Greek+Goddess+Hestia

By: Jamie
 * Greek Goddess Hestia **

What if your father swallowed you when you were a baby? What if you never got married and had no children? What if you gave up your throne? Hestia is best known for conveying the importance of family and watching over the relationships we have within our dwelling. She is honored with the first sacrifice in the home which entails anything given from the heart and publicly her flame never allowed to burn out. An offering to show respect and honor the divine. She is the first of 3 goddesses dedicated her life to virginity.
 * The Warmth of Our House **

 Daughter of Kronos and Rhea, Hestia had an interesting birth like her siblings. Kronos had overthrown his father and was afraid his children would do the same to him. When Rhea had a baby he would take the baby and swallow them whole. Then many years later someone gave him a drink that would regurgitate all his children that he swallowed. She was the first to be swallowed but the last to be disgorged. Hestia was in the first Olympian generation. She is one of six children; which includes Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, and Hera.

She is the Greek goddess of hearth, which means the floor of a fireplace, and the goddess of home. Also she is the goddess of cooking, architecture and sacrificial flame. In ancient Greece Hestia would receive the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. Today in Greece you can still find Hestia’s statue in almost every house.

The virgin goddess was another name people called Hestia. Hestia was unmoved by the works of the goddess Aphrodite; so she swore on the head of Zeus to retain her virginity. She was one of the three that was immune to the influence of the goddess Aphrodite. She couldn’t be forced to love someone by Aphrodite or anyone. Many times the gods would try to be with her but she turned them away. She is one of the few goddesses that have no husband or children.  Hestia is a calm, gentle, welcoming, serene, peaceful young woman. She was never found in wars or disputes. She minded her own business and wasn’t into drama or gossip like some of the other gods or goddesses. Beauty and love was something Hestia didn’t care much about. Hestia wasn’t a very social person; she liked to be by herself and sit by the

fire. Like other gods and goddesses, Hestia didn’t have a “story” or a “big adventure.” She is just a simple sweet girl.

Hestia was once one of the “Mighty Twelve” but then gave up her throne on Mount Olympus. She didn’t want to be involved anymore and left to tend her sacred hearth. Then Zeus and she decided to give her thrown to the god Dionysus, the god of wine. Although she isn’t a “Mighty Twelve” anymore she is still a very major goddess. That many people adore and pray to today.

Hestia is one of the most prayed to goddesses in Greece. She is the warmth to our house. Without her attributes that she brings to a home, one could expect disarray and breakdown of family. Her one noted weakness was being cool emotionally. It could be interpreted as putting everyone first before her. Her concentration on family only to not have one herself. She would have made a wonderful spouse and mother. In a sad way she did not find love and have children to pass down all these important qualities. Just maybe the act of her father swallowing and regurgitating her made her feel male dominance would not be an option.

Work Cited: “Hestia.” //Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion.// Web. 07 Dec. 2010. .

“Hestia.” __The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition__. 2008. //Encyclopedia.com.// (December 7, 2010). .

Bolton, Lesley. //The Everything Classical Mythology Book: Greek and Roman Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters from Ares to Zeus//. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2002. Print.

Cotterell, Arthur, Rachel Storm, Arthur Cotterell, and Rachel Storm. //The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology: an A – Z Guide to the Myths and Legends of the Ancient World//. London: Hermes House, 2008. Print.