What is Hestia?
{{Infobox deity | type = Greek | name = Hestia | image = Hestia Giustiniani.jpg | alt = | caption = The [[Giustiniani Hestia]] | god_of = Goddess of the hearth, sacrificical fire and flame, home, domesticity, family, protection, architecture and the state | abode = [[Delphi]] or [[Mount Olympus]] | symbol = The [[hearth]] and its fire | parents = [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] | siblings = [[Demeter]], [[Hera]], [[Hades]], [[Poseidon]], [[Zeus]], [[Chiron]] | planet = [[46 Hestia]], [[4 Vesta]] | Roman_equivalent = [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]] }} '''Hestia''' is a virgin [[greek mythology|Greek goddess]] of the [[hearth]], home and [[fire]]. It was believed all hearths were her [[altar]]s. She also symbolized the alliance between colonies and their mother cities. Her sacred animal is the pig. == Family == Hestia is the older sister of [[Demeter]] and [[Hera]], and is also the sister of [[Zeus]], [[Poseidon]], and [[Hades]]. Her parents are [[Titans]] [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] and [[Kronos]]. == Myths == Hestia was originally one of the [[Twelve Olympians]]. Her throne was described as plain, being made of wood with a woolen white cushion. She did not choose an emblem for herself. Hestia was the first to be swallowed by her father Kronos when he ate the Twelve Olympians, and the last to be disgorged. She gave up her throne on [[Mount Olympus]], and gave it to [[Dionysus]] to avoid a possible civil war. {{fact|date=January 2013}}Hestia instead tended to the sacred fire on Mount Olympus. Because she could not leave from the hearth, Hestia did not have many stories centered around her. In ancient tales, Hestia refused the marriage offers of Apollo and Poseidon. She vowed on the River Styx to forever be a virgin goddess. == Worship == Hestia was always the first to receive offerings at every sacrifice in a household. Any hearth of a household was forbidden to go out unless the fire was ritually extinguished and ritually revived. The hearth of the prytaneum was Hestia's official sanctuary. When a