Hestia
Roman name: Vesta
Hestia had three brothers and two sisters. All of her brothers and sisters had powerful jobs in the ancient Greek god world, and all were Olympians, members of the Council of 12, rulers of the gods. Her brothers were Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Zeus was the king of all the gods. Poseidon was the lord of the sea. Hades was the lord of the Underworld. Her sisters were Hera and Demeter. Hera was the queen of all the gods and Demeter was in charge of the harvest. Hestia was a gentle goddess, with an important job of her own. Hertia was the goddess of hearth and home.
There are not many myths about Hestia. There did not need to be. Except for Sparta, women in ancient Greece lived very similar lives. Every day, when the men went off wherever, the ancient Greek women gathered in their central courtyards to sew, to cook, or to listen to stories of the gods. They knew Hestia was watching over them. They never doubted it. It gave them great comfort. They really did not want Hestia to have a life of her own. They were very happy to have Hestia spend her time watching over all of the women in ancient Greece, even Spartan women. It gave Hestia great pleasure to do so.
Hestia had a home on Mount Olympus. She was, for a while, on the council of 12, like her brothers and sisters. But Hestia did not like arguments. One day, she asked the god Dionysus to take her seat on the council. No one has ever resigned from the council before. Zeus was not sure what to do about that. He decided that Hestia had the right to give up her seat to Dionysus. He was a good choice. Dionysus was the god of wine, civilization, law, and calm behavior. He was used to arguments. His calm assessment of problems that came to the attention of the council turned out to be quite valuable.
