Hestia/Vesta
Alternate Spelling: Hestie
Goddess of Hearth and Home
The Birth and Rebirth of Hestia
Hestia was the firstborn child of Kronos and Rhea, who were King and Queen of the Titans at the time. Upon her birth, Hestia was swallowed by her father, Kronos, who would go on to also swallow Hestia's next four siblings: Demeter, Hera, Haides, and Poseidon. Being immortal, the children survived in Kronos's stomach. When the lastborn son, Zeus, cut Kronos open, Hestia was the last of the trapped children to reemerge. She is therefore considered both the oldest and youngest of the siblings.Hestia in Mythology
Hestia was courted by Poseidon and Apollo, but opted to remain an eternal virgin, and claimed the hearth as her domain. On Olympus, Hestia tends the fire in Zeus's royal court. A piece of that fire, brought to Earth by the titan Prometheus, gave Hestia dominion over mortal hearths as well. She represents the domestic realm, but also the municipal hearth, prytaneum, and sacred fires at every other god's temple, where Hestia received a portion of every burnt sacrifice.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...
Depictions of Hestia
Hestia is most often depicted as a woman with modest clothing, veiled, holding a flowered branch and a kettle.Divine Domains
Goddess of hearth and home, sacrificial flame, and communal feasting.
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