HESTIA
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Roman Name:
HESTIA was the virgin goddess of the hearth (both private and municipal) and the home.
As the goddess of the family hearth she also presided over the cooking of bread and the
preparation of the family meal. Hestia was also the goddess of the sacrificial flame and
received a share of every sacrifice to the gods. The cooking of the communal feast of
sacrificial meat was naturally a part of her domain.
`Εστια
Hestia
Hestia
Hearth, Home, Altar (hestia)
Vesta
When the gods Apollon and Poseidon sought for her hand in marriage, Hestia refused
and asked Zeus to let her remain an eternal virgin. He agreed and she took her place at his
royal hearth.
Hestia was depicted in Athenian vase painting as a modestly veiled woman sometimes
holding a flowered branch (of a chaste tree ?). In classical sculpture she was also veiled,
with a kettle as her attribute.
Hestia goddess of hearth & home
In myth Hestia was the first born child of Kronos and Rhea who was swallowed by her
father at birth. Zeus later forced the old Titan to disgorge Hestia and her siblings. As the
first to be swallowed she was also the last to be disgorged, and so was named as both the
eldest and youngest of the six Kronides.
Hestia was the goddess of hearth, home and feast. By extension she also presided over
the public hearths, namely the altars of the gods, and the state hearth.
“Zeus the Father gave her [Hestia] a high honour instead of marriage, and she has
her place in the midst of the house and has the richest portion. In all the temples
of the gods she has a share of honour, and among all mortal men she is chief of the
goddesses.” - Homeric Hymn V to Aphrodite 18
“Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men who walk on earth,
you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honour: glorious is your portion and
your right. For without you mortals hold no banquet, - where one does not duly pour
sweet wine in offering to Hestia both first and last.” - Homeric Hymn 24 to Hestia
“Hestia, you who tend the holy house [temple] of the lord Apollon.” - Homeric Hymn
24 to Hestia
“Daughter of Rhea, guardian of parliaments, Hestia, sister of all-highest Zeus, and of
Hera who shares his throne, welcome with goodwill to your sacred hall.” - Pindar, Odes
Nemean 11 str1-ant2
“Gold-throned Hestia [goddess of the hearth, here the public hearth in Larissa], you
who increase the great prosperity of the glorious Agathokleadai, those men of wealth,
as you sit in mid-city by the fragrant Peneios in the glens of sheep-rearing Thessalia.”
- Greek Lyric IV Bacchylides, Frag 14B
“Zeus, the mighty lord, holding the reins of a winged chariot, leads the way in heaven,
ordering all and taking care of all; and there follows him the array of gods and
demigods, marshalled in eleven bands; Hestia alone abides at home in the house of
heaven.” - Plato, Phaedrus 246
`ΕΣΤΙΑ
ΤΙΑ
“Hestia ... who dwellest amidst great fire’s eternal flame; in sacred rites these ministers
are thine, mystics much blessed, holy and divine. In thee the Gods have fixed their
dwelling place, strong, stable basis of the mortal race.” - Orphic Hymn 84 to Hestia
“To Kronos and Rhea, we are told, were born Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, and Zeus,
Poseidon, and Haides. Of these, they say, Hestia discovered how to build houses, and
because of this benefaction of hers practically all men have established her shrine
in every home, according her honours and sacrifices.” - Diodorus Siculus, Library of
History 5.68.1
“The goddess whom they call Hestia. Her power extends over altars and hearths,
and therefore all prayers and all sacrifices end with this goddess, because she is the
guardian of the innermost things.” - Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.27
“Ges agalma (A statue of the earth): They model Hestia as a woman, like the earth,
holding up a kettledrum, since the earth encloses the winds below herself.” - Suidas
“Ges agalma”