![]() With few temples in her name or depictions in art, there were also few opportunities to show Hestia with any type of iconography. Hestia’s role in the Greek pantheon kept her largely out of the public eye. One later writer claimed that Hestia herself had chosen to not take any symbols to keep her life more simple. The lack of symbolism connected to Hestia was not lost on the Greeks themselves. Among some groups of goddesses, Hestia could be recognized by her demure style of dress, but when seen near maternal goddesses her usual long robes and veil were not unique. Often, even this means of identification was missing. When she was shown it was most often sitting next to a fire or with a flame burning next to her in a direct reference to her duty. Because of this she was rarely left out in art.īecause of these, there was little iconography connected to Hestia. ![]() Hestia played an important role in Greek religion, but a minor one in its mythology. By the hearths of Greek homes, Zeus’s virginal sister was invoked as a goddess of domesticity. Those that were were given to Hestia as a household goddess. Because all offerings went through her she was invoked in many sacrifices, but almost none were made in her name alone. ![]() She took no lovers, did not participate in war, and never left her place by the hearth to interfere in the lives of mortals. Hestia’s role on Olympus was important, but it also left the goddess in a position to be often forgotten and ignored.īecause she was busy tending to her brother’s fire and receiving his sacrifices, Hestia did not play in important role in any of the myths of the other gods. She was the first recipient of all the burnt offerings sent to the gods by the humans below. The hearth was the center of the home and letting the fire go out would be a sign of neglect toward the family.Īs Zeus’s fire keeper, Hestia served an even more important function. Keeping a fire may seem like a mundane task, but in the Greek world it was a sacred duty. The virgin goddess tended to his fire and became the goddess of the hearth. Zeus brought Hestia into his own household to live in a position of great honor. Zeus accepted this vow and forbade the other gods from pursuing her any more. Hestia had no interest in marriage and swore an oath before her brother that she would never marry. ![]() Both her brother Poseidon and her nephew Apollo asked to marry Hestia, but the goddess requested something different of Zeus. Hestia was one of the three sisters of Zeus. While she was sometimes shown sitting beside the fire, her place in Zeus’s household was the only thing that distinguished her from an anonymous veiled woman on the rare occasion she was shown at all. Hestia was so rarely portrayed that no clear symbolism ever emerged in relation to her. While she played a key role in the religion of Greece, she was noticeably absent from its mythology and iconography. The major gods of Olympus all had identifying features of some sort. His sister Artemis was seen with wild animals and dressed for running through the forest. Most gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon had specific symbols and attributes that could be sued to identify them in art and represent them in worship.Īpollo, for example, had his lyre and bow as well as several sacred plants and animals.
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