Vesta (Hestia)

Cronus m. Rhea

Hestia Hades Poseidon Demeter Hera Zeus

Hestia was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea

Hestia is one of the three great goddesses of the first Olympian generation, along with Demeter and Hera.

Hestia

DemeterHera

She was described as both the oldest and youngest of children of Rhea and Cronus, in that she was the first to be swallowed by Cronus and the last to be disgorged.

Hestia was originally one of the Olympian gods, but she abdicated her seat to Dionysus to maintain harmony and tend the sacred fire on Mt. Olympus.

Hestia rejected the advances of both Poseidon and Apollo and vowed to remain a virgin; she is one of the three goddesses of chastity

Although the mythology is meager, Hestia and Vesta were very important in ancient mythology

Hestia vowed on Zeus’ head that she would remain a virgin for eternity, in return he bestowed upon her the honor of being the most venerable of all deities

Aphrodite even was unable to sway the heart of Hestia

She became the goddess of the hearth and its sacred fire

Among primitive peoples, fire was obtained with difficulty, kept alive, and revered for its basic importance in daily needs and religious ceremony

Every meal began and ended with an offering to her.

The fire was the symbol of the sanctity of the home and life

Even though she only had one temple in Rome, every home had a tribute to her and the other household gods – the Lares and Penates

The Lares and Penates were groups of deities who protected the family and the Roman state. Although different, the Lares and Penates were often worshiped together at household shrines.

Household altar in Herculaneum

The Penates were originally honored as gods of the pantry, the spirits on whom the life and food of the individual family depended. They later became essential to the life of the state.The public Penates, or Penates publici, served as guardians of the state and the object of Roman patriotism. Aeneas and the Penates, from a 4th Century manuscript

Eventually, even in the cities every Roman family had its own guardian, known as the Lar familiaris. An image of this Lar was kept in a family shrine, to whom offerings of incense, wine, and garlands were made daily.

The Lares were divinities who were identified with spirits of the dead (particularly ancestors), but were also household spirits who could bring prosperity and happiness to the farmer and his farm

Some Lares were also protectors of travelers by land (Lares viales) and by sea (Lares permarini)

Sem Cas/ Laribus / Vialibus / Ex Voto /

Sacrum

A roadside altar dedication to the Lares viales

Household Lararium in Pompeii

The agricultural origin of the Lares survived in the Compitalia, a celebration of the completion of farm work.

The Lares compitales honored at the festival protected the farms – farmers would hang dolls in the shrine at the farms’ crossroads for purification of the family

In Roman mythology, Vesta also personified the public hearth: since the state was a community of families, the sacred fire from one settlement was transferred to its new settlement

The fire was kept alight in the round temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum and

tended to by the six Vestal Virgins

The Vestals were daughters of noble families who entered the service of Vesta before their 10th birthday and remained until their 40th (or even longer).They spent their lives under a strict vow of chastity and performing many rituals

They were treated with the highest honor and were some of the most important people in the hierarchy of Roman state religion.