Editing Hestia

{{Short description|Greek goddess of the hearth}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Hestia
| image = Hestia Giustiniani.jpg
| alt =
| caption = The [[Giustiniani Hestia]]
| god_of = Goddess of the domestic and civic [[hearth]], the home, sacred and sacrificial fire, family, and the state
| member_of = the [[Twelve Olympians]]
| abode = [[Delphi]] and [[Mount Olympus]]
| symbol = The [[hearth]] and its fire
| animals = [[Pig]]
| parents = [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]
| siblings = [[Demeter]], [[Hera]], [[Hades]], [[Poseidon]], [[Zeus]]
| Roman_equivalent = [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]]
}}
{{Ancient Greek religion}}

In [[ancient Greek religion]] and [[Greek mythology|mythology]], '''Hestia''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɛ|s|t|i|ə|,_|ˈ|h|ɛ|s|tʃ|ə}}; {{langx|grc|Ἑστία||hearth, fireplace, altar}}) is the virgin [[goddess]] of the [[hearth]] and the home. In myth, she is the firstborn child of the [[Titans]] [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], and one of the [[Twelve Olympians]].

In Greek mythology, newborn Hestia, along with four of her five siblings, was devoured by her father Cronus, who feared being overthrown by one of his offspring. [[Zeus]], the youngest child, escaped with his mother's help, and made his father disgorge all his siblings. Cronus was supplanted by this new generation of deities; and Hestia thus became one of the Olympian gods, the new rulers of the cosmos, alongside her brothers and sisters. In spite of her status, she has little prominence in Greek mythology. Like [[Athena]] and [[Artemis]], Hestia elected never to marry and remained an eternal [[virgin goddess]] instead, forever tending to the hearth of Olympus.

As the goddess of sacrificial fire, Hestia received the first offering at every domestic sacrifice. In the public domain, the hearth of the ''[[prytaneum]]'' functioned as her official sanctuary. Whenever a new colony was established, a flame from Hestia's public hearth in the mother city would be carried to the new [[Colonies in antiquity|settlement]]. The goddess [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]] is her [[Interpretatio graeca|Roman equivalent]].

== Origins and etymology ==
Hestia's name means "hearth, fireplace, altar".<ref>[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]]. ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 471.</ref> This stems from the [[Proto-Indo-European|PIE]] root ''*wes'', "burn" (ultimately from {{PIE|[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂wes-|*h₂wes-]]}} "dwell, pass the night, stay").<ref>Calvert Watkins, "wes-", in: ''The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston 1985 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20080626081035/http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE579.html web archive]).</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNUSDAAAQBAJ|title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World|last1=Mallory|first1=J. P.|last2=Adams|first2=D. Q.|date=2006|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-928791-8|pages=220|language=en}}</ref><ref>West, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC&pg=PA145 p. 145].</ref> It thus refers to the ''[[oikos]]:'' domestic life, home, household, house, or family. Burkert states that an "early form of the temple is the hearth house; the early temples at [[Dreros]] and [[Prinias]] on Crete are of this type as indeed is the temple of [[Apollo]] at [[Delphi]] which always had its inner ''hestia''".<ref>Burkert, [https://archive.org/details/greekreligion0000burk/page/61/mode/2up?view=theater p.&nbsp;61].</ref> The Mycenaean great hall (''[[megaron]]''), like [[Homer]]'s hall of [[Odysseus]] at [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]], had a central hearth. Likewise, the hearth of the later Greek ''[[prytaneum]]'' was the community and government's ritual and secular focus.<ref>Herman-Hansen, Mogens and Tobias Fischer-Hansen. 1994. "Monumental Political Architecture in Archaic and Classical Greek Poleis. Evidence and Historical Significance." In D. Whitehead, ed., Historia Einzel-Schriften 87: ''From Political Architecture to Stephanus Byzantinus: Sources for the Ancient Greek Polis''. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 30-37 {{ISBN|9783515065726}}</ref> Hestia's naming thus makes her a personification of the hearth and its fire, a symbol of society and family, also denoting authority and kingship.{{sfn|Nagy|1990|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OlluDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 143]}}

== Mythology ==
=== Origin ===
[[File:Hestia.jpg|thumb|Hestia holding a branch of a chaste-tree, red-figure [[kylix]], attributed to Oltos, [[Tarquinia National Museum]]]]

Hestia is a goddess of the first Olympian generation. She is the eldest daughter of the [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]] [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] and [[Cronus]], and sister to [[Demeter]], [[Hades]], [[Hera]], [[Poseidon]], and [[Zeus]]. Immediately after their birth, starting with Hestia, Cronus swallowed each of them, but their mother deceived Cronus and helped [[Zeus]] escape. Zeus forced [[Cronus]] to disgorge his siblings and led them in a war against their father and the other Titans.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:453-491 453&nbsp;ff.]</ref> As "first to be devoured ... and the last to be yielded up again", Hestia is thus both the eldest and youngest daughter; this mythic inversion is found in the [[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite]] (700 BC).<ref>Kerenyi, [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/91/mode/2up?view=theater p.&nbsp;91].</ref>

Zeus assigned Hestia a duty to feed and maintain the fires of the Olympian hearth with the fatty, combustible portions of animal sacrifices to the gods.<ref>Kajava, pp.&nbsp;1–2.</ref> Wherever food was cooked, or an offering was burnt, she thus had her share of honor; also, in all the temples of the gods, she has a share of honor. "Among all mortals, she was chief of the goddesses".<ref name="Homeric Hymns, To Aphrodite">''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn]] to Aphrodite'' (5) [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg005.perseus-eng1:1-32 32]</ref>

=== Virgin goddess ===
The gods [[Poseidon]] and [[Apollo]] (her brother and nephew respectively) both fell in love with Hestia and vied for her hand in marriage. But Hestia would have neither of them, and went to [[Zeus]] instead, and swore a great oath, that she would remain a virgin for all time and never marry. In the ''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn]] to Aphrodite,'' Aphrodite (goddess of sex and love) has "no power" over Hestia.<ref>''[[Homeric Hymn]] to [[Aphrodite]]'' (5), [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D5%3Acard%3D1 21–32]</ref>

=== Status and attributes ===
[[File:Intérieur Musée Archéologique Delphes - Delphes (GR44) - 2022-03-23 - 22.jpg|Hestia (?) on the northern frieze of the [[Siphnian Treasury]], 6th century BC, [[Delphi Archaeological Museum]], [[Greece]]|thumb|left|upright=1.15]]

At Athens, "in Plato's time", notes Kenneth Dorter<ref>Dorter, K. (1971). "Imagery and Philosophy in Plato's Phaedrus". ''Journal of the History of Philosophy'', ''9''&nbsp;(3), 279–288 (July 1971).</ref> "there was a discrepancy in the list of the [[Twelve Olympians|twelve chief gods]], as to whether Hestia or [[Dionysus]] was included with the other eleven. The altar to them at the agora, for example, included Hestia, but the east frieze of the Parthenon had Dionysus instead." However, the hearth was immovable, and "there is no story of Hestia's "ever having been removed from her fixed abode".<ref>Kerenyi, [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/92/mode/2up?view=theater p.&nbsp;92]</ref> Burkert remarks that "Since the hearth is immovable Hestia is unable to take part even in the procession of the gods, let alone the other antics of the Olympians".<ref>Burkert, [https://archive.org/details/greekreligion0000burk/page/170/mode/2up?view=theater p.&nbsp;170].</ref>

Traditionally, Hestia is absent from ancient depictions of the [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Gigantomachy]] as she is the one who must keep the home fires burning when the other gods are away.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Tyler Jo |author-link=Tyler Jo Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1FVDwAAQBAJ |title=A Companion to Greek Art |last2=Plantzos |first2=Dimitris |year= 2018 |publisher=[[Wiley Blackwell]] |isbn=978-1-4051-8604-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1FVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA409 409]}}</ref> Nevertheless, her possible participation in the fight against the Giants is evidenced from an inscription on the northern frieze of the [[Siphnian Treasury]] in [[Delphi]]; Brinkmann (1985) suggests that the letter tracings of one of the two goddesses right next to [[Hephaestus]] be restored as "Hestia", although other possible candidates include Demeter and [[Persephone]], or two of the three [[Moirai|Fates]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact;jsessionid=5559FC6C86C9AB95D17FE6D7ACF0D4C6?name=Delphi%2C+Siphnian+Treasury+Frieze--North&object=Sculpture | title = Delphi, Siphnian Treasury Frieze--North (Sculpture) | access-date = December 25, 2022 | website = www.perseus.tufts.edu | publisher = [[Tufts University]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Gods and Heroes in Late Archaic Greek Art | first1 = Karl | last1 =  Schefold | first2 = Luca | last2 = Giulianipage | translator = Alan Griffiths | page =  [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C&pg=PA59 59] | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | date =  1992 | isbn = 0-521-32718-0 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=p2DA_Aze7F0C}}</ref>

Her mythographic status as firstborn of Rhea and Cronus seems to justify the tradition in which a small offering is made to Hestia before any sacrifice ("Hestia comes first"), though this was not universal among the Greeks. In ''Odyssey''&nbsp;''14'', 432–436, the loyal swineherd [[Eumaeus]] begins the feast for his master Odysseus by plucking tufts from a boar's head and throwing them into the fire with a prayer addressed to all the powers, then carved the meat into seven equal portions: "one he set aside, lifting up a prayer to the forest [[nymph]]s and [[Hermes]], [[Maia]]'s son."<ref>Robert Fagles' translation</ref>

Hestia is identified with the hearth as a physical object, and the abstractions of community and domesticity, in contrast to the fire of the forge employed in blacksmithing and metalworking, the province of the god Hephaestus. Portrayals of her are rare and seldom secure.<ref>Kajava, p.&nbsp;2.</ref> In classical Greek art, she is occasionally depicted as a woman simply and modestly cloaked in a head veil. At times, she is shown with a staff in hand or by a large fire. She sits on a plain wooden throne with a white woolen cushion. Her associated sacrificial animal was a domestic pig.<ref>Bremmer, Jan. N., in Ogden, D. (ed.). (2010). ''A Companion to Greek Religion'', Wiley-Blackwell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yOQtHNJJU9UC&pg=PA134 p. 134]. {{ISBN|978-1-4443-3417-3}}.</ref>

=== Equivalence ===
[[File:Greek - Procession of Twelve Gods and Goddesses - Walters 2340.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|Fragment of a [[Hellenistic]] [[relief sculpture|relief]] (1st century BC – 1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; Hestia with scepter to the left, from the [[Walters Art Museum]]<ref>[[Walters Art Museum]], [http://art.thewalters.org/detail/38764 accession number 23.40].</ref>]]

Her Roman equivalent is [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]];<ref name=Lar>Hughes, James. (1995). ''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', p.&nbsp;215. Larousse/[[The Book People]].</ref> Vesta has similar functions as a divine personification of Rome's "public", domestic, and colonial hearths, binding Romans together within a form of extended family. The similarity of names between Hestia and Vesta is, however, misleading: "The relationship ''hestia-histie-Vesta'' cannot be explained in terms of [[Indo-European studies|Indo-European]] linguistics; borrowings from a third language must also be involved", according to [[Walter Burkert]].<ref>Burkert, [https://archive.org/details/greekreligion0000burk/page/415/mode/2up?view=theater p. 415, 3.3.1 n.&nbsp;2].</ref>
[[Herodotus]] equates Hestia with the high ranking [[Scythian religion|Scythian]] deity [[Tabiti]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sulimirski |first=T. |year=1985 |chapter=The Scyths |editor-last=Fisher |editor-first=W. B. |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=2: The Median and Achaemenian Periods |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-20091-1 |pages=158–159}} citing Herodotus, Book IV</ref> [[Procopius]] equates her with the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] holy fire (''[[atar]]'') of the [[Sasanians]] in [[Takht-e Soleymān|Adhur Gushnasp]].<ref>Procopius, ''History of the Wars'', Book II, XXIV.</ref>

To Vesta is attributed one more story not found in Greek tradition by the Roman poet [[Ovid]] in his poem ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'', where during a feast of the gods Vesta is nearly raped in her sleep by the god [[Priapus]], and only avoids this fate when a donkey cries out, alerting Vesta and prompting the other gods to attack Priapus in defense of the goddess. This story is an almost word-for-word repeat of the myth of Priapus and [[Lotis (mythology)|Lotis]], recounted earlier in the same book, with the difference that Lotis had to transform into a lotus tree to escape Priapus, making some scholars suggest the account where Vesta supplants Lotis only exists in order to create some cult drama.<ref>{{cite book | last = Littlewood | first = R. Joy | date = 2006 | title = A Commentary on Ovid: Fasti book VI | location = [[Oxford]]; [[New York City]] | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | isbn = 978-0-19927-134-4 | page = 103}}</ref>

== Worship ==
[[File:Altar, part, marble, inscription, 5th–4th c BC, AM Paros, 144002.jpg|alt=Section of a white marble altar on a pale background. It is a rectangular slab, with the inscription ESTIAS ISTHMIAS carved on the forward facing side.|thumb|Part of a marble altar with inscription ESTIAS ISTHMIAS, 5th–4th century BC. The altar was dedicated to the goddess Hestia with the epithet Isthmia ("of the [[isthmus]]". [[Archaeological Museum of Paros]].]]

The worship of Hestia was centered around the hearth, both domestic and civic. The hearth was essential for warmth, food preparation, and the completion of sacrificial offerings to deities. At feasts, Hestia was offered the first and last libations of wine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0138:hymn=29:Perseus|title=Hymn 29 to Hestia, line 1|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] writes that the [[Eleans]] sacrifice first to Hestia and then to other gods.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:5.https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-grc1:5.14.4 5.14.4]</ref> [[Xenophon]] in [[Cyropaedia]] wrote that [[Cyrus the Great]] sacrificed first to Hestia, then to sovereign Zeus, and then to any other god that the [[magi]] suggested.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0032.tlg007.perseus-grc1:7.5.57|title=Xenophon, Cyropaedia, *ku/rou *paidei/as *z, chapter 5, section 57|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref>

The accidental or negligent extinction of a domestic hearth fire represented a failure of domestic and religious care for the family; failure to maintain Hestia's public fire in her temple or shrine was a breach of duty to the broad community. A hearth fire might be deliberately, ritually extinguished at need; but its lighting should be accompanied by rituals of completion, purification, and renewal, comparable with the rituals and connotations of an [[eternal flame]] and of [[sanctuary lamp]]s. At the level of the ''[[polis]]'', the hearths of Greek [[Colonies in antiquity|colonies]] and their mother cities were allied and sanctified through Hestia's cult. [[Athenaeus]], in the [[Deipnosophistae]], writes that in [[Naucratis]] the people dined in the [[Prytaneion]] on the birthday of Hestia Prytanitis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus4.html|title=Athenaeus: Deipnosophists – Book 4|website=www.attalus.org|accessdate=January 1, 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Dedication of altar to Hestia from Karneades, Taormina, 121840.jpg|alt=Large square marble slab that has been engraved. Refer to caption for the inscription.|left|thumb|Dedication of an altar to Hestia in Karneades, Taormina (undated). The inscription states: "Beside these walls of Serapis the warden of the temple Karneades of Barke, son of Eukritos, O foreigner, and his spouse Pythias and his daughter Eraso placed to Hestia a pure altar, as a reward for this, O you that governs the marvelous dwellings of Zeus, grant to them a lovely auspiciousness of life."]]

Responsibility for Hestia's domestic cult usually fell to the leading woman of the household, although sometimes to a man. Hestia's rites at the hearths of public buildings were usually led by holders of civil office; [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] testifies that the ''prytaneum'' of a Greek state or community was sacred to Hestia, who was served by the most powerful state officials.<ref>Kajava, p.&nbsp;5.</ref> However, evidence of her dedicant priesthood is extremely rare. Most stems from the early Roman Imperial era, when [[Sparta]] offers several examples of women with the priestly title "Hestia"; [[Chalcis]] offers one, a daughter of the local elite. Existing civic cults to Hestia probably served as stock for the grafting of Greek [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)#Greek|ruler-cult]] to the Roman emperor, the Imperial family, and Rome itself. In Athens, a small seating section at the [[Theatre of Dionysus]] was reserved for priesthoods of "Hestia on the [[Acropolis]], [[Livia]], and [[Julia the Elder|Julia]]", and of "Hestia Romain" ("Roman Hestia", thus "The Roman Hearth" or Vesta). At [[Delos]], a priest served "Hestia the Athenian [[Glossary of rhetorical terms#Demos|Demos]]" (the people or state) "and [[Roma (mythology)|Roma]]". An eminent citizen of [[Caria]]n [[Stratonicea (Caria)|Stratoniceia]] described himself as a priest of Hestia and several other deities, as well as holding several civic offices. Hestia's political and civic functions are further evidenced by her very numerous privately funded dedications at civic sites, and the administrative rather than religious titles used by the lay-officials involved in her civic cults.<ref>Kajava, pp.&nbsp;1, 3, 5.</ref>

=== Shrines, temples and colonies ===
[[File:East pediment E Parthenon BM.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Hestia from the [[Pediments of the Parthenon#East Pediment|eastern pediment]] of the [[Parthenon]], mid-fifth century BC, [[British Museum]]]]

Every private and public hearth was regarded as a sanctuary of the goddess, and a portion of the sacrifices, to whatever divinity they were offered, belonged to her. [[Aeschines]], ''On the Embassy'', declares that "the hearth of the Prytaneum was regarded as the common hearth of the state and a statue of Hestia was there, and in the senate-house there was an altar of the goddess."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0002:speech=2:section=45|title=Aeschines, On the Embassy, section 45|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref> A temple at [[Ephesus]] was dedicated to Hestia Boulaea – Hestia "of the senate", or [[Boule (ancient Greece)|boule]]. Pausanias reports a figurative statue of Hestia in the Athenian Prytaneum, together with one of the goddess [[Eirene (goddess)|Eirene]] ("Peace").<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 1.18.3</ref> Hestia offered sanctuary from persecution to those who showed her respect and would punish those who offended her. [[Diodorus Siculus]] writes that [[Theramenes]] sought asylum directly from Hestia at the Council Chamber, leaping onto her hearth not to save himself, but in the hope that his slayers would demonstrate their impiety by killing him there".<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0083%3Abook%3D14%3Achapter%3D4 14.4]</ref>

Very few free-standing temples were dedicated to Hestia. Pausanias mentions one in [[Hermione (Argolis)|Hermione]] and one in [[Sparta]], the latter having an altar but no image.<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D1 2.35.1] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D11%3Asection%3D11 3.11.11]</ref> [[Xenophon]]'s ''[[Hellenica]]'' mentions fighting around and within [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]'s temple of Hestia, a building separate from the city's council hall and adjoining theatre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0032.tlg001.perseus-grc1:7.4.31|title=Xenophon, Hellenica, *(ellhnikw=n *z, chapter 4, section 31|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref> A temple to Hestia was in [[Andros]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=andros&highlight=hestia|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, ANDROS One of the Cyclades, Greece|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=January 1, 2023}}</ref>

Prospective founders of city-states and colonies sought approval and guidance not only of their "mother city" (represented by Hestia) but of [[Apollo]], through one or another of his various oracles. He acted as consulting [[archegetes]] (founder) at [[Delphi]]. Among his various functions, he was patron god of colonies, architecture, constitutions and city planning. Additional [[Greek city-state patron gods|patron deities]] might also be persuaded to support the new settlement, but without Hestia, her sacred hearth, an ''[[agora]]'' and prytaneum there could be no ''polis''.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20163970|title=The Gods of Politics in Early Greek Cities|last1=Detienne |first1=Marcel|last2=Lloyd |first2=Janet|year=2004|journal=Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics|volume=12|issue=2|pages=49–66|jstor=20163970 |accessdate=January 1, 2023}}</ref>

=== Hymns, odes and oaths ===
Homeric Hymn 24, ''To Hestia'', is an invocation of five lines, alluding to her role as an attendant to Apollo:

{{blockquote|Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the Far-shooter at goodly [[Delphi|Pytho]], with soft oil dripping ever from your locks, come now into this house, come, having one mind with Zeus the all-wise: draw near, and withal bestow grace upon my song.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0138%3ahymn%3d24 ''Hymn&nbsp;24 to Hestia''].</ref>}}

Homeric Hymn 29, ''To Hestia'' invokes Hestia and Hermes:

{{blockquote|Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honor: 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. And you, slayer of Argus ([[Hermes#Argeïphontes|an epithet of Hermes]]), Son of Zeus and Maia, the messenger of the blessed gods, bearer of the goldenrod, the giver of good, be favorable and help us, you and Hestia, the worshipful and dear. Come and dwell in this glorious house in friendship together; for you two, well knowing the noble actions of men, aid on their wisdom and their strength. Hail, Daughter of Cronos, and you also, Hermes, bearer of the goldenrod! Now I will remember you and another song also.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0137:hymn=29:card=1|title=Hymn 29 to Hestia, line 1|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref>}}

[[Bacchylides]] Ode 14b, ''For Aristoteles of Larisa'':

[[File:Hestia tapestry.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|''Hestia full of Blessings'', Egypt, 6th&nbsp;century tapestry ([[Dumbarton Oaks]] Collection)|alt=Byzantine tapestry, featuring Hestia seated in the middle. There are attendants surrounding her offering her gifts. The primary colors are green, red, and black on a yellowed background. ]]

{{blockquote|Golden-throned Hestia ({{lang|grc|Ἐστία χρυσόθρον᾽}}), you who increase the great prosperity of the rich Agathocleadae, seated in the midst of city streets near the fragrant [[Pineios (Thessaly)|river Peneius]] in the valleys of sheep-nurturing [[Thessaly]]. From there Aristoteles came to flourishing [[Cirrha]], and was twice crowned, for the glory of horse-mastering [[Larissa|Larisa]] ... (The rest of the ode is lost)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0063:book=Ep:poem=14b|title=Bacchylides, Epinicians, Ode 14b *)aristotelei *larisai/w&#124; *(/ippois !!] g?i?a|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref>}}

''[[Orphic Hymn]]'' 84 and [[Pindar]]'s 11th Nemean ode are dedicated to Hestia.<ref>''[[Orphic Hymn]]'' 84 ''to Hestia'' (Athanassakis & Wolkow, pp. 64–65).</ref><ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean Odes'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0033.tlg003.perseus-eng1:11 11.1, EN]</ref>

In one military oath found at [[Acharnai]], from the Sanctuary of [[Ares]] and [[Athena]] Areia, dated 350–325 BC, Hestia is called, among many others, to bear witness.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/649#2.1 topostext, 2.1] "Witnesses the gods Aglauros, Hestia, Enyo, Enyalios, Ares and Athena Areia, Zeus, Thallo, Auxo, Hegemone, Herakles, and the boundaries of my fatherland, wheat, barley, vines, olives, figs."</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/RO/88|title=RO 88 Dedication from Acharnai with military oaths|website=www.atticinscriptions.com|accessdate=Jan 1, 2023}}</ref>

=== Hestia tapestry ===
{{main|Hestia Tapestry}}

The Hestia tapestry is a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[tapestry]], made in Egypt during the 6th century AD. It is a late and very rare representation of the goddess, whom it identifies in [[Greek language|Greek]] as ''Hestia Polyolbos''; ({{langx|el|Ἑστία Πολύολβος}} "Hestia full of Blessings"). Its history and symbolism are discussed in Friedlander (1945).<ref>Friedlander, Paul. (1945). ''Documents of Dying Paganism''. University of California Press.</ref>

== Genealogy ==
{{Family tree of the Olympians|title=Hestia's family tree|collapsed=no|cap_hest=y}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Myths|Religion}}
* [[Di Penates]]
* [[Sacred fire of Vesta]]
* [[Zalmoxis]]
* [[Deipneus]] Ancient Greek god of bread baking

== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* [[Walter Burkert|Burkert, Walter]] (1985). ''Greek Religion''. Harvard University Press. [https://archive.org/details/greekreligion0000burk/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Evelyn-White, Hugh, ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White''. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
* Friedlander, Paul. (1945). ''Documents of Dying Paganism''. University of California Press.
* Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Homer]], ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Homer]]; ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A. T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Kajava, Mika. "Hestia Hearth, Goddess, and Cult", ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 102 (2004): 1–20. {{JSTOR|4150030}}.
* [[Károly Kerényi|Kerényi, Karl]], ''The Gods of the Greeks'', Thames and Hudson, London, 1951. [https://archive.org/details/godsofgreeks00kerrich/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* {{cite book| last1 = Nagy | first1 = Gregory |title = Greek Mythology and Poetics | publisher = [[Cornell University Press]]| date = 1990 |isbn= 0-8014-8048-5}}
* [[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Ovid's Fasti]]: With an English translation by Sir James George Frazer'', London: W. Heinemann LTD; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1959. [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]], ''Odes'', Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]], ''Indo-European Poetry and Myth'', Oxford University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-19-928075-9}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC Google Books].

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Greek myth (Olympian)}}
{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hestia| ]]
[[Category:Fire goddesses]]
[[Category:Children of Cronus]]
[[Category:Greek virgin goddesses]]
[[Category:Household deities]]
[[Category:Personifications in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Twelve Olympians]]