Hestia

**Adopted Siblings**

* Ambrosius (Brother)
* Chiron (Brother)
* Kurdalaegon (Brother)
* Vali Lucifer (Brother)
* Andromeda (Sister)

**Aunts*** Titans
	+ Eurybia
	+ Clymene
	+ Mnemosyne
	+ Phoebe
	+ Tethys
	+ Theia
	+ Themis
* **Others**
	+ Alecto
	+ Ceto
	+ Echidna
	+ Megaera
	+ Tisiphone
	+ The Meliades
	+ The Nesoi

**Hestia** is the Goddess of Family, Home, and the Hearth from Greco-Roman mythology. She is the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea, an Elder Olympian, and is a founding member of Mount Olympus and the Twelve Olympians.

In Ancient Rome, she was known and worshipped as the goddess **Vesta**.

## Overview

**Hestia** is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state. In Greek mythology, she is the firstborn child of the Titans Kronos and Rhea.

Customarily, in Greek culture, Hestia received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. In the public domain, the hearth of the *prytaneum* functioned as her official sanctuary, and, when a new colony was established, a flame from Hestia's public hearth in the mother city would be carried to the new settlement.

The goddess **Vesta** is her Roman equivalent.

## Appearance

Hestia appears as a beautiful young girl with a petite frame, which further emphasizes her unnaturally large breasts. She has gleaming blue eyes and long black hair, which is tied into two twin-tails by bell-shaped hair ornaments with white-and-blue flower petals. Occasionally, she is shown to have her hair down, hiding it behind a blue veil with gold linings.

She wears a white-and-blue dress with a blue ribbon tied under her breasts, around her arms, with white evening gloves and sandals. During her stay at Camp Half-Blood, she wears the camp's T-shirt, faded jeans, and blue-and-white sneakers.

## Personality

Hestia is a good-natured, gentle, and understanding goddess who never says a bad word about anyone. She is far kinder than most gods, who frequently take offense at the slightest provocation, and almost never get angry with anyone, no matter how terrible they are.

She is portrayed to have a calm, relaxing, and humble disposition, and, as opposed to other gods, she doesn't seek recognition or attention, but exists contentedly at the hearth. She is a very hard-working and busy goddess, rather unlike many of the gods who take their duties and responsibilities in a much lighter manner.

She loves her family with all of her heart, and, despite all of their problematic ways, the pantheon as a whole love her just as much. Her fondest wish is that her great family can get along and she is always trying her best to help the people around her. And although she is obviously unsuccessful in maintaining the harmony around her, she still watches out for each and every member in her great family. Because of this, it ensures that it is extremely difficult for any god to become angry with her, as her earnest disposition is rare and valuable among the gods.

And yet, it is implied that she - like all other gods - has a darker side to her nature. During the Titanomachy, she was regarded even more dangerous than Zeus, who was their leader, as she lacked any mercy or forgiveness toward those she deemed their enemies.

According to Demeter, after their victory against Kronos' forces, she ordered all the Titans who sided with their father to either be killed or imprisoned in Tartarus for eternity, and only by the skin of their teeth that they were able to convice her not to do the same to the gods who stay neutral or had denied them safety during the war. This implied that, like her brother Hades, she has a tendency to hold grudges, especially against those who had caused harm to her family, intentionally or otherwise.

### Roman Form: Vesta

Hestia can change into her Roman counterpart, **Vesta**. As Vesta, she becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike. Hestia was envisioned by the Greeks as the gentle goddess of domesticity whereas the Romans considered Vesta to be the stern guardian of the Roman state.

In ancient times, the Vestal Virgins were maiden priestesses who maintained the sacred fire housed inside the Temple of Vesta.

## History

### Courtship of Hestia

Unlike her sisters and many other goddesses, Hestia never desires to be married or to become a mother, and has rejected the courtships of multiple gods, the most prominent two of which were Poseidon and Apollo, the former being her younger brother while the latter was her nephew.

After centuries of dealing with unwanted suitors, Hestia became annoyed and in one meeting between the Twelve Olympians, she publicly announced that she would become a Virgin Goddess, swearing to be a maiden to the rest of her immortal days.

Zeus agreed with her vow and then gave her a high honor instead of marriage, placing her in the midst of the house and has the richest portion, in all the temples she has a share of portion and among all mortal men, she is the chief of the goddesses, beyond that of his queen Hera. Apollo and Poseidon, while still smitten with her, swore an oath to protect her chastity and to punish anyone who would ever attempt to woo her in the future.

### Incident with Priapus

During the anniversary of the Elder Olympians' victory in the Titanomachy, Rhea organized a grandiose feast on Mount Ida and invited many to attend, from the Olympians to the remaining Titans to even the satyrs and nymphs and rural spirits. After a night of festivity, a drunk Hestia wandered out into the woods and fell asleep.

Priapus, a minor god of vegetation, spotted the sleeping goddess and wanted to take advantage of her, whether he knew it was Hestia or thought it was a nymph remains unknown. However, while he was approaching her, a donkey brayed out loudly, waking up Hestia who screamed and ran away from Priapus. Hearing her scream, the feasting gods instantly ran to her side and Priapus barely escaped from the hostile mob. After the event, Hestia declared that she was to be grateful and defined the donkey as one of her sacred animals.

### The Last Olympian

Following the Gigantomachy, the Olympians had unanimously agreed that Dionysus should join their ranks of immortal gods, as not only his own cults had grown powerful enough, but also because of his achievements during the war against the Gigantes. Hestia herself willingly gave up her throne so that he could enter the Twelve Olympians and took to constantly tending to the sacred hearth.

During any of their massive family feuds, any Olympian could choose to take a break by sitting down next to the hearth with Hestia, whose presence alone was enough to calm anyone near her.

## Trivia

* Her name, *Hestia*, means "hearth, fireplace, or altar".
* Her divine attributes are fire, the chaste-tree, the fireplace, kettle, and the cloak.
	+ Her sacred animal is the pig and the donkey.
	+ Her sacrifices consisted of the primitiae of fruit, water, oil, wine, and cows of one year old.
* Due to her power being directly tied to the Flame of Olympus, she would be the last Olympian remaining even if all of the other gods' thrones are destroyed, as her powers are enshrined within the Flame itself.
* In ancient times, she received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household, and, at feasts, the first and last libations were dedicated to her.
* According to Greek mythology, of all the gods and goddesses, she was considered the gentlest, kindest and most forgiving deity with a discreet nature.
* The dark main-belt asteroid - 46 Hestia is named after her.
	+ Vesta - the second largest object in the asteroid belt is named after her Roman counterpart.
		- The Vesta family, a group of asteroids, is named after her alias.