Hestia

Hestia is a virgin Greek goddess of the hearth, home and fire.  It was believed all hearths were her altars.  She also symbolized the alliance between colonies and their mother cities. Her sacred animal is the pig.

 Family 
Hestia is the older sister of Demeter and Hera, and is also the sister of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Her parents are Titans Rhea and Kronos.

 Myths 
Hestia was originally one of the Twelve Olympians.  Her throne was described as plain, being made of wood with a woolen white cushion. She did not choose an emblem for herself.

Hestia was the first to be swallowed by her father Kronos when he ate the Twelve Olympians, and the last to be disgorged. 

Zeus assigned Hestia to tend the sacred fire on Mount Olympus. Because she could not leave the hearth, Hestia did not have many stories centered around her. 

In ancient tales, Hestia refused the marriage offers of Apollo (her nephew) and Poseidon (her brother). She vowed on the River Styx to forever be a virgin goddess.

 Worship 
Hestia was always the first to receive offerings at every sacrifice in a household. Any hearth of a household was forbidden to go out unless the fire was ritually extinguished and ritually revived. The hearth of the prytaneum was Hestia's official sanctuary. When a new colony was formed, a flame from Hestia's public hearth in the mother city would be carried to the new settlement.

Related pages

 Vesta (mythology), a Roman version of Hestia.

Category:Twelve Olympians
Category:Virgin goddesses