#hesta #greek #goddess #art
Goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family.

Hestia holds in her hand a branch of the Chaste Tree, and in her open hand a hearth flame of home.

Chaste Tree ~Also known as chasteberry, cloister pepper, and monk's pepper
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. 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". The first and the last.
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 Hymn to Aphrodite, Aphrodite is described as having "no power" over Hestia.