Most of us know that Hestia is the goddess of the Hearth & Home, but I fear few realize the importance of her domain—both in ancient times and today.
Sacrifices include(d): fruit, water, oil, wine, and one year old calves
Sacred Symbols: chaste tree, pigs, kettle, and veil
Goddess of the Home and Family Hearth
As goddess of the hearth, Hestia presides over all day-to-day sacrifices. Not only that, but she should receive the first and last portion of the sacrifice—symbolic of her position as the first child of Kronos and Rhea and the last Olympian to be disgorged by Kronos. She also presides over the cooking of the family meal; of which a portion should be sacrificed. In fact, all aspects of domestic life are considered to be within Hestia’s domain, and all domestic blessings are from her.
As goddess of the home itself, Hestia is considered to be the inventor of houses and a patron of architecture. In this aspect, Hestia is often worshipped with Hermes—the two are considered to be dues penetralis, or gods who reside within the heart of every home.
So what does this mean? Basically, except maybe for Zeus, Hestia was one of the most widely worshipped of all the Olympians. The altar itself is a sanctuary of the goddess which existed in almost every home in ancient times. Cicero and the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite explain Hestia’s importance beautifully:
“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
“Zeus the father gave her a high honor 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 honor, and among all mortal men she is chief of the goddesses.” - Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite
Goddess of the Public Hearth
Perhaps even more important than her role in domestic life, Hestia’s dominion over the public hearth made her an extremely important political figure in ancient times. Virtually every town had a prytaneium (hearth) in the prytaneion—the seat of the prytaneis (and government) in ancient Greece, often a structure in the center of the agora. There, the town made public sacrifices to the gods and, therefore, to Hestia. In fact, the prytaneium often existed as the sole sanctuary to the goddess. One of Hestia’s epithets, Prytaneia, referred to her role as goddess of the public hearth. The prytaneium also functioned as a sanctuary for asylum seekers and the place where the prytaneis would welcome guests and foreign ambassadors. In this way, Hestia’s domain also included hospitality and diplomacy. The fire of the sacrificial flame itself—which never went out and was often carried to new cities—was also Hestia’s domain. And just like in the home, Hestia presided over the preparation of the sacrificial meat.
Considering all of this, many consider Hestia to be a goddess of civilization, as the public hearth is what tied together all the families in a town. Plato himself posited that Zeus, Athena, and Hestia were the three most important gods to the state as King, city-protector, and guardian of the civic hearth. Although we may no longer have public hearths, we are still connected by the same ideas of home and civilization.
Plato describes Hestia as the “essence of things” and says that while all the other Olympians follow Zeus from Olympus on his winged chariot, Hestia is the only one who remains, tending the hearth and protecting the home and seat of the gods’ power.
Many believe Hestia abdicated her throne when Dionysos became a god. And in some myths and versions of the story, this is true. However, the twelve Olympians have never been a concrete list even in ancient times. It’s really up to interpretation. Personally, when I say the “twelve Olympians” I’m very loosely referring to a group of thirteen or fourteen, often including Hestia and sometimes Hades. But again, it really doesn’t matter.
As I’ve already said, Hestia was worshipped in every ancient home and city, but Pausanias also describes a separate sanctuary to the goddess in Hermione. In addition, she was worshipped with Poseidon and Amphitrite at Olympia. And, as the Homeric Hymn to her alludes, she was worshipped with Poseidon as well as Apollo at his temple at Delphi.
“Hestia, you tend the sacred hearth of far-shooting Lord Apollo in holy Pytho, anointing-oil ever dripping from your braids—come to this house, come, sharing your heart with cunning Zeus: bestow grace on my song.” - Homeric Hymn 24
Hymns: Homeric Hymn 24, Homeric Hymn 29 (also to Hermes), and Orphic Hymn 84
Epithets: Prytaneia (of the prytaneium), Boulaia (of the council)
