You won’t
find myths about Hestia. I know, I’ve looked. I’ve scoured my resources. It
might be easy to write her off because of this. There are no stories about her,
therefore she’s not interesting. Conclusion: she’s not important. But the
opposite is actually true.
I’ve only
found one thing about Hestia. Zeus decreed that Hestia was off-limits from all
the shenanigans of the other gods. No one is allowed to mess with her. And,
wonder of wonders, no one did. Not a single one of the other gods ever took
action or said a word against Hestia, and the Greek gods are known for their
in-fighting.
I cannot
overstate the importance of a Greek goddess who doesn’t get into any kind of
trouble. But why did Zeus make his decree? An even better question is why did
the fractious gods and goddesses abide by it? In a pantheon known for its
usurpations, betrayals, and attacks, they left her alone. There’s not even
mention of anyone thinking anything bad against her. She is, in a word,
untouchable.
Why?
Well, this
is where we can make the connection back to Prometheus. Hestia is goddess of
the hearth. She is the center of worship for the Greek home. Yes, the other
gods have temples, but those are big ideals that are not felt in the same way
as the personal nature of worship in the home. Now I’m not saying that people
worshipped Hestia instead of Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Aphrodite, or any of the
others. Remember, this is a polytheistic culture. The Greeks were quite at home
worshipping multiple gods.
Hestia is
included in the worship of any of the other gods or goddesses. This is mostly
because of the structure of Greek worship. In most of the ancient world, Greece
included, they made offerings to the gods on the fire. We know this most from
the story of Prometheus with regards to the cuts of meat. The cuts of meat that
are made for the gods are to be burned on the fire as an offering to the gods,
kind of like a meat tithe.
(Incidentally,
the Old Testament is full of stories of meat offerings to God, most notably
with the stories of Abraham and Elijah.)
Because
Greek worship requires the use of fire and the hearth, the first prayers and
offerings are to Hestia, who watches over the home. Without the hearth and the
home, the Greek people have no worship to the other gods. Zeus’s decree is
about safeguarding the ability of human beings to continue to worship the gods.
Right,
we’re supposed to connect this back to Perseus. That comes next, I promise.