Hestia1.0000_Reid
Hestia.
Daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, the virgin goddess Hestia was guardian of the hearth and keeper of the home and family. A deity with limited roles and functions, she was rarely humanized and had litde mythology. Hestia spurned the advances of Poseidon (Neptune) and Apollo, preferring to remain chaste. She was revered as the oldest of Cronus’s children and was usually given precedence at banquets and in sacrificial rituals.
The traits and powers of the Roman goddess Vesta were equivalent to those of Hestia, but her role in Roman religion was more significant. She was worshiped at the hearth not only in every Roman home, but also in a temple in the Roman forum, in which was kept the sacred hearth of the state. Vesta was celebrated in a yearly festival and her temple was attended by “vestal virgins,” pure young women who were said to represent the daughters of the early Roman kings and who were charged with keeping Vesta’s sacred fire burning.
Because of her connection to the hearth, Vesta/ Hestia is sometimes depicted in postclassical allegories as a personification of the element Fire.