no power over the maiden goddesses.
Category:Olympians
Category:Trios
Category:Immortals