Up: [[Hestia]] Related: [[Mythology and Fairy Tales]] Created: 2022-07-03 *I am the oldest **and** the youngest daughter.* Hestia was the firstborn of two Titans, Cronus (or Kronos) and Rhea. Her siblings were Demeter, Hades, Hera, Poseidon and Zeus. When Hestia was born, her father Cronus realized that she wasn’t a titaness but a more powerful goddess, and that she therefore had the potential to overpower him one day. To abort this possibility, he swallowed her whole. Later he also swallowed all of her younger siblings, with the exception of Zeus. Zeus was saved by his mother, Rhea, who gave her husband a rock wrapped in a cloth, and she hid Zeus in Crete, where he was raised. Once mature, Zeus returned to Cronus’s palace in the guise of his royal cupbearer. He poured an emetic into Cronus’s goblet during a drinking competition, causing Cronus to vomit the contents of his stomach in reverse order of swallowing. First he vomited the rock, then Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and finally Hestia. Since she was first to be devoured and last to be vomited, she is both the eldest and youngest daughter. Zeus and his siblings escaped to Zeus’s cave at Mount Ida. All accepted Zeus as their leader. War was declared against Cronus, a decision that Hestia initially resisted but eventually supported. There are all sorts of details of the eleven-year-long war, called the Titanomachy, none of which interest me. The end result was that the gods won, chose Olympus as their official residence, and became known as the Olympians. The siblings were all given jobs and partners. Apollo and Poseidon both wanted to partner with Hestia, but she begged Zeus to make her immune to Aphrodite’s influence so that she could remain one in herself. [[I'm Proud to Be a Woman Who is One in Herself]]. Zeus granted her wish and assigned her the job of feeding and maintaining the sacred hearth fire of Mt. Olympus. The initial sound of Hestia’s name, like Hephaestus, is part of the early Greek word for ‘fireplace’ and is still heard in the English word [[Hearth]]. Hestia spent all of her time in the hearth at Olympus so she doesn’t have a story. She simply **is**. ## Although There are Three Possible Hestia Stories When the Olympians were victorious over the Titans, their mother Rhea hosted a celebration. Hestia wandered away from the festivities and fell asleep in the woods. A drunk minor fertility god, Priapus, came upon Hestia and was going to rape her when a braying donkey woke her. From that point on, donkeys were rested and garlanded with violets and bread during Vestalia, June 7-15. Vesta is the Roman version of Hestia. This is apparently a tale from Ovid in the first century B.C. ____________ At Athens in Plato’s time, there was discrepancy about who would be included in the list of the twelve chief gods. The altar to them at Agora included Hestia, but the east frieze of the Parthenon had Dionysus instead. There’s speculation that she gave up her Olympian seat to Dionysus to prevent heavenly conflict, but there’s no ancient source or myth to support this. _____________________________________________________________________________ Perhaps Hestia either helped Prometheus steal fire from the gods to give to humans or at least turned a blind eye to his theft. Although he ended up being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten out over and over again, she made sure his sacrifice was not in vain by becoming patron goddess of all hearth fires. ## Early References to Hestia Because Hestia just is, there are very few early references to her. - Nothing from Homer, author of the *Iliad* and the *Odyssey* - Brief allusions by poets Apollodorous, Hesiod, Ovid - The 5th Homeric Hymn, which was dedicated to Aphrodite, tells the myth of Hestia’s vow to remain a virgin (verses 21-32) - There are two Homeric Hymns that are dedicated to her — #24 and #29. - The first seven verses of Pixar’s 11th Nemean Ode are about Hestia > [!User] Sources >- Jean Shinoda Bolen's book, *Goddesses in Older Women* >- [mythopedia](https://mythopedia.com/topics/hestia) >- [Thoughtco](https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-greek-goddess-hestia-1524427) >- [Goddess Gift](https://goddessgift.com/goddesses/hestia/) >- [Riordan](https://riordan.fandom.com/wiki/Hestia) >- [Goddess Power](https://goddess-power.com/hestia.htm) >- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hestia) >- [New World Encyclopedia](https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hestia)